Vietnam: Long Bien Bridge, originally the Paul Doumer Bridge, Hanoi (1925)

The Long Bien Bridge was erected by the French colonialists between 1899 and 1902 and named the Paul Doumer Bridge in honour of the then Governor of French Indochina (1897–1902).

It was designed and built by Dayde and Pille of Paris (the original plaques are still in place) and is 1,682 metres (5,518 ft) long, comprising 18 spans, with an additional lengthened central span of 106 metres (347 ft). It carries the only railway line between Hanoi and Haiphong, as well as two vital rail links with China; until the construction of the new Chuong Duong Bridge in 1985, it also carried the only road traffic across the Red River at Hanoi.

The Long Bien Bridge became a major target – perhaps the major target – of the United States Air Force during the Second Indochina War. At the height of the US bombing offensive it was defended by more than 150 Soviet-supplied SAM missiles, as well as massed batteries of anti-aircraft guns.

Although hit on numerous occasions, Vietnamese sapper teams working 24 hours a day generally managed to repair the bridge and restore communications within a remarkably short period of time.

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