Kiền Bridge

Kien Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge with a harp system.^[1] The length of the bridge is 1,186 m (3,891 ft), with its span 200 m (660 ft) long.^[1] It is a key link on Vietnam's National Route 10 by providing a path across the Cấm River in Haiphong, which ultimately helps travelers more easily navigate through the Red River Delta.^[2]

Before the opening of the Kien Bridge, going between the river banks required travel by either boat or ferry.^[2] Construction began in 2001 as a joint venture between a Japanese and Vietnamese company. The building process required a diverse range of methods to address the complicated geology of the riverbed in the area.^[2] This included the installation of a nearly 100 m (330 ft) crane tower as well as using the cantilever method.^[2] During construction, the crane mounted 110 box girder blocks weighing 14,300 tons.^[2] As a cable-stayed bridge, construction required the tensioning of 375 tons of prestressed cable to make up the 36 pairs.^[2] Overall, it was estimated that the building of the Kien bridge required 5,000m³ of reinforced concrete and 6,910 tons of steel.^[3]

The bridge's inauguration took place on September 28, 2003. The bridge connected Haiphong City of Quang Ninh Province with the Northeast and North Central regions of Vietnam, creating a road between the two communes An Hong and Kien Bai Haiphong. It quickly became a popular route as industrial development in the region led to a regular flow of tractor-trailers using the bridge.^[4] Its lack of maintenance gradually led to the degradation of the road's surface.^[5] In 2014, the news outlet Thanh Nien described the potholes as "a Matrix of Elephant Nests" and reported serious, sometimes fatal, traffic accidents occurring due to road's deterioration.^[5] There were further reports of warped railings and damaged expansion joints.^[5] In 2021, officials approved extensive repairs of the roads of National Highway 10, including the road between Da Bac Bridge and Kien Bridge.^[6]