Bãi Cháy Bridge


The Bãi Cháy Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge on Highway 18, connecting Hồng Gai with Bãi Cháy over the Cửa Lục Straits, separating Cửa Lục Bay with Hạ Long Bay, the territory of Quảng Ninh Province, Vietnam. Bãi Cháy Bridge was the first central-line cable-stayed bridge in Vietnam. At the time of its inauguration, it set a record as the longest central-line span of cable-stayed bridge.

Design

The bridge has two outer span of reinforced pre-stressed concrete box beams which are the widest of the world for this type of bridge. The towers are located on a huge pneumatic caisson foundation system, a modern construction technology first applied in Vietnam on this project. The bridge was constructed using a balanced cantilever technology, wherein the bridge beams reaching out over the water and the aligned ends connect at a head height of above the water level. This technique assured that vessels could still operate normally during the construction process.
The work was completed and opened to traffic on December 2, 2006. Bãi Cháy Bridge was built to address the needs of the people of Quảng Ninh, tourists inside and outside Vietnam, and also to end decades of operation of the Bãi Cháy ferry.

Technical details