Thang Long Bridge, the key bridge on the road from central Hanoi to Noi Bai International Airport will open for traffic again on December 23, after repairs were made.

Traffic jam on Thang Long Bridge.

Hanoi builds pontoon as Thang Long bridge under repair

The Vietnam Road Management Agency said that repairs would finish today, December 22, nearly one month before schedule. According to the Ministry of Transportation, motorbikes will continue to travel on the first storey rather than share the second floor with cars as before.

Thang Long bridge was built in 1985 with assistance from the former USSR. It was recently damaged so the Ministry of Transportation decided to invest more than 90 billion dong to repair it.

The Hanoi Department of Transportation banned trucks and coaches from it on October 23. Only small cars and buses could use the second floor and motorbikes the first floor of the bridge. However, traffic jams occurred when builders started working on December 1.

In mid-December, soldiers built a pontoon around 500m from the bridge to “save” vehicles.

PV