The work to recover the Phong Chau Bridge from the Red River, approved by the Department for Roads of Vietnam, will be undertaken on an emergency footing.
The Phu Tho Province Department of Transport will appoint contractors and oversee it.
The salvage efforts will begin with the removal of vehicles not trapped inside the bridge portion that collapsed into the river using a 150-ton crane.
In the case of vehicles trapped inside the collapsed trusses, a 400-ton crane on land and two salvage vessels will be employed to lift the trusses clean out of the water. They will then be cut into smaller sections, towed to shore by tugboats and taken to a collection site by a 150-ton crane.
Once the steel trusses are cut, the vehicles trapped inside will be removed.
To salvage vehicles and bridge portions buried in the riverbed, a water jet and suction system will be used to clear the debris before proceeding with salvage operations.
A 400-ton crane and two salvage-equipped ships will be used to extricate the submerged concrete bridge deck, piers, piles, and foundations from the water.
Then excavators with concrete breakers will dismantle the damaged sections.
In the case of the collapsed T7 pier, which cannot be easily dismantled or towed, the roads department has yet to determine the cost of its salvage.
Buoys have been installed to warn waterway traffic of the underwater hazard, and the situation will be assessed once water levels recede.
The Phong Chau Bridge was built on National Highway 32C in 1995 to connect Lam Thao and Tam Nong districts in Phu Tho.
The 375-meter-long structure consisted of eight spans, with the outer ones made of prestressed reinforced concrete and the main ones of steel. The bridge piers were built with reinforced concrete.
On the morning of Sept. 9 Pier T7 collapsed, causing the sixth and seventh spans to plunge into the river even as vehicles were using the bridge.
A 2019 inspection of the bridge had deemed it safe for vehicle traffic and imposed no weight restrictions.
The intense rains and flooding brought by Yagi caused a rapid rise in the Red River and is thought to have altered the terrain around the bridge leading to the pier collapse.
According to official reports, 10 cars and two motorcycles fell into the swollen river.
The bodies of three of the eight people reported missing as a result have been recovered.
In the aftermath of the disaster, Phu Tho Province asked the government for approval to build a new, modern bridge at a cost of VND865 billion to replace the old one.
It will be 430 meters long and 21.5 meters wide.
Typhoon Yagi had winds reaching 201 kph after entering Vietnamese waters on Sept. 3, making it the strongest storm to hit Asia this year.
It claimed 299 lives, left 34 missing, and flooded over 70,000 houses.
Dashcam footage shows the moment Phong Chau Bridge in Phu Tho Province collapsed into the Red River on Sept. 9, 2024. Video provided to Read
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