One of the most disaster-prone countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Vietnam is no stranger to natural hazards like floods and landslides. In the past two decades alone, extreme weather events have caused more than 13,000 deaths and economic losses reaching as much as 1.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of natural hazards,  the Government of Vietnam recognizes that sustaining and even accelerating the country’s impressive growth will require concerted investments to make its infrastructure more resilient for the long-haul.

The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and the World Bank have been key partners in Vietnam’s efforts to advance resilient infrastructure, including the country’s national program to strengthen the resilience of rural roads and bridges.  

Over 1,200 kilometers of road and nearly 2,200 bridges have been rehabilitated to be more resilient, with the support of the World Bank through the $385 million Local Road Asset Management Program. As a result, over 11.3 million people, many of whom lived in communes that were often isolated by floods during the rainy season, now have access to all-season transport infrastructure.

In conjunction with these efforts, a pilot for the design and implementation of climate-resilient, ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) bridges in Vietnam was undertaken, with support from GFDRR. UHPC is a class of highly durable building material which is resilient to weather-related deterioration and reduces carbon emissions by about 30 percent. GFDRR support for the UHPC bridges was provided under the auspices of the Japan-World Bank Program for Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management in Developing Countries.

“The village residents are very happy with the bridge because it ensures stable access to both sides of the village, allowing children to go to school without disruption and residents to have access to the hospital throughout the year” -Mr. Mong Dinh Chuong, Chairman, Lam Vy Commune 

Under the pilot, bridges were rebuilt to incorporate UHPC in several provinces, including Thái Nguyên, Nghe An, and Tra Vinh in the country’s northeast.  For example, the Lang Co vehicular bridge, one of the pilot bridges rebuilt using UHPC, replaced a  temporary bridge which required repair and replacement various times every year throughout the rainy season. Another example of a bridge rebuilt using UHPC is Thang Long bridge, which is a major bridge linking the center of Hanoi with its main international airport.

A further priority for both the World Bank and GFDRR was to build the capacity of national and local authorities so that they can ensure that the rehabilitated infrastructure is well-maintained for the long-haul. For instance, support was provided toward the development of the Geospatial Road Asset Management System (GRAMS) which now serves as an integrated platform for national and local authorities to gather and analyze geospatial data critical for the maintenance and management of roads and bridges across Vietnam. This tool has enabled authorities to more strategically allocate expenditures toward road asset management.  Support was also provided toward a knowledge exchange between experts from the Department of Roads in Vietnam (DRVN), the private sector and universities in Vietnam and their peers from Japan on how to maintain assurance of the UHPC bridges.

Such capacity-building efforts extended beyond national and local authorities, and into the local community. For example, through the development of technical manuals for community-based maintenance and women-led rural road maintenance, among other support from the World Bank, community members have been actively involved in the maintenance of nearly 50,000 kilometers of road across Vietnam.

GFDRR and World Bank support for resilient roads and bridges in Vietnam is only the latest engagement by both institutions in advancing resilience in the Southeast Asian country.  For instance, previously, support had been provided to Resilient Shores, an in-depth and multi-sectoral analysis of natural risks in coastal Vietnam which has since informed efforts by Vietnam to balance the risks and opportunities of coastal development.