Dyke protecting world heritage Hoi An city inaugurated

It was an urgent project to strengthen the Hoai River bank road, from Japanese Covered Bridge Pagoda to Cam Nam bridge. The construction work, which started in November, 2015, included river-bed dredging, and upgrade of pavements, drainage and lighting systems.

The work used a total of VND136 billion (US$6 million), of which VND80.4 billion (US$3.5 million) came from the Support Programme to Response to Climate Change (SP-RCC) and the remainder from the local state budget.

Nguyen Van Dung, Chairman of the Hoi An city People’s Committee, said that the project aims to prevent storms and floods while ensuring safety for ancient architectural works and local people. The move also helps lessen climate change impact on local livelihoods and enhance capacity to respond to the sea level rise, spurred by global climate change.

Erosion was alarming in Hoi An since 2009 with 20 hectares of Cua Dai beach having been washed away.

Hoi An is home to 7 kilometres of coastline.

It was recognised as a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1999.