Long Biên Bridge ( vi, Cầu Long Biên) is a historic

cantilever bridge A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beams; however, large cantilever bridges designed ...

across the Red River that connects two districts, Hoàn Kiếm and

Long Biên Long Biên (Vietnamese), also known as Longbian ( <

Eastern Han Chinese

: *''lioŋ-pian/pen'';Schuessler, Ax ...

of the city of

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. It was originally called ''Paul Doumer Bridge''.

History

The bridge was built in 1899–1902 by the architects Daydé & Pillé of Paris, and opened in 1903.Long Bien: Historic Hanoi bridge with an uncertain future
by Petroc Trelawny, BBC News Magazine, 18 August 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2013. Before North Vietnam's independence in 1954, it was called ''Paul-Doumer Bridge'', named after

Paul Doumer Joseph Athanase Doumer, commonly known as Paul Doumer (; 22 March 18577 May 1932), was the President of France from 13 June 1931 until his assassination on 7 May 1932. Biography Joseph Athanase Doumer was born in Aurillac, in the Cantal ''dépar ...

– The Governor-General of French Indochina and then French president. At in length, it was, at that time, one of the longest bridges in Asia. For the French colonial government, the construction was of strategic importance in securing control of northern Vietnam. From 1899 to 1902, more than 3,000 Vietnamese took part in the construction.

Vietnam War

It was heavily bombed during

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

due to its critical position (the only bridge at that time across the Red River connecting Hanoi to the main port of

Haiphong Haiphong ( vi, Hải Phòng, ), or Hải Phòng, is a major industrial city and the third-largest in Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the center of technology, economy, culture, medicine, education, science and trade in the Red River delta. Haiphong wa ...

). The first attack took place in 1967, and the center span of the bridge was felled by an attack by 20

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

(USAF)

F-105 The Republic F-105 Thunderchief is an American supersonic fighter-bomber that served with the United States Air Force from 1958 to 1984. Capable of Mach 2, it conducted the majority of strike bombing missions during the early years of the Viet ...

fighter-bombers on 11 August. CIA reports noted that the severing of the bridge did not appear to have caused as much disruption as had been expected. On 10 May 1972 the bridge was attacked in the first

Operation Linebacker Operation Linebacker was the codename of a U.S. Seventh Air Force and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 air interdiction campaign conducted against North Vietnam from 9 May to 23 October 1972, during the Vietnam War. Its purpose was to halt or slow the ...

attacks in response to the North Vietnamese

Easter Offensive The Easter Offensive, also known as the 1972 spring–summer offensive ('' vi, Chiến dịch Xuân–Hè 1972'') by North Vietnam, or the red fiery summer (') as romanticized in South Vietnamese literature, was a military campaign conducted b ...

. On 13 May the USAF announced that several spans of the bridge had been destroyed by

laser-guided bomb A laser-guided bomb (LGB) is a guided bomb that uses semi-active laser guidance to strike a designated target with greater accuracy than an unguided bomb. First developed by the United States during the Vietnam War, laser-guided bombs quickly p ...

s (LGB). On 9 August the USAF announced that another LGB attack had disabled the newly repaired bridge. On 11 September the USAF attacked the bridge again as repairs were nearing completion. The defence of Long Bien Bridge continues to play a large role in Hanoi's self-image and is often extolled in poetry and song.

Modern day

Some parts of the original structure remain intact, while large sections have been built later to repair the holes. Only half the bridge retains its original shape. A project with support and loan from the French government is currently in progress to restore the bridge to its original appearance. Today trains, mopeds, bicycles and pedestrians use the dilapidated bridge, while all other traffic is diverted to the nearby Chương Dương Bridge and some newly built bridges: Thanh Trì Bridge, Thăng Long Bridge, Vĩnh Tuy Bridge, and Nhật Tân Bridge. Under the bridge, poor families live in boats on the Red River, coming from many rural areas of Vietnam.

Image gallery

File:Cầu Long Biên.jpg, The pedestrian and two-wheeled vehicles pathway File:Long Bien Bridge 3796900232 1922457f90.jpg, The bridge's iron beams File:HanoiLongBienBridge.jpg, The bridge in 1915 Image:Long_bien_bridge.jpg, Long Biên Bridge as seen from the Red River Image:Long Bien Bridge Sunset.jpg, Sunset over the Red River from the bridge

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Long Bien Bridge Hong River Bridges in Hanoi Bridges completed in 1903 Cantilever bridges Railway bridges in Vietnam Steel bridges