VietNamNet Bridge – An art festival entitled “Long Bien Bridge’s Memory” has been cancelled due to an unusual accident. The event has been rescheduled for early next year.

On November 8, a truck of over 3.5m high attempted to pass through the space under Long Bien Bridge, the section crossing Tran Quang Khai road, where the maximum allowed height of vehicles is 3m. The truck was stuck for nearly two days.

After the impact, the bridge was strongly shaken and a segment was seriously damaged. A pillar was built to temporarily support the bridge.

According to engineers from the Ha Hai Railway Transportation Company, the manager of Long Bien Bridge, the accident is extremely serious because it affected the whole structure of span 1 of this 100-year-old bridge.

The Vietnam Railways Corporation sent experts to assess the damage.

Because of the incident and the recent flood, the “Long Bien Bridge’s Memory” festival, which was scheduled for November 22, will be postponed till January 10-11, said Nguyen Nga, Director of the Art House (31A Van Mieu), the organiser.

Long Bien Bridge is an historic cantilever bridge that crosses the Red River, connecting two parts of the city of Hanoi. It was built in 1903 by French architect Gustave Eiffel. Before 1954, it was called Doumer Bridge, named after Paul Doumer – the Governor-General of French Indochina and then French president. It was, at that time, one of the longest bridges in Asia with the length of 2,500m.

It was heavily bombarded during the Vietnam War due to its critical position (it was the only bridge at that time across the Red River and connecting Hanoi to the main port of Hai Phong). Nowadays, only half of the bridge retains its original shape. A project with support and loans from the French government is currently in progress to return the bridge to its original state. Due to its age, traffic across the bridge is now limited to bicycles, motorbikes and trains.

Long Bien Bridge is a symbol of the immortality of Hanoians and it is considered a bridge that connects the past and the present. The bridge is an historical witness that has seen the changes of Hanoi.

To prepare for the Long Bien festival, a photo exhibition with the same name opened on July 3. The exhibition is being organised to receive stories and memories about the bridge in photos, paintings, video clips, songs, articles, etc. The exhibition will last till October 11.

“Long Bien’s Memory” is held at the initiative of Nguyen Nga, the owner of the House of Art. She is a Vietnamese-French who loves traditional Vietnamese culture so she opened the House of Art to host exhibitions and traditional art performances of Vietnam.

The festival will be 24-hours long and open to all Hanoians. The festival will be organised in the form of a street festival – but on Long Bien Bridge.

On the opening day, a steam train will carry organisers to the middle of Long Bien Bridge to cut a ribbon opening the festival. Arts that appeared in Vietnam in the early 19^th century will be performed on the bridge by 100 artists of all ages.

Other activities will include a photo and painting exhibition, a kite-releasing contest, a requiem ceremony, releasing 1,000 lanterns at the nearby Bo De pagoda, a pinwheel performance, a festival of craft villages in Hanoi, traditional cuisines, traditional costume show, and many other activities.

The festival will take place on the bridge, at the two bridgeheads and the piers as well on the banks of the river under the bridge.

(Source: VTC, HNM)