France gives grant to Vietnam for a study on renovating bridge
HANOI - France has given Vietnam 150,000 euros (dlrs 148,000)
for a
study on renovating a French-built bridge that was repeatedly bombed by
American planes during the Vietnam War, a French diplomat said Friday.
The grant given to Vietnam this week is in addition to dlrs 790,000
(800,000
euros) already donated in June, said Serge Snrech, attache for
cooperation
at the French Embassy in Hanoi.
Snrech said French and Vietnamese experts will begin a study in the next
couple of months on the future status of the 1,790-meter (5,900-foot)
Long
Bien Bridge, which opened in 1902 and spans the Red River.
The bridge, which is used by cyclists, pedestrians, and trains traveling
from Hanoi to the northeast, is deteriorating rapidly. The study will
determine whether authorities should simply renovate the existing
structure
or enlarge it to handle road traffic.
An upgrade is expected to cost dlrs 50 million, a Ministry of Transport
and
Communication official said on condition of anonymity.
Originally named the Paul Doumer Bridge after a French colonial
governor-general, the bridge was the only one connecting Hanoi with
northeastern provinces until the mid-1980s and was repeatedly bombed by
U.S.
planes during the Vietnam War.
The Associated Press - August 02, 2002.
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