In 2020, Hanoi piloted the project of clearing some bridge arches along Phung Hung Street connected to the walking street, but the project was later stopped and remains unfinished until now.
The urgent issue now is that the relevant agencies and units need to soon restart the project, in order to re-establish a diverse and vibrant cultural-architectural space, with unique and attractive cultural highlights right in the heart of the capital.
Unfinished project to clear the bridge arch
The railway section from Hanoi station - Phung Hung - Gam Cau - Long Bien station is about 1,300m long, built of stone, the lower section from Tran Phu street to Cua Dong is more than 400m long, solidly built, the higher section from Cua Dong street to Long Bien station is nearly 850m long, arch-style architecture, on the top of the arches are solidly built and the train tracks are laid.
According to the survey results, the entire route has a total of 130 arches, height from 2.6 to 4.9m, numbered from 2 to 131. Previously, the arches could be used for traffic, but later, due to the lack of security and order, environmental pollution in the area, in the 1980s, Hanoi city decided to fill in the rocks and soil and build a seal on both sides of all the arches, leaving only 4 arches for people to pass through.
Since 2017, Hanoi city leaders have had the idea of restoring these arches, with the desire to re-establish the ancient cultural space, associated with the walking street. It is expected that if the renovation of all the arches is completed, each arch is estimated to have an area of about 20m2 with the sidewalk, this "core area" of Hanoi's Old Quarter will be supplemented with an area of more than 7,000m2 for public cultural activities.
Implementing this plan, in 2020, the city piloted the drilling of 5 arches of the railway bridge south of Long Bien bridge, including arches 79 to 83, connecting from Hang Cot street to Hang Giay street to restore the original state, as a basis for realizing the Project "Cultural, commercial, service and tourism space in the area of 130 arches according to the policy of preserving, embellishing and promoting the value of the old quarter in the overall cultural heritage of Hanoi" of the Hanoi People's Committee.
The use of empty spaces under the arches of railway bridges with brick-stone structures is quite common in many urban areas around the world such as markets, shops, offices, clubs, etc.
Many countries have taken advantage of the arches under the railway lines, combining the streets on both sides to organize public spaces and pedestrian spaces as a unique feature and attraction for domestic and foreign tourists, such as the arched bridge streets in Paris (France), the arched bridge streets in Germany, London (UK), Argentina...
According to Mr. Tran Anh Tuan, Deputy General Director of Vietnam Railway Corporation, the idea of Hanoi authorities is that after completing the drilling, the bridge arches will be "changed", developed into a cultural, commercial and tourism service space, with specialized activities, such as: craft village handicraft area, public art area, culinary culture area, etc. to attract domestic and foreign tourists to visit, honoring craft village products, traditional cuisine and attractive cultural and tourism products.
In 2018, when the Phung Hung Street mural space was deployed on 17 arches (from the intersection of Le Van Linh Street to Hang Cot Street), depicting the life of old Hanoi, it attracted a large number of people and tourists to visit and take photos. Many people repeated the idea of turning Phung Hung into a walking space, connecting with the surrounding areas of Hoan Kiem Lake walking space such as Dong Xuan night market, Hang Duong, Hang Ngang, Hang Dao streets, becoming a unified entity, gradually expanding the walking space throughout Hanoi's Old Quarter. That means that Phung Hung Street area has great potential for cultural and artistic exchange.
Ms. Nguyen Pham Bao Tran, a tourist in Ho Chi Minh City, said that every time she goes to Hanoi, no matter how busy she is, she has to spend some time to look at Phung Hung mural street. When she has free time, she will hang out at a cafe along the train tracks to look at the streets, especially on beautiful autumn days like now.
“I have been to the Bastille viaduct area, which is the 'under-bridge street' (Viaduc des Arts route located on Daumesnil 1-129 avenue, Paris-France), similar to the railway arches in Hanoi. It is truly a tourist attraction that attracts many visitors, but for a long time, I have seen that along these old streets of Hanoi, there are only garbage dumps, car and motorbike parking lots that are very messy and unsightly. Hanoi should renovate and turn these railway arches into art streets, connecting heritage, cuisine, and trading in new cultural and tourism products that are worthy of the unique flavor of the capital,” said Ms. Bao Tran.
"Join hands" to exploit landscape values
In fact, the project to clear 130 bridge arches to preserve, restore and promote the value of the old quarter a few years ago only stopped at the initial stage and then sank into oblivion by the functional management agencies of the capital until now, leaving the dream of "awakening" the streets under the bridges after many years still unfinished.
According to Ms. Bao Tran, Hanoi city and the railway industry need to soon "join hands" to research and have a plan to effectively exploit the landscape value of this route, turning it into a community living space, a unique and attractive cultural highlight right in the heart of Hanoi capital. First of all, it is necessary to clear the bridge arches to open up the diverse and vibrant architectural space of the bridge arches as many cities in the world have done. Letting this situation last for many years is a huge waste.
Mr. Dang Sy Manh, Chairman of the Board of Members of Vietnam Railway Corporation, is also very concerned about the project of renovating the bridge arches. He invited the leaders of the People's Committee of Hoan Kiem District (formerly) to survey the railway section from Hanoi Station to Long Bien Station to find the most feasible solution to effectively exploit the bridge arches.
According to the latest update, in the fourth quarter of this year, Hanoi city plans to invite foreign consultants to conduct an assessment of the current situation and plan a project to clear the bridge's arch.
After the project is completed and handed over, Vietnam Railways Corporation will hire a redesign of the entire route to effectively exploit the area's space.
Mr. Tran Anh Tuan, Deputy General Director of Vietnam Railway Corporation, affirmed that among the structures, the arch structure has the highest safety factor and these bridge arches were built with French-era rubble stones, which are very solid. The sealing of the arches in the past was simply to ensure security and order, to prevent people from encroaching, and was not intended to reinforce the construction.
Monitoring results from the pilot project a few years ago also showed that after the excavation, the bridge arch structure was completely unaffected. Even during the excavation process, if there was a risk of cracking or sinking, the construction unit would reinforce it with a load-bearing steel arch frame, ensuring the safety of the train above.
While waiting for the project to clear the arch to be completed and put into general operation, in the immediate future, Vietnam Railways Corporation has planned to set up a project to renovate the upper part of the railway corridor with a length of 1.8km along Phung Hung Street to Long Bien Station, expected to be implemented at the end of this year and strive to complete by April 2026.
Because the project is located within the scope of train and road traffic, railway construction units are researching and agreeing on measures to ensure safety for the railway and road traffic below.
The upper part of the train corridor has a hand-wrought iron railing system, installed during the French period, which is still almost intact. The route will be painted, renovated and landscaped, turning it into a soft and brilliant train-flower road in the heart of the capital.
Source: https://nhandan.vn/danh-thuc-vom-cau-duong-sat-o-ha-noi-post915458.html
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