At dawn on December 9, sixth-grader Pham Nguyen Minh Nhat of Cao Thang Secondary School waited with his mother on the river’s north bank for a boat to take him to the south bank for class. Each trip carries five to eight students. Before departure, the boat operator instructs the children to wear life jackets and maintain order. The vessel, owned by a resident of Xuan Ngoc Cluster, is temporarily transporting students and residents while local authorities prepare a safer canoe service.
Before it was swept away, the Phu Kieng wooden bridge—nearly three meters wide and 350 meters long—served as the primary route for residents of the Xuan Ngoc, Hon Nghe 1, and Hon Nghe 2 clusters on the north bank. After the historic mid-November floods, the bridge collapsed and has yet to be restored. To reach the ward center, residents now must travel more than 10 kilometers around the river or take a small boat across.
Nguyen Thi Nam, 63, said her family has had to hire motorcycle taxis to take her three young grandchildren along the long detour, costing the household millions of Vietnamese dong each month. She hopes authorities will soon build a concrete bridge to ease the hardship residents face every rainy season.
Nguyen Xuan Thuan, 63, of Bac Nha Trang Ward, built the wooden Phu Kieng bridge 24 years ago to provide access and collect maintenance fees. This year’s floods rose too quickly for him to dismantle the structure in time. He is now hiring workers to recover reusable steel beams and wooden planks to erect a temporary bridge, a task expected to take about a month. “This area has already been zoned for a concrete bridge. I will request permission to shift the temporary bridge closer to the approved location so residents have a crossing while waiting for the new bridge,” he said.
Mr. Nguyen Chi Dung, Vice Chairman of the Tay Nha Trang Ward People’s Committee, said that while awaiting the bridge’s restoration, the ward has assigned technical departments to allocate funding to hire canoes to ferry students across the river at fixed times, ensuring safety.
The Khanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee approved the construction of the new Phu Kieng Bridge—a nearly 370-meter reinforced concrete structure with a total investment of nearly VND600 billion on December 3. The project, managed by the Provincial Development Project Management Unit, will link Xuan Ngoc Cluster on the north bank with Luong Dinh Cua Street on the south bank.
Implementation will run from 2025 to 2027. The bridge is intended to complete the urban traffic network, strengthen connectivity across the Cai River, and expand the urban space of Tay Nha Trang Ward.
