Phong Chau Bridge Collapse: Phu Tho proposes sending special forces 'frogmen' to search for victims

According to Vietnamnet, on the afternoon of September 27, Mr. Bui Van Quang, Chairman of the People's Committee of Phu Tho province, signed a document to the Ministry of National Defense requesting support in resolving the incident at Phong Chau bridge.

According to the above document, from September 9 to now, the Provincial Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue has mobilized forces to search for missing people due to the collapse of Phong Chau bridge, however, the implementation process still faces many difficulties.

Based on the above reality, Phu Tho province requests the Ministry of National Defense to pay attention and help increase specialized forces (frogmen) to help the province as soon as possible to search for missing people.

"During the process of rescue, salvage, and recovery of sunken vehicles due to the Phong Chau bridge collapse, if any difficulties or complications arise, the Provincial Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue will report and request assistance from the Ministry of National Defense," the document of Phu Tho province stated.

As reported by PLVN newspaper, at around 10am on September 9, Phong Chau bridge in Phu Tho province collapsed. The initial cause was determined to be due to the water level on Thao river (Red river) rising very high, the strong flow swept away the T7 pillar and two main spans (spans 6 and 7 on the right bank of Thao river, in Tam Nong district).

Nearly 20 days after the Phong Chau bridge collapse, rescue forces have found 4 victims and are continuing to search for 4 missing people.

According to a report from Phu Tho province, at the time Phong Chau bridge collapsed on September 9, there were 5 cars on the bridge that fell into the river, including: 1 tractor-trailer truck, 1 truck and 3 cars; 4 motorbikes (3 gasoline motorbikes, 1 electric motorbike).

According to Dan Tri, Mr. Tran Hoai Giang, Director of the Department of Transport of Phu Tho province, has just reported to the People's Committee of Phu Tho province on the investment plan to build a new Phong Chau bridge to replace the bridge that collapsed on September 9. This is being carried out in accordance with the Prime Minister's direction on urgently researching and investing in the construction of a new Phong Chau bridge on National Highway 32C.

The Department of Transport of Phu Tho province said it has directed the Project Management Board for Investment in Construction of Civil and Industrial Traffic Works to coordinate with the Transport Design Consulting Corporation - JSC (TEDI) to survey and develop a design plan for the new Phong Chau bridge at the old bridge location (km18 300 National Highway 32C).

The total length of the project is about 1km, of which the new Phong Chau bridge is 400m long, the approach road connecting to the inter-regional traffic route is 600m long.

Regarding the design plan, the Phu Tho Department of Transport said that the new Phong Chau bridge and the approach road are designed to ensure compliance with the planning of Phu Tho province for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, approved by the Prime Minister.

In particular, the new Phong Chau bridge is designed according to the balanced cantilever bridge plan of reinforced concrete and prestressed reinforced concrete; the total width of the bridge is 21.5m including 4 lanes for motor vehicles, 2 lanes for non-motor vehicles, median stri.p, safety stri.p and bridge railing.

The new Phong Chau bridge approach road connects to the 600m long inter-regional traffic route, which is designed to be upgraded and expanded to ensure the scale of a level III plain road, with a design speed of 80km/h.

The total investment for the construction of the new Phong Chau bridge is 875 billion VND; the investment capital comes from the central budget.

To promptly resolve the traffic disruption and help people stabilize their lives, the Department of Transport of Phu Tho province requested the People's Committee of Phu Tho province to report to competent authorities for guidance on the procedures for implementing the investment in the construction of the new Phong Chau bridge in the form of emergency public investment.

At the same time, it is allowed to apply a special mechanism in the organization of selecting contractors to implement all project packages in the form of shortened bidding to speed up the progress of construction investment implementation.

Phong Chau Bridge Collapse: Tractor Trailer Driver Found Trapped in Cabin Thiên Di15:34:55 21/09/2024According to Cong Thuong newspaper, on the evening of September 20, Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Tam Nong district (Phu Tho province) confirmed that he had found the tractor-trailer driver trapped in the cabin in the Phong Chau bridge collapse (Tam Nong district, Phu Tho province) that...