Vietnam's Dragon Bridge Actually Breathes Out Fire!

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Though bridge designs have come a long way since humans began using fallen tree trunks or stones to get across stretches of water, they have until now been boring inert structures. That however changed on March 29th, 2013, with the unveiling of Vietnam's Dragon bridge. It not only resembles the legendary mythical creature, but also, acts like it, by breathing out fire!

Located in the city of Da Nang, the steel structure spans a total of 666 meters (2,185 feet) in length and 37.4 meters (122.70 feet) in width. On the side lies the 128 meter (420 feet) creation that resembles the Ly Dragon, a creature believed by locals to bring good fortune. The coolest part is that on special occasions, the dragon head, which is lit up with 2,500 LED lights, can be switched on to shoot out not just fire, but also, water!

Designed by U.S. based Louis Berger Group, the spectacular bridge that has been under construction since 2009, cost a whopping 1.7 trillion Vietnamese dong ($81.6 mm USD). Commissioned to celebrate the 38th anniversary of the city's liberation during the final days of the country's war with the US, the bridge connects the Da Nang International airport to the area's most popular beaches.

If that is not impressive enough, on the same morning, the city also inaugurated another cool-looking bridge - The sail shaped 731 meter (2,398 feet) long Tran Thi Ly bridge. Built over the Han river, this 1.7 trillion ($81.6 mm USD) Vietnamese dong investment connects the downtown area with the most popular coastal districts - Fortunately in this case, the bridge does not sail away!

Resources: wtkr.com,english.vietnmam.vn, globalpost.com

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544 Comments
  • chiyoakari
    chiyoakariover 4 years
    Happy real late Birthday! (28 days late)
    • lovepup1
      lovepup1over 4 years
      My B-day is Tomorrow
    • lovepup1
      lovepup1over 4 years
      I have seen that before!!!
      • dragon slayer 1over 5 years
        super crazy wicked cool
        • fuwesycafyfome
          fuwesycafyfomeover 5 years
          i love dragons
          • Firstbourneover 5 years
            oh wolfdog YES THEY WERE! Unicorns were physical appearences, while dragons are spiritual. Unicorns didn't look like how we pictured them, they were actually pretty ugly.
            • drac
              dracover 5 years
              Cool. Mythical Creatures like Dragons, Gryphons, Basilisk, etc are awesome. I definitely know that these creatures excisted once, and Cressida Cowell, Tui T. Sutherland, etc have definitely improved on that.
              • AndOCATalmost 6 years
                wow that is so cool I want to go there sometime on the bridge.
                • Firstbourne almost 6 years
                  I love dragons they are my favorite animal did you know that once dragons were actually real, and so were unicorns.The unicorns went extinct 450,000,000 years ago.
                • Bob Suvillianabout 6 years
                  I have never seen it in real life but heard it also breathes water aswell. Am I correct?
                  • oops
                    oopsover 4 years
                    Yes. It says in the article that it breathes water and fire.