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Vietnam’s longest wooden bridge destroyed by Typhoon Kalmaegi

Samira Vishwas | November 11, 2025 8:24 PM CST

By Tuan Anh &nbspNovember 10, 2025 | 07:22 pm PT

Ong Cop wooden bridge is destroyed after Typhoon Kalmaegi hit central Vietnam in November 2025. Photo courtesy of Tropical Trip Phu Yen

Once a popular photospot, the 800-meter Ong Cop wooden bridge across the Binh Ba River in Dak Lak Province was destroyed when Typhoon Kalmaegi hit last week.

A Tuy An Dong Commune People’s Committee official said heavy rains caused the river to rise, undermining the bridge’s piles and pillars.

Many of its sections were then washed away, and the toll station at the bridgehead had its roof blown off and was left tilting at an angle.

This is the fifth time the bridge has been severely damaged by storms, the most recent being in 2023.

“We plan to start rebuilding the bridge on Dec. 12 and complete it by the end of January 2026,” Nguyen Van Tanh of an investment unit said.

The bridge is also called the God of Tiger Bridge due to its proximity to a shrine where locals worship the feline deity to cure diseases and drive away evil.

For many years now the bridge has been a fixture on photo sharing network Instagram.

The longest wooden bridge in Vietnam was built in 1999 at a cost of VND1 billion (US$43,000) to link villages divided by the river.

It achieved popularity in 2017 after being featured in reality show “Vietnam Amazing Race”.

Many tourists choose to drive their motorbike across the bridge to reach Ghenh Da Dia, to see sights like hundreds of columns and plates rising up like a staircase, the 120-year-old Muong Lang stone church and O Loan Lagoon.

Kalmaegi, the 13th storm to hit Vietnam this year, began as a tropical depression over the central Philippines on Nov. 1.

It battered central Vietnam for five hours on Nov. 6, destroying numerous restaurants and resorts in popular beach town Quy Nhon.

Many parts of Gia Lai and Dak Lak, Vietnam’s coffee capital, were also damaged.