ike many other cities worldwide, HCM City lies on the banks of a river. The city also has a network of waterways. As a result, it needs bridges to ensure ease of movement.

As to how many bridges Saigon has, statistics vary from one source to another. It’s understandable because more bridges are always being built. The most reliable sources say that about 350 bridges of various sizes span the city’s big and small rivers and canals. In total, these bridges have a length of over 17 kilometers.

Most bridges were built before 1975 which was when Vietnam was reunited. But several bridges of a bigger scale that have a lot of influence on the economic and social life of Saigonese were built in the past decade or so.

Cu Mng, Mong Bridge, was the city’s first modern” bridge in the sense that it was designed according to proper technical specifications. Constructed in two years, 1893-1894, the bridge linked District 1 and District 4, which are separated by the Ben Nghe Arroyo. Arroyo is a Spanish word introduced by the French and it refers to waterways that are not long rivers.

The 128-meter long, 5.2-meter wide Mong Bridge had an arch shape. Mng is an informal Vietnamese word for rainbow. To local people, the steel bridge was unique in that it had no piers. It was built by the Saigon branch of the famous French construction company Eiffel. A few years ago, to make way for the construction of the Thu Thiem Tunnel, which will run under the Saigon River, Mong Bridge was dismantled. But there is a plan to reinstate the bridge after the tunnel is completed.

Some historians say Cu Sn, Son Bridge, is arguably the oldest remaining bridge in the city. Built by the end of the 19th century in an area where sn trees were planted for their resin, the bridge was named after the plant. This bridge, 19 meters long and 11 meters wide, is now on Xo Viet Nghe Tinh Street, linking wards 25 and 26 of Binh Thanh District.

Before Vietnam’s reunification, Binh Loi Bridge was notorious as a place where people who had lost their taste for life drowned themselves in the swift currents of the Saigon River. Historically speaking, however, Binh Loi was the first important bridge in easing transport to and from the city of Saigon. It was put into operation in 1902 by the French administration. Nowadays its notoriety has faded, but Binh Loi remains a gateway to HCM City, especially as it is a bridge for the railroad.

Similarly important is Cu Ch Y, Chu Y Bridge, which has a Y shape. Built from 1938 to 1942, the bridge is at the junction of four arroyos, namely Ben Nghe, Tau Hu, Kenh Doi and Kenh Te. The bridge helps link District 5 with District 8, and, subsequently, District 7. It has played an important role in stepping up business and transport links between the rich District 5 and the poor District 8.

Just as Binh Trieu I and II bridges are the inner city’s gateway to the north, and Tan Thuan I and Tan Thuan II bridges are the gateway to the southeast, Binh Dien I and II bridges link the city to the west. These bridges have at least one thing in common: they are all in pairs, and the second of the pairs was built after reunification.

However, the longest and perhaps best known bridge in town is Saigon Bridge, which links Dien Bien Phu road in Binh Thanh District in the inner city with the Hanoi Highway in District 2. The bridge was built by a U.S. company, Johnson-Drake and Piper, from November 1958 to June 1961. It has 22 spans totaling 1,010 meters. Since its commission, Saigon Bridge has remained the most important gateway to the city.

In 1998, Saigon Bridge had a major overhaul with financial assistance from France. Preyssinet, a French bridge construction company that also built Chu Y Bridge, was in charge of expanding the width of the bridge from 19.63 meters to 24 meters.

The next big bridge in Saigon to be completed is likely to be Thu Thiem Bridge. To link the inner city with Thu Thiem new urban center in District 2, the bridge will be 1,250 meters long and so will beat Saigon Bridge in length. The main bridge will have five spans with a total length of 370 meters and a width of 28 meters.

Thu Thiem Bridge is expected to be in use by the end of this year. Hopefully, after many delays, the bridge will help tap the potential of the far bank of the Saigon River.