Serious damage was discovered on 2 February, when inspectors from Hà Hai Railway found a complete break in a galvanised steel contact plate at the upper truss joint at span 18. The failure caused plated bars on both the upstream and downstream sides to separate, prompting immediate concerns for structural stability and the safety of rail operations and pedestrians.

As a result, Vietnam Railways Corporation halted services on the Hanoi-Gia Lâm section and diverted both passenger and freight movements. Continuous monitoring teams were deployed to protect pedestrian walkways, while engineering crews installed temporary steel frames and pile-column supports to stabilise the truss joint.

Carrying rail and pedestrian traffic across the Red River in the Viatnamese capital, Long Biên Bridge spans approximately 1.7km. The steel cantilever structure, designed and built by French engineering firm Daydé & Pillé, opened in 1902 with nineteen truss spans. Over its long service life it has undergone multiple interventions: several spans were destroyed during the Vietnam War and later replaced with temporary T66 and UYKM systems still in use today. Decades of corrosion, material loss and earlier patch repairs have resulted in widespread deterioration across key structural elements, with recent assessments categorising many French-era spans as moderately to severely corroded.

The Long Biên Bridge has suffered serious decay from decades of exposure, war-damage and growing traffic loads (Phunghung, via Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)

Emergency reinforcement of the damaged truss joint at span 18 is scheduled for completion by 11 February, after which load testing will determine whether light rail services can safely resume. Longer-term plans include a full structural inspection of span 18 and a comprehensive evaluation of the remaining steel truss spans. The findings will shape proposals for a major rehabilitation programme aimed at ensuring continued public safety and safeguarding the bridge’s historic value. The work aligns with a wider restoration initiative, including a French-funded study calling for enhanced structural resilience across the bridge.