The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) has presented theengineering Excellence Award to the Rong (Dragon) Bridge which spans theHan River in the central city.

The award was presented at the Grand Award ceremony in Washington DC, the US, on April 30.

Thebridge, which was designed by the Luis Berger Group and Ammann &Whitney, was among eight works to receive awards at this year's event.

"Thedragon bridge is the pride of Da Nang's people. We are honoured toreceive the prize. The bridge will help connect Vietnam with friendsacross the world," Vice Chairman of the city's People's Committee Vo DuyKhuong said at the award ceremony.

Architect Tom Andessonsaid he had designed the bridge after being inspired by the legendarystory of the Dragon and the Fairy, which is about the origin ofVietnamese people.

The 666-metre Rong Bridge , whichwas inaugurated last year, connects the main road with the airport andthe My Khe beach in the Son Tra peninsula, and the UNESCO-recognisedworld heritage Hoi An City.

The dragon-shaped bridge isdesigned to breathe fire from the dragon's head on Saturday and Sundaynights, while spraying water during the day.

The 500-metrelong body of the dragon was built using five 1.2-metre arched steelpipes which weigh a total of 1,000 tonnes. The six-lane bridge isilluminated by 5,000 LED lights at night.

The dragon's head is inspired by the stone dragon with a lotus-shaped tail from the Ly Dynasty.

Thecentral city's department of transport has registered the RongBridge with the Guinness World Records as being the ‘largest steeldragon'.

In January, the lighting design of the Bridge wasshortlisted for the Lighting Design award at the 2013 FX InternationalDesign Awards in London and the 2014 Lighting Design Awards forInternational Projects (Interiors) category.-VNA