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Dong naiAlmost 100 police officers mobilized to rescue the 1,000-ton barge jammed with the Rach Cat iron bridge that crosses the Dong Nai River Arm, about 500 meters from the Ghenh Bridge, on the night of December 5.
The rescue force rescued the barge when the passenger train passed at a speed of 5 km / h. Image: Phuoc Tuan
At about 18:00, the barge is about 70 m long, 1,000 tons payload, no cargo on the Cai River, from Ho Chi Minh City to Dong Nai. Upon reaching the Rach Cat Railway Bridge towards the Dong Nai River, the barge gets stuck on the first girder of the bridge.
Faced with the risk of the bridge breaking at high tide, the rescue police mobilized about 100 soldiers to pump water, using anti-impact mattresses on the bridge walls … to sink the barge. Trains are allowed, but only at 5 km / h.
At 8:30 p.m., the rescue was complete. Colonel Le Quang Nhan, deputy director of Dong Nai Police, said that to remove the barge, the rescue team used many water pumps from the river to the cargo compartment. About 30 minutes, with an estimated hundreds of cubic meters of water, the barge has sunk and is returning downstream.
Traffic inspectors approaching the cockpit of the barge. Image: Phuoc Tuan
According to Colonel Nhan, the cause of the incident was because the barges crossed the bridge at high tide, causing them to get stuck. “By initially determining that the barge went wrong, violating the waterway traffic law, the authorities will work with the talent to verify the violation and handle it,” said Colonel Nhan.
Dong Nai Police Deputy Director said it has not been determined whether the railway bridge is damaged or not. Police will coordinate with the Department of Transportation and the Vietnam Railway Corporation to verify safety.
Rail personnel coordinated the handling of the incident of the barge stuck on the Rach Cat Bridge on the evening of December 5. Image: Phuoc Tuan
The Rach Cat Bridge over the Cai River, an arm of the Dong Nai River that flows around Pho Cuu and connects the districts of Hiep Hoa and Quyet Thang in the city of Bien Hoa, was built by the French in 1901. Along with the Ghenh Bridge, the Rach Cat Bridge was completed in 1904. This bridge only allows the passage of trains and motorcycles.
In March 2016, two Western workers who did not have a driver’s license were operating a barge carrying 800 tonnes of sand and, passing through rough waters, the Ghenh Bridge collapsed. The accident caused two sections of the bridge to fall into the river, many motorcycles on the bridge fell into the water but fortunately escaped.
More than three months after the incident, the new Ghenh Bridge was built at the previous location, helping to connect the North-South railway. The new bridge consists of 3 spans of 75 m, height of 13 m, it is designed as an arch, with a 2.4 m wide corridor for pedestrians and motorcycles.
Barge position is stuck under Rach Cat iron bridge. Image: Google Maps.
Phuoc Tuan
