Tran Hung Dao Bridge – Dong A (陳) Spirit – Sacred Dragon Spirit: The Mark Of A Heroic History

Tran Hung Dao Bridge – Concept won second prizeIn line with the development orientation of Hanoi City, considering the spatial axis along the Red River as the urban center, the City People’s Committee has approved the project of a bridge connecting Hoan Kiem and Long Bien districts named after one of the greatest generals in the history: Grand Prince Hưng Đạo. This is one of the half dozen bridges that cross the Red and Duong rivers that have been identified by Hanoi as a key connection direction in order to gradually shift the population structure of the South bank, especially the cramped old quarter to the North bank with much potential to be discovered.

Participating in the competition to select architectural plans for Tran Hung Dao bridge, the VTCO-KIDOHU consortium brought 3 options with ideas associated with the famous general Tran Hung Dao and the cultural refinement of the Tran dynasty, in which Option The 18th General Assembly (VT0002) with the theme Dong A’s spirit – Sacred Dragon Spirit was awarded the second prize by the organizers.

Dong A’s Spirit – The national spirit never dies

Dong A’s pride originates from the extract of the national family name of the Tran dynasty (the letter Tran is a compounding of two components, Dong (東) and A (阿)), which is the main spirit in the 3 great victories of Tran’s army and people against one of the most powerful Genghis Khan army in the world at that time. We are not just aiming for a simple traffic project, but also blowing a historical – cultural breeze into key architectural works such as Tran Hung Dao Bridge, so that any people, old man, a teenager or an international traveler will remember the proud times.

Bridge borrows an adaptation of the prototype of the Dragon of the Tran dynasty: free, comfortable but also very decisive, strong, carrier of the liberal and generous spirit of Dong A. The Dragon himself is also the mascot for the capital Ancient Thang Long, bringing opportunity and prosperity, the power to arise. The team participating in the direct competition is also the author of Phat Tich Bridge – Dai Dong Thanh (under construction in Bac Ninh Province), Thu Thiem 4 Bridge, Can Gio Bridge (First prize in architecture competition in Ho Chi Minh City).. .

Tran Hung Dao Bridge is designed with well comprehensive functions

The Tran Hung Dao option performs most functions based on the user’s requirements, including:

• Riverside park and the way up – down (4 stairs of Hoan Kiem bank and 2 stairs to the Long Bien bank, in addition, there is a way up for bicycles)
• Maintenance platform and observatory for key persons, providing national security.
• Touristic area, fireworks, rivers and traffic watching from above.
• Fireworks displays and water music system.

Fully express the mission of the architect, to bring happiness to all users and road users; observers from the park at both ends of the bridge, people moving on the river.

The bridge is designed with steel arches, permanent reinforced concrete abutment structures. The total length of the 5-span main bridge is 590 m, the width of the bridge is 33m. Tran Hung Dao Bridge has a very long water surface (nearly 1km), surrounded by a very long Long Bien dyke, but is moderated by altitude due to aviation regulations around the Gia Lam airport, only 47m high. From the surface of the water, if a single span is designed, the bridge will be caught amidst the waves of the Red River. Therefore, we are proposing a 5-span bridge option to balance the spread width of the water surface while meeting water transportation needs in the area. The bridge layout is separated into 5 spatial arrays: arch block (arch base, arch body), arch foot has also bridged pier, 2-layer balustrade block has the function of preventing wind for motorcyclists and sightseeing, cable-stayed system, riverside park block. The dome body is designed to use light-capture coated white composite steel, promising endless light parts.

Highlights of traffic planning in the area around the bridge

In addition to the arrangement of traffic on the bridge, we pay close attention to the assessment and provide solutions to the congestion around the bridge. In fact, as happened at the intersection of Ring Road 2 – Nga Tu So (Hanoi), a large flow of vehicles, traveling at high speed, when crossing with “core 0” will cause serious traffic congestion. Therefore, we came up with synchronous solutions to the possible congestion at this intersection. As a consequence, we designed separate viaduct spurs, dividing traffic just at the location of Nguyen Khoai Street. Vehicles going towards Vinh Tuy bridge will follow the flyover branch to turn left, vehicles going to Chuong Duong bridge will turn right and go to a separate bridge branch. This allows traffic sharing, considerably reducing the pressure on the Tran Hung Dao intersection.

At the beginning of the project, we came up with many different options for the intersection of Hoan Kiem and Long Bien banks. After considering the pros and cons of all options, we decided to apply the intersection with priority for separate branches, in order of priority for the direction of Tran Hung Dao – Long Bien, then to other directions. Turn right at the top and bottom of the bridge, turn left from Long Bien until you reach the Vinh Tuy bridge. Finally, from Tran Khanh Du – Nguyen Khoai street, turn left to the bridge. We also regulate traffic with high technology, using signaling lights connected with vehicle counter cameras, so that the light cycle is always adjusted at the same time as oncoming traffic. If there is a traffic jam at the intersection, the green light will be off-loaded to become a roundabout and reduce traffic. If the intersection of Tran Hung Dao street is well organized, it will also help reduce the load on the Chuong Duong bridge roundabout, increase the traffic capacity of the inner city to Long Bien, Dong Anh and neighboring provinces.

Arouse our nation’s aspiration

We tried to express traditional cultural elements in modern architectural language, bringing different visual effects when moving under 5 consecutive arches spreading wide with an 8-degree angle. The combination of light and dragon shape winding in the bustling urban space, like a golden dragon rising “waves” in the river, like the “living” rhythm of the most advanced city in Vietnam, like the flow of Hanoi’s 1000-year history has always been associated with the Red River.

Viet Nam, when King Hung built the country up to now, has experienced more than 4000 years of history of ups and downs. Respecting and preserving the core values ​​left by our forefathers, as a premise to reach out to the world, we believe that Tran Hung Dao Bridge has been becoming the work that reflects the most true development of the construction industry of the country, proving that Dong A’s spirit never goes out on “the sacred land of extraordinary people”.