Cầu Cửa Đại

This guide to Cau Cua Dai in Hoi An starts with the ferrymen who once timed river crossings on the Thu Bon by water level rather than the clock, and the stretch of water separating fishing-dependent Duy Xuyen district from tourist-rich Hoi An. It follows the 2009 construction effort to close that gap, an engineering job battling the river's currents and central Vietnam's storm seasons, built outward from twin piers set in the middle of the channel rather than from either bank. A project budgeted for three and a half years stretched well past six before the two halves of the span finally closed the distance between them.