Long Bien Bridge

Long Bien Bridge crosses the Red River from Tran Nhat Duat Street at the north-eastern edge of Hanoi's Old Quarter to the Long Bien district, Vietnam. Designed by the French firm Daydé and Pillé and completed in 1903, it carried the first rail link between Hanoi and Haiphong and was the longest bridge in Asia at the time. During the war, American bombing repeatedly cut its spans, and the mismatched replacement sections left the steel structure with the uneven, patchwork silhouette it still has.

A single-track railway runs down the centre of the bridge, with narrow lanes for motorbikes and pedestrian walkways on either side. The crossing is made on foot among commuter traffic, with trains passing a few times a day, and the rhythm of rivets, girders and rust gives the walk a strong industrial character. The bridge is open 24 hours to pedestrians, cyclists and motorbikes, and there is no charge. A walk out and back takes about 45 minutes, and the full crossing is roughly 1.7 kilometres each way.

From the walkway, visitors see the wide brown Red River, boats, the dyke wall with its ceramic mosaic and, below the bridge, banana fields and vegetable plots on the mid-river sandbank. Stairs down to the sandbank are near the Long Bien end. The best light is late afternoon for sunset over the river, and photographers also visit at dawn when the ironwork is silhouetted against the mist. Trains passing while visitors are on the walkway are a spectacle, and visitors should stand clear of the tracks.

Safety needs attention. The walkways are narrow and worn, with gaps in places, and the motorbike lanes are close, so visitors should watch their footing and keep children close. The bridge is a ten-minute walk from Dong Xuan Market, and combines well with an Old Quarter visit and the ceramic mosaic mural along the dyke. Crowds are modest, and rush hours in the morning and late afternoon bring heavy commuter traffic.