Luang Prabang's "Old French Bridge" or in Lao, Kua Kao (ຂົວເກົ່າ), has become an accidental tourist attraction. This narrow steel bridge across the Nam Khan river provides the most convenient route across the river but challenges newcomers crossing the creaking wooden planks on their bicycles or motorbikes. Photos are taken to record this "risky" river crossing on such an old and dilapidated construction. But how old is this bridge and is it really a relic of the French colonial period?
Luang Prabang's "Old French Bridge" across the Nam Khan river
The bridge was part of the old Route 13 that connected Vientiane to Luang Prabang. It lies on a direct line to Luang Prabang airfield, now the International Airport. Unverified claims on the internet date the bridge to the 1920's but film footage from the ECPAD Archives shows French colonial troops in April 1953 crossing the Nam Khan river from the airfield using a bamboo pontoon bridge floating on pirogues.
It is only in 1957 that Joel M. Halpern, an American anthropologist working for USAID, taking photographs looking south-east from Mt Phousi, captures the newly built Nam Khan bridge. UN Records show that 85 Million Francs of French aid money paid for the bridge's construction (Note that Laos had gained its independence from France in 1953). Named Sisavangvong Bridge after the King, it was officially opened in May 1956.
Sisavangvong Bridge, financed by the French and opened May 1956. It would appear to have been made of timber.
This aerial photo published in Life magazine shows Sisavanvong Bridge in 1961 (Photo: John Dominis)
This original French bridge had a short life. According to local sources heavy flooding on the Nam Khan river in 1962 swept the bridge away. Once again a pontoon bridge was set up to provide the major crossing for the next four years. But by the early 1960's USAID money was pouring into Laos due to the geopolitical situation at that time. Upgrading Route 13 to improve transport and communication was a strategic priority for the Americans. Several road bridges were erected using the pre-fabricated Bailey Bridge system, one of these being a replacement Nam Khan bridge opened around October 1966. Because of the long span required the Nam Khan bridge is a double-truss, double-storey variant of Bailey Bridge construction.
The Nam Khan boat races in 1973 with the "new" American funded Bailey Bridge in the background. It was originally painted green. (Photo: Frederic Benson)
So the "Old French Bridge" we have today is in fact not so old (About 60 years) and American rather than French. But the name somehow stays, even used in UNESCO reports.
In recent years Luang Prabang's provincial government has been exploring ideas to replace the "Old French Bridge" with a modern road bridge "to improve vehicular access across the Nam Khan". After a visit to Luang Prabang in 2025 UNESCO's Reactive Monitoring Mission reported that the plans had not progressed beyond concept phase and noted;
A new bridge here for vehicular transportation is unlikely to solve the existing traffic congestion issues in this location. Rather, it would merely create additional traffic congestion in the buffer-zone where the bridge begins. Therefore, the Mission concludes that a better heritage outcome would be for the existing bridge to be conserved and retained
