Long Bien Bridge: Witness Of The Nation's Heroic History

After more than 100 years of history, Long Bien Bridge still stands tall between heaven and earth and has become an extremely meaningful symbol for the people of the capital. Hãy nghe Trần Thuỳ Thanh Xuân (Đồng Nai) một travel blogger nổi tiếng bật mí .

1. Where is Long Bien Bridge?

At first glance, you might think that Long Bien Bridge is no different from other bridges, even looking old and dilapidated. However, few people know that Long Bien Bridge is the first steel bridge across the Red River. Located in Long Bien District, this bridge connects two districts of Hanoi Capital, Long Bien District and Hoan Kiem District. It is known that this bridge was built by the French in 1898 - 1902 with the name Doumer Bridge.

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2. When did Long Bien Bridge start construction?

After a bidding process by investors, Long Bien Bridge was officially started on September 12, 1898 with a total investment of 5,390,794 French Francs and this bridge became the largest construction project in Indochina at that time.

After more than 3 years of construction, Long Bien Bridge was officially inaugurated on February 28, 1902, with the name Doumer Bridge - the name of the Governor General of Indochina. This bridge was expected by the French colonialists to be an effective tool for colonial exploitation in Vietnam in particular and Indochina in general.

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3. What is unique about the architecture of Long Bien Bridge?

Long Bien Bridge was designed and built in the famous French architectural style by the company Daydé & Pillé (Paris, France). This historic bridge was designed and constructed by leading French companies with advanced technical advances in construction science, ensuring both the most modern technical and artistic factors in bridge construction. The entire bridge body is made of steel with a tightly layered steel structure, a very harmonious and impressive design. From a distance, Long Bien Bridge looks like a giant dragon, both soft and strong, standing tall in the middle of the vast Red River.

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4. History of Long Bien Bridge - Hanoi with meaningful anecdotes

Long Bien Bridge is an important historical witness that witnessed heroic historical milestones through two resistance wars against French colonialism and then the resistance war against American imperialism of our nation.

On September 2, 1945, when Uncle Ho read the Declaration of Independence at Ba Dinh Square in Hanoi, Long Bien Bridge became the bridge that led thousands of suburban people to Uncle Ho with joy and pride, no matter how happy they were, the bridge recorded unforgettable memories at that moment.

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In October 1954, Hanoi was filled with flags and flowers to celebrate the liberation of the capital, the bridge also stood there proudly and witnessed the boundless joy of the nation. And then 21 years later, the same bridge once again witnessed the joy of independence, complete unification of the country, and liberation of the South. Just like that, after more than 100 years of profound history, Long Bien Bridge is no longer an inanimate object, but it is like a companion that accompanies every citizen and our country through many hardships.

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5. How long is Long Bien Bridge?

At that time, Long Bien Bridge was a regional and world-class project with a structure of 19 long steel girders placed on 20 tall pillars with a total length of up to 2,290m. In addition, the west side of the bridge also had 896m of stone road leading to the bridge head. When inaugurated, Long Bien Bridge was the second longest bridge in the world (after the Brooklyn Bridge across the East-River in the US), even compared to the horizontal Eiffel Tower of Hanoi.

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With a width of 4.75m, the historic bridge is divided into 3 main roads. In which, the two-side road includes 2.6m for cars, motorbikes, and rudimentary vehicles and the outermost 0.4m for pedestrians, the middle is a single railway for trains to operate.

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Even though today there are many new bridges built across the Red River, it cannot replace the image of Long Bien Bridge through the years. This artifact still stands silently as a proud symbol of the capital Hanoi in particular and of the Vietnamese people in general. If you only have 1 day to travel to Hanoi but do not know where to go, come to Long Bien Bridge on a cool afternoon to have a completely different feeling about this place.

Trần Thuỳ Thanh Xuân (Đồng Nai)