The Dakrong Bridge in Quang Tri Province, north-central Vietnam, which connects Vietnam’s National Highway 9 with Laos and Thailand, is at high risk of collapse.

Vehicles are required to pass through the bridge at a maximum speed of five kilometers per hour and keep a minimum distance of 175 meters from one another.

The Road Management Area II, the operator of the bridge, said on Saturday that it had dispatched officials to the bridge to regulate traffic around the clock.

Warning signs have been erected at the two sides of the bridge.

According to the bridge manager, the bridge has deteriorated and is on the verge of collapse.

Many cracks which are 0.1-0.2 millimeters wide have appeared on the surface of the fourth span of the bridge.

Each time trucks traverse the bridge, the spans resonate with intense vibrations, causing noticeable elongation in the outermost stay cable located south of the bridge, resulting in a rupture of the protective pipe surrounding the cable joint.

The situation will worsen quickly, according to the Road Management Area II.

Local authorities explained that the volume of traffic on the bridge has surged.

From August to December last year, more than 12,650 vehicles traveled through the La Lay International Border Gate to cross the Dakrong Bridge, with many of them exceeding its weight limit, according to the Quang Tri Department of Transport.

The provincial Traffic Safety Board and police have been tasked with checking vehicles seeking to pass through the bridge and handling violators.

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