Pedestrian bridge built over downtown HCMC canal

Spanning 100 meters across and three meters wide, it connects Hoang Sa Street in District 1 with Truong Sa Street in Binh Thanh District.

The first ever pedestrian bridge over the canal, which took seven months to build, is situated between Thi Nghe and Dien Bien Phu bridges.

It consists of three steel-reinforced concrete spans.

The VND10 billion (US$410,622) bridge is part of a VND500 billion project by the National Power Transmission Corporation to install a 220kV underground electrical cable.

According to the Southern Power Management Board, the project manager, the original plan was to drill the canal's bed to dig a tunnel and lay the cables.

City authorities then came up with the idea of building a bridge to help people cross the canal and enjoy some recreation and to enhance the scenery.

A closer look at the footbridge across the Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe Canal in HCMC. Photo by VnExpress/Ha Giang

Running nearly 10 kilometers, the Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe Canal passes through Districts 1, 3, Binh Thanh, Phu Nhuan, and Tan Binh before emptying into the Saigon River.

A decade-long redevelopment has made it an attractive sight.

There are several more major vehicular bridges over it besides the earlier mentioned Thi Nghe and Dien Bien Phu, the others being Bong, Hoang Hoa Tham and Cong Ly.

There are also smaller bridges numbered from 1 to 8, all accessible to vehicles.