 |
| The Thuan An overpass bridge - a span carrying the aspiration to reach out to the open sea. (Photo: Hoang Le) |
Thuan An is Hue’s second overpass bridge, with a total investment of over 2,400 billion VND. It is currently the longest sea-crossing bridge in Central Vietnam. The excitement of the opening day took me back to a story from nearly 40 years ago. In 1978, despite facing enormous difficulties, Binh Tri Thien Province still found the funds to build the Thuan An bridge across Tam Giang Lagoon - nearly a full kilometer long. On the day of its inauguration, the entire town of Thuan An and the surrounding communities were too overjoyed to sleep. And I later heard that in 2003, when Truong Ha - the second bridge across Tam Giang Lagoon - was inaugurated, many elderly people dressed in traditional ao dai and turban headwear walked back and forth across the bridge repeatedly, just as we did today, overwhelmed with happiness. Even in their dreams, they had never imagined there could be such a bridge.
Having spent nearly my entire life here, I understand the peculiarities of Hue. This ancient capital has the beautiful Hương River, Tam Giang Lagoon spanning over 22,000 hectares, the largest in Southeast Asia, and a remarkably long coastline stretching over 120 km. Although rivers, lagoons, and a long coastline are advantages, they are also the root cause of division, isolation, and the fragmentation of communities that our ancestors lamented as being “separated by rivers and waterways” - holding back the development of an entire region. The story of the place name Ca Cut illustrates this poignantly. When the lagoon was too vast to cross easily by boat, the narrowest point - where the Ca Cut dock was located - became the most convenient crossing of Tam Giang Lagoon, and that evocative name, like the cry of a ferryman, was born.
Bridges across Hue’s rivers have existed for hundreds of years. On the Hương River alone, Truong Tien is considered the first modern bridge, now over 120 years old. Historical records trace the origins of this iconic Hue bridge back to the reign of King Le Thanh Tong (1460–1497), when it was woven from rattan. Alongside Truong Tien bridge, which has been renovated many times, a series of well-known modern bridges have been built over the past century, including Phu Xuan, Da Vien, and the most recent, Nguyen Hoang. There are also Kim Long, Dap Da, Cho Dinh, and the Bach Ho railway bridge spanning the romantic Hương River. The bridges over the Huong River do not merely connect the two banks but also enrich and celebrate the beauty of this legendary river.
Crossing the lagoon, after Thuan An, Truong Ha, and Tu Hien bridges, there is also the Tam Giang Bridge, built at the very spot of the old Ca Cut ferry crossing that once carried so much longing. These four major bridges have greatly improved the transport network, and the socioeconomic landscape of the Tam Giang lagoon region has grown increasingly vibrant, with people’s livelihoods steadily improving. More than ten years after the Truong Ha bridge was built, a local leader of Vinh Thanh Commune (now merged into Phu Vinh) shared that Vinh Thanh market had doubled in size and was still overwhelmed with activity. Goods flowed freely, and the price of seafood doubled compared to before. For example, squid that once sold for 40,000 VND/kg could now fetch 90,000 VND/kg. I appreciate concrete figures, and that simple but telling calculation has stayed with me ever since.
Returning to the Thuan An overpass bridge, in recent days, history has been recalled about a small channel that opened in the 17th century following heavy storms, lying between the two villages of Thai Duong Thuong and Thai Duong Ha. Historic rains in 1909 widened that channel further, forming the new Thuan An sea inlet. The most immediate significance of the newly completed bridge is that it reunites two villages separated for over a century. The broader socioeconomic importance is still difficult to measure right now, but it is tied to Hue’s urban development vision of expanding toward the sea, with a focus on the coastal road and the Thuan An overpass bridge. We can certainly hope for the roughly 1,500 hectares of urban development land that will open up here.
The story remains very much “in the heat of the moment,” as three more bridges over Tam Giang Lagoon are now moving forward with investment and construction plans. Specifically, these are: a bridge connecting Phu Vang Commune with Phu Vinh Commune, Ha Trung Bridge (connecting Phu Vang Commune and Vinh Loc Commune), and Vinh Tu Bridge (connecting Quang Dien Commune and Phong Quang Ward). With a total projected investment of nearly 3,500 billion VND, these projects carry significant importance not only for transport but also as catalysts for local socioeconomic development, national defense and security, and disaster prevention and response.
And so, alongside opening up movement and eliminating isolation, the goal that Hue City is pursuing is to unlock development horizons for an entire region that is still searching for ways to overcome its challenges and rise in an era of rising up.