Phong Chau Bridge collapse: affected by Typhoon Yagi, once cracked, praying for a miracle

The Department of Transport (Transport) of Phu Tho province said that storm No. 3 caused rain and floods, causing the water of the Red River to rise, the fast flow rate changed the topography of the riverbed, pulled down the T7 pillar and collapsed 2 main spans of Phong Chau Bridge (spans 6 and 7) on the morning of September 9.

According to the Department of Transport of Phu Tho province, Phong Chau Bridge was built, handed over and put into operation in 1995 and has gone through many repairs. Specifically, in 2013, Phong Chau Bridge was replaced with 4 ordinary concrete beams with 4 prestressed reinforced concrete beams with the same beam height; laminated fiberglass and reinforced carbon fiber; replace broken high-strength bolts, rust welding, rust removal by sandblasting, then apply anti-rust paint to the lower part of the steel system; replace old expansion joints with comb teeth expansion joints; replace the damaged electrical equipment on the bridge with new electrical equipment.

According to the inspection results after repair, the bridge does not have to put up a load restriction sign. In 2019, Phong Chau Bridge was treated for erosion and reinforcement of the bridge pier. Particularly, the T7 pillar (the bridge pier that has just collapsed in the incident) has been reinforced with 8 bored piles filled with reinforced concrete; expanding the pillar platform with reinforced concrete; strengthen the ability to resist collisions by rigidly connecting the two pillars.

The results of the bridge inspection in 2019 showed that the bridge could be exploited with a load of HL93 (equivalent to 11.5 tons). The bridge does not have to put up a sign restricting the load of vehicles across the bridge.

In 2023, Phong Chau Bridge will continue to undergo minor repairs including rust removal, repainting of all top-plated bars, vertical bars, oblique bars, upper horizontal link system and upper vertical link system of spans of 66m, 64m and 80m. In addition, the expansion joints on pillars T5, T6, T8 are replaced with comb teeth expansion joints and the concrete in front of the cracked joints is repaired.

At about 10:02 a.m. on the same day, Phong Chau Bridge (connecting 2 districts of Tam Nong - Lam Thao, Phu Tho province) collapsed, swept away the T7 pillar and 2 main spans (spans 6 and 7, in Tam Nong district). Preliminarily determined that at the time of the incident, there were 8 vehicles in distress (1 truck, 1 car, 5 motorcycles, 1 electric bicycle). According to the Department of Dike Management and Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, functional forces rescued and took 5 injured people to the emergency at a medical facility.

Many people gathered in the area near the scene to wait for news from their relatives, everyone could not hide their insecurity and worries. Ms. Tuyet heard that her brother-in-law (SN 1986) was in an accident and immediately went to the scene. "I have a wife and 2 children, I just hope that a miracle will happen, I love you very much. I received the news and was sad, along the way I cried all my tears," Ms. Tuyet said.

Along with that, the cousin of an accident shared that the victim's family was very difficult, his wife could not return home immediately from work far away. My younger brother didn't arrive until 5 p.m. in the South. "I don't know how, I saw the scene of the car falling on the video but I couldn't hold back my tears," the woman shared.

After the incident haunted public opinion, many dash cam footage of vehicles that used to circulate through Phong Chau Bridge and cashew houses were extracted simultaneously, making viewers can't help but beat their hearts. The bridge spans suddenly collapsed into the turbid and fast-flowing flood water. Although the house is quite far away, he still heard a very loud noise, startling the whole person, not understanding what happened.

Another camera angle recorded a head-on image when the bridge collapsed, shocking everyone. Accordingly, a truck had just gone all the way to the first span of the bridge when the bridge suddenly collapsed into the river, engulfing the whole truck and falling straight into the river. Fortunately, a man on a motorbike and some vehicles behind him stopped in time.

Phong Chau Bridge is a bridge across the Red River on National Highway 32C, connecting Lam Thao and Tam Nong districts in Phu Tho province. The bridge has a route at Km18 300 National Highway 32C, connecting Phung Nguyen commune, Lam Thao district with Van Xuan commune, Tam Nong district.

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