The department said in a proposal to the city's administration that the distance between the bridge’s ends and the residential houses are very close. The shortest distance is about one meter.

Suspended over the Red River, the Chuong Duong Bridge handles about 100,000 vehicles every day which generates noise and seriously affects the lives of Hanoians at both ends, it said.

The department has monitored noise at 19 points at the two ends of the bridge and results exceeded the national standard’s maximum limit. Vietnam sets noise limits in residential areas at 70dBA from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and 55dBA from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.

"The installation of noise reduction panels at the ends of Chuong Duong bridge is very urgent," the department said in its proposal, as reported by Giao Thong newspaper on Monday.

It said the capital needed for the noise attenuation project would come from Hanoi’s Road Maintenance Fund. The panels are estimated to be installed between this year and 2020, once it receives approval from Hanoi's People's Committee.

Connecting Hoan Kiem District and Long Bien District, Chuong Duong Bridge is 1,230 meters long with four two-way traffic lanes.

Built from 1983 to 1986, the bridge was the first big bridge in Vietnam to be designed and built without technical assistance from foreign experts.

It was built to help ease the traffic burden on the iconic Long Bien Bridge.

The bridge was designed to handle an estimated 7,000 vehicles a day, but that number quickly increased.