Traffic through Saigon Bridge across the Saigon River in Ho Chi Minh City on a normal day

A major bridge in Ho Chi Minh City is deteriorating rapidly as authorities fail to control traffic flow and disperse it to other routes.

The dense traffic makes it difficult to spot overloaded trucks that weigh more than 25 tons or to force vehicles to stay 30 meters apart from each other as stated on a traffic sign at both ends of the bridge, said officials of the HCMC Bridge and Ferry Management Co.

Vu Tien Manh, deputy director of the company, said trucks and containers from the city ports are usually stuck in long lines on the bridge during peak hours. “That’s a major factor reducing the bridge’s life-span.”

Early this month, a 30cm x 50cm rectangular pothole found in the middle of the lane for four-wheeled vehicles was explained as caused by heavy traffic flow.

Vu Kien Khiet, director of the Urban Traffic Management Zone No.2 that manages infrastructure in districts 2, 9 and Thu Duc, said the pothole showed that Saigon Bridge had deteriorated after being improved ten years ago.

Khiet said his unit is cooperating with the France-based renowned bridge constructor Freyssinet, which has once renovated the bridge, to examine its condition.

The unit has also prepared proposals asking for funds to improve the bridge next year. “We need to prevent the downgrade right now. It would cost more if we wait to fix the heavy damage,” he said.

The HCMC Bridge and Ferry Management Co. has recorded three traffic accidents that caused significant damage to the 48-year-old bridge last year, including one when a truck hit a girdle, breaking its concrete cover.

So far this year, ten traffic accidents have occurred on the bridge and nine of these are attributed to poor conditions including potholes and cracks on girdles.

The condition is getting worse every month, the company said.

A Saigon Bridge No.2 has been planned to replace the current one but the constructor said work would only start at the end of this year and take at least two and half years to complete.

Other bridges across the Saigon River, like Phu My and Thu Thiem, have been completed recently, but have failed to attract many commuters because proper connecting roads have not been built.

Source: Tuoi Tre