Section of Hue Imperial Citadel wall collapsed after 3 floods

A section of the Imperial City wall in Hue has collapsed due to prolonged flooding, causing serious damage to the heritage. The continuous floods over many days also threaten to damage many other Hue heritage structures.

On the morning of November 4, Mr. Hoang Viet Trung, Director of the Hue Monuments Conservation Center, said that a section of the wall that is more than 200 years old of the Hue Imperial Citadel collapsed because it could not withstand the pressure of the water from the Huong River, which was submerged for a long time during the recent historic flood.

Accordingly, at about 6:45 p.m. on November 2, when the third flood in Hue City rose, it caused a 15-meter-long section of the Imperial Citadel wall on Dang Thai Than Street to collapse, about 50 meters from Hoa Binh Gate.

The collapsed section of Hue Imperial Citadel wall

PHOTO: LE HOAI NHAN

"Immediately after the incident, the center fenced, covered and installed warning signs in the above area to ensure the safety of residents, tourists as well as officials and employees of the Center," said Mr. Hoang Viet Trung.

According to Mr. Trung, on the morning of November 3, the Hue Monuments Conservation Center invited representatives of the Department of Construction to survey, inspect, and initially assess the above incident.

The collapsed wall revealed the broken bricks.

PHOTO: LE HOAI NHAN

According to records, the collapsed wall consists of many separate bricks, lacking block cohesion. Observation with the naked eye can see that the wall was built in 3 layers, the inside and outside were built with bricks, the middle layer was filled with clay.

Bricks scattered from the collapsed section of the wall due to the flood

PHOTO: LE HOAI NHAN

In addition, some adjacent wall sections tend to lean inwards. Some sections show signs of cracking, weak structure, and are likely to continue to shift if impacted by heavy rain and prolonged water level rise.

Currently, the authorities have covered the area around the collapsed wall due to flooding.

PHOTO: LE HOAI NHAN

Heavy floodwaters caused landslides in a section of the city wall.

PHOTO: LE HOAI NHAN

After cleaning up after the flood, the Hue Monuments Conservation Center also recorded some initial damage, such as: the lake embankment at Tu Duc Tomb was eroded about 10 meters; the wooden column system in Dai Cung Mon corridor was soaked with water, threatening to affect the longevity of the structure.

Proposal to evaluate the collapse of the Hue Imperial Citadel wall

After the incident, the Hue Monuments Conservation Center reported and requested the Hue City People's Committee to direct the Department of Construction to preside over and coordinate with specialized agencies to conduct a comprehensive assessment; propose a handling plan, and report to competent authorities.

The Center also suggested that after the natural disaster ends, the Department of Culture and Sports of Hue City should preside over and coordinate with relevant units to conduct a survey and overall assessment of the current status of the Hue Imperial Citadel wall system and the stone embankment of Ngoai Kim Thuy Lake.

On that basis, the units will establish an investment project to preserve, renovate and restore the relic to ensure the sustainability and preserve the historical value of the project, with a total estimated cost of 300 - 500 billion VND.

Hue Imperial Citadel surrounded by floodwaters for many days

PHOTO: BUI NGOC LONG

Not only the wall collapse of Hue Imperial Citadel, relic sites in Hue heritage site in the past 3 consecutive floods also suffered significant damage.

Specifically, the Imperial Citadel area was flooded about 0.3 m, the palaces partly reached the porch; Minh Mang tomb flooded the court yard about 1.4 m, The Chuan palace porch 0.7 m; Gia Long tomb, the path along the lake was flooded 1.5 m; Thieu Tri tomb - court yard was flooded about 1.5 m; Thai Hoa Nam palace had about 3 steps with water reaching the palace floor; Tu Duc tomb was flooded about 1 m; Dong Khanh tomb was flooded about 1 m; An Dinh palace flooded about 2 m into the yard, the interior of Khai Tuong Lau was flooded 10 cm; other relic sites were partially flooded.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doan-tuong-hoang-thanh-hue-do-sap-sau-3-dot-lu-lut-185251104112342481.htm