All concerned departments were directed by the Ministry of Transport to inspect and re-evaluate Thang Long Bridge’s design, execution, and technology documents in order to find the cause for water stagnating and cracking problems on the bridge's surface.
>> New bridge, new cracks
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| Cracks on the surface of Thang Long Bridge after repaired are visibly rough and uneven. (Photo: Nhu Quynh) |
Mr. Nguyen Van Cong, head of the Ministry of Transport's office, said that in order to ensure structure sustainability and surface exploitation of the bridge in the long term, the ministry had directed the General Department of Road and Project Management Unit 2 (PMU 2) together with contractors to gather manpower as well as repair equipment in the shortest amount of time and continue to slot drainage in vertical and horizontal positions, releasing stagnate water from surface cracks to water collecting gutters. These jobs must be completed before March 31.
In addition, the Department of Science and Technology must coordinate with the General Department of Road, Department of Construction Management and Quality Traffic Work, PMU 2 and the Institute of Transport Science and Technology as well as contractors to re-examine the design, execution and technology documents in order to find the source of the problem and find an effective solution ensuring sustainability of the work that is currently in the process of going underway.
According to information from the Ministry of Transport, Thang Long Bridge’s repair project was approved by the ministry as Decision No 1723/QD on June 16, 2009 and assigned to the General Department of Road as the project’s investor. The project aims to repair the surface of Thang Long Bridge, replace elastic slots and repair the road to ensure smooth traffic.
The bridge’s surface was made of steel structure with sizable width, which is different from normal concrete surface structure, and was replaced by hot asphalt concrete layer "SMA", a new material and technology that was implemented for the first time in Vietnam.
The repair project was completed and put into use on December 29, 2009 in order to ease traffic and ensure traffic circulation on Belt Road No 3 from Noi Bai to Hanoi, and to protect the sustainability of Thang Long Bridge’s structure.
However, according to reports from the General Department of Road and PMU 2, recently, water has been stagnating and cracks are appearing on the surface of the bridge.