Current status of existing railway bridges in Vietnam: An overview of steel deficiencies

Currently, the deterioration of bridge conditions is causing many problems. Therefore, the work reported in this paper was carried out to survey the present condition of railway bridges in Vietnam, concentrating on steel deficiencies. Literature reviews were initiated to identify common defects with site inspections and personal interviews to ascertain their validity. Finding the defects draws an overall picture of Vietnamese railway bridges that are in poor physical condition, thus providing poor serviceability. Besides structural failure, local defects were already identified, consisting of corrosion, fatigue, functional obsolescence and aging. New problems that have been identified are human invasions and missing elements. It is widely considered that overload, collision impacts, adverse climate conditions and poor maintenance are the main causes. Additionally, this paper includes previous wars, improper data keeping, and elemental burglary as country-specific causes. It suggests that maintenance efforts should be prioritized to eliminate these deficiencies. Trained maintenance crews need to be established and further research should be carried out to create an adequate maintenance management system in Vietnam.