World's largest fire-breathing dragon-shaped bridge

September 15, 2015 8:18 AM

In 2013, construction was finished on a bridge in Da Nang, Vietnam. It is six lanes wide, made of steel, has more than 2500 LED lights, is shaped like a dragon and can both breathe fire and spray water. The road is closed on weekend evenings for pyrotechnic shows.

A reinforced concrete bridge in Slovenia appears to be the only other dragon bridge. It does not breathe fire.

posted by jeather (26 comments total)

More like Da Dang.

I'll show myself out.
posted by Etrigan at 8:21 AM on September 15, 2015

YES

why is the bridge closed tonight SO IT CAN BREATHE FIRE

WHY DON'T WE HAVE MORE FIRE-BREATHING INFRASTRUCTURE
posted by mhoye at 8:28 AM on September 15, 2015 [26 favorites]

It would take very little to transform Brunel's wonderful Royal Albert Bridge into a very fine dragon.

People of the Peninsula! To your welders!
posted by Devonian at 8:30 AM on September 15, 2015

The road is closed on weekend evenings for pyrotechnic shows

If there isn't a sign that says: "Road temporarily closed due to dragon." They're doing it wrong.
posted by Fizz at 8:40 AM on September 15, 2015 [7 favorites]

US culture is just not whimsical enough. I don't know how you square that with the Donald Trump candidacy. but it's true.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 8:43 AM on September 15, 2015 [3 favorites]

WHY DON'T WE HAVE MORE FIRE-BREATHING INFRASTRUCTURE

Well, it does play havoc with the other, inflammable, infrastructure.
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:43 AM on September 15, 2015

Do be very proud of this technological terror you've constructed.
posted by Poldo at 8:46 AM on September 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

Well, it does play havoc with the other, inflammable, infrastructure.

It's pretty obvious that the water breathing is to put out fires it start by accident. It's a safety feature.
posted by jeather at 8:51 AM on September 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

For a fun time, compare what each of the articles says the bridge commemorates:

1 (Yahoo): The Dragon Bridge was unveiled on the 38th anniversary of the North Vietnamese forces capturing the city during the final days of the Vietnam War.

2 (My Modern Met): Opened on March 29, the 38th anniversary of the liberation of Da Nang City, the 666 meter long, 37.5 meter wide bridge has six lanes for traffic and two pedestrian sidewalks.

3 (Time): On March 29, government officials in Da Nang unveiled a new fire-dragon bridge to commemorate the 38th anniversary of the coastal city’s capture by North Vietnamese forces during the final days of the Vietnam War.

4 (Laughing Squid): The Dragon Bridge commemorates the 38th anniversary of the capture of Da Nang by North Vietnamese forces during the final days of the Vietnam War.

5 (The Verge): To celebrate the 38th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, authorities in the port city of Da Nang have opened the world's largest dragon bridge. (Why spin it when you can just be wrong?)

6 (Atlas Obscura): Opened on March 29, 2013, the bridge commemorates the 38th anniversary of the taking of the port city of Da Nang by the North Vietnamese near the end of the Vietnam War.

7 (Wired): The Vietnamese city of Da Nang has celebrated the 38th anniversary of its liberation during the Vietnam War by opening a new bridge in the shape of a giant dragon that breathes huge balls of fire.

8 (CNN): Located in the Vietnamese city of Da Nang, the U.S.-designed Rong Cao (Dragon Bridge) puts on fire-breathing shows every weekend. The Dragon Bridge opened in 2013. It's being seen as a symbol of the city's newfound prosperity. (Um...???)
posted by Sys Rq at 8:53 AM on September 15, 2015 [13 favorites]

i feel like they should've gone full monster truck rally and made it able to pick up a car and crunch it in its jaws but maybe that will be for the next fire breathing dragon bridge to aspire to.

also those people were really not expecting the water cannon.
posted by twist my arm at 8:56 AM on September 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

Wonderful art! Beautiful, whimsical, a great gift for the city. Poeple can spin that amazing dragon bridge any way they want, but it doesn't diminish the lyrical qualities, even the 666 references.

What an amazing event venue, and it shows great city unity, closing for weekend enjoyment, like a community toy.
posted by Oyéah at 9:00 AM on September 15, 2015

i feel like they should've gone full monster truck rally and made it able to pick up a car and crunch it in its jaws but maybe that will be for the next fire breathing dragon bridge to aspire to.

If they wanted that they just wouldn't have bothered to win the war.
posted by srboisvert at 9:00 AM on September 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

This is what I'm talking about when I say we should just cancel burning man and put that energy and creativity into the places we live. Why would you build a temporary fire-breathing dragon in the desert that only the privileged few can get to when you can build a permanent one that everyone can enjoy at home?

PERMANENT DRAGONS: THE SOLUTION TO OUR CRUMBLING INFRASTRUCTURE
which is ironic because according to legend dragons were hell on infrastructure
posted by phooky at 9:07 AM on September 15, 2015 [9 favorites]

One of the links says the approximate cost was $85 million? F-35s are what, 130? So for the cost of one arguably useless fighter jet the US could build our own AMERICAN dragon bridge that's twice as dragony and fiery and probably has explosions somehow. Build it on the Pont Champlain, sell it to Congress as a "border control" measure and jeather could see it from her home! I'm going to write to my congressperson.
posted by Wretch729 at 9:17 AM on September 15, 2015 [3 favorites]

i like how the abrupt switch to the water cannon reminds spectators that it is unwise to trust a giant firebreathing dragon.
posted by poffin boffin at 9:40 AM on September 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

this is art, transportation infrastructure, and important life lessons all in one awesome package.
posted by poffin boffin at 9:40 AM on September 15, 2015

MetaFilter: they should've gone full monster truck rally
posted by Fizz at 10:00 AM on September 15, 2015

This is like the Walmart version of Frank Gehry design.
posted by Nanukthedog at 10:39 AM on September 15, 2015

Not only that, $85 million to a New Jersey-based construction and architecture firm.
posted by fragmede at 10:58 AM on September 15, 2015

And this is the country that Curtis LeMay wanted to bomb back into the Stone Age?

hangs head, walks off into the sunset to the sound of a lonely trumpet playing the chorus to "Goodnight Saigon"
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:36 AM on September 15, 2015

Immediate tourist attraction. Win win win. High fives.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 12:36 PM on September 15, 2015

I've mentioned previously on the Blue that my wife and I have been traveling through SEA and Central Europe this year. Here's our video of the dragon.
posted by Mapes at 12:58 PM on September 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

How awesome! I actually passed by that bridge recently (fortunately we crossed on an adjacent bridge, so we got good views of the dragon), but I had no idea it breaths fire too.
posted by JiBB at 12:58 PM on September 15, 2015

Loved, LOVED when the beast switched from bellowing fire to projectile spitting causing the wee spectators to flee. We need more of this sort of thing in our daily lives to keep us on our toes!
posted by kinnakeet at 4:40 AM on September 17, 2015

The geek in me thinks this is really cool. The South Vietnamese in me immediately wants to mistrust everything that led up to the construction of this bridge, including the horrid commemoration and what I am sure is a lot of corruption required to get this done.

But man... fire-breathing dragon!
posted by numaner at 11:55 AM on September 17, 2015

It's a wonderful dragon-shaped bridge!
posted by Rock Yuan at 6:35 AM on September 19, 2015