In the resort city of Nha Trang, more than 2,000 families in Vinh Ngoc Commune are only a river away from the city's center.
In the past, the only way to get downtown was a circuitous 7-km route circumventing the water.
In 2001, local residents contributed their own money to build a wooden bridge, called Phu Kieng, across the Cai River, to shorten the travel time.
Since then, the bridge – 280m long and 1.5m wide – has been the only route linking the commune with the rest of the city's urban center.
After many years, the bridge has grown weak, and many people have expressed concerns about driving over it every day, especially at night.
The bridge's original pillars were built of wood and concrete, but most of them became damaged over time.
In recent years, the bridge has been reinforced with steel bars, but those bars have now also become rusty.
In the middle of the bridge, people have placed steel sheets around 1m wide each to reinforce the surface.
To cross the bridge, each driver must pay VND1,000-5,000 (4.1-21 U.S. cents) depending on the load of the vehicles.
A section of the bridge already collapsed once in 2018, sending four people and three motorbike into the river.
Luckily, there were no fatalities.
When the flooding season arrives, the bridge is closed and people must return to use the long, contour road to get to the city center.
