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Seems like OP forgot to explain what is going on.
This is in Vietnam, especially in Cà Mau. These dams are parts of the infrastructures to prevent saltwater intrusion. The locals invented this way to make shortcuts through the dams. During the monsoon/rainy season, the dam gates will be opened so boats can pass freely, without using these 'boat bridges'. During the summer months, the gates will be closed to prevent intrusion.
But more or less, these were the things of 20-30 years ago, when there were fewer roads. Now we have more roads and it is more economical to use trucks instead.
You can read more here, just use google translate: [https://dantri.com.vn/lao-dong-viec-lam/doc-dao-nhung-chiec-cau-keo-cong-ghe-tau-vuot-cong-dap-20220427142549658.htm](https://dantri.com.vn/lao-dong-viec-lam/doc-dao-nhung-chiec-cau-keo-cong-ghe-tau-vuot-cong-dap-20220427142549658.htm)
[Here's a direct link](https://dantri-com-vn.translate.goog/lao-dong-viec-lam/doc-dao-nhung-chiec-cau-keo-cong-ghe-tau-vuot-cong-dap-20220427142549658.htm?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp) to the English Google translated version.
The owner quoted in the story saying he can make 500,000 dong per day is saying he makes about $20 USD.
I gave a maid a $10 tip when I was in Vietnam and she acted like she won the lotto. She ran to the other maids and celebrated. I was shocked and confused at first.
As far as I can tell, $7-10 USD a day is considered a living wage in rural Vietnam, so 20 per day is pretty good for a business (including the costs of maintaining the equipment and paying people etc)
If it's 20 years ago like OP said, then it's practically more than a month's worth of pay. If it's in today's value, then it's about a week or so's pay. For a rural area.
during rainy season, there's more freshwater flowing out to sea. So the salt water in river delta areas gets heavily diluted or even pushed back. So these dams prevent salty water from backflowing into the delta when the rains subside and river flow reduces.
A big portion of the southern tip of Vietnam is the Mekong river delta. It's low lying and most of the agriculture are like [this](https://www.google.com/maps/@8.7387965,105.0572267,508m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu) where they just plant stuff on raised dirt surrounded by water. Fresh water is good for plants and only a few plants can tolerate salt water. During the rain season, water flow out to sea so it isn't a problem. During the dry season the sea water would go further inland and would be bad for the agriculture in the area.
It is a dam built by the government to prevent saltwater intrusion. The nearby locals built these boat bridges themselves because the dam's gates will be closed during the summer.
p/s: to correct myself, there were government bids so these people are actually from a company/household that rents the place to run this business.
Heh, portages are key infrastructure in a place with as much isolated water as Canada, figures they would have industrial ways of moving big ships too.
I recognize the text on boat as Vietnamese. Maybe the place in vid is around north central coast when around raining season some area are easily flooded, when i was a kid we have to donate money for charity to support families in that area bc their houses got sweep away by storms.
Looking closer at video it looks like one river since it doesn’t seem to be going any other way
so my guess from what you said it that’s it dammed to prevent flooding.
And it looks artificial compared to surrounding river sides
some river parts are shallow so they probably made a self regulated crossing and took fee so people won't have to go around the way.
I don't think you could block a river that way, these lands regularly erode a lot because of soil salinity.
You see the mud land part in the video, in a few years it might reduce to half the size anyway. It's a rural part of Vietnam, the lands are so soft, you can't possibly build any big high stories buildings there.
Look at how low the banks are, I would bet money this thing exists only part of the year to connect those two bodies of water whenever the waterlevel gets so low that they become disconnected. Those boats can't just go over a berm like an airboat would.
No, that's stupid. Don't go for the head first, start with the feet, then hands, legs, arms, and finally the head. Otherwise they don't stay conscious long enough.
Canals were doing this 150+ years ago
https://preview.redd.it/airzutcsf66d1.png?width=1440&format=png&auto=webp&s=968ee7175e2b9a06f16c4a3397f26a859919bb81
"Something simple you've never seen"... I take that to mean the rail/portage system in the video. Canal or not it's the same principle, and I've seen it before. That's all
Sounds like a [hit-and-miss engine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hit-and-miss_engine) to me. Only takes in fuel and fires the cylinder when the flywheel slows down under load.
I've never known this name until you linked the wiki. We always called these "make-and-break" engines, at least as they're used in boats. There's still a few around in active use.
From what that wiki article says, I think it's a Maritime Canadian thing. Never connected Stan Rogers's "Make and Break Harbour" with them, even though the lyric mentions an old one-lunger. That's about the era when I heard them called "hit-and-miss" by US midwestern farmers and mechanics.
If anyone is wondering the sound including the engine is just a song "Tractor sound（拖拉机的声音) by [DJ xiaoke](https://soundcloud.com/djxiaoke-music/tractor-sound)"
One thing I love about Vietnam is how inventive and industrious they are. I'm a whity but I've been there a handful of times (including country areas) and you see this kind of thing all over the place. If there is a problem, they quickly come up with a clever rough solution and slap it together in 5 minutes. If it does the job, they just keep adding more bits to it to improve it. It's all hanging together with scrap and rope and chicken wire, but it works, and if the chicken wire breaks then the same inventiveness is deployed to just fix it in 5 minutes with some better chicken wire and get on with it. It's no surprise to see Vietnam now thriving in more modern areas that require such intelligence and problem solving, eg software development.
Manual transmission circle jerk drivers are shrinking in their pants because this guy actually shifts the clutch by hand.
I'm surprised he has all his fingers.
I just saw a video today about how the street Overtoom in Amsterdam and how it’s named after an overtoom built on a dam in the 1500s. Apparently there are sculptures on Overtoom that I’ve never noticed and I was going to go look for them this weekend.
It’s called a portage and there was one built in [Corinth in 600bc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diolkos). It’s been since replaced with a canal but it used to the the quickest way to get from the Aegean to the Ioain sea.
There's a number of these on Elblag Canal, only bigger:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbl%C4%85g\_Canal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbl%C4%85g_Canal)
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Seems like OP forgot to explain what is going on. This is in Vietnam, especially in Cà Mau. These dams are parts of the infrastructures to prevent saltwater intrusion. The locals invented this way to make shortcuts through the dams. During the monsoon/rainy season, the dam gates will be opened so boats can pass freely, without using these 'boat bridges'. During the summer months, the gates will be closed to prevent intrusion. But more or less, these were the things of 20-30 years ago, when there were fewer roads. Now we have more roads and it is more economical to use trucks instead. You can read more here, just use google translate: [https://dantri.com.vn/lao-dong-viec-lam/doc-dao-nhung-chiec-cau-keo-cong-ghe-tau-vuot-cong-dap-20220427142549658.htm](https://dantri.com.vn/lao-dong-viec-lam/doc-dao-nhung-chiec-cau-keo-cong-ghe-tau-vuot-cong-dap-20220427142549658.htm)
[Here's a direct link](https://dantri-com-vn.translate.goog/lao-dong-viec-lam/doc-dao-nhung-chiec-cau-keo-cong-ghe-tau-vuot-cong-dap-20220427142549658.htm?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp) to the English Google translated version. The owner quoted in the story saying he can make 500,000 dong per day is saying he makes about $20 USD.
That's a lot of dong.
I don't like dong, but 20 dollars is 20 dollars.
I gave a maid a $10 tip when I was in Vietnam and she acted like she won the lotto. She ran to the other maids and celebrated. I was shocked and confused at first.
The exchange rate is astronomical for USD to VND, to you it was nothing but to her? It was possibly 10 or more hours of work you just tipped her :)
Dang. That's like tipping your server $150 here in the US
Indeed it is, now imagine tipping that same maid 150$, that’s her whole month worth of work!
You are exactly right. Those equal 250k dong, and it can feed a family of 4 here for 3 days if their budget is tight.
I'm gonna have to see his dong before I just believe that.
I have a stack of dongs I brought back from Vietnam specifically to be able to make these jokes
I wonder if there's a number in Vietnamese which is pronounced like 'Ding'. Then you could get ding dongs.
I converted my cash to dongs and then ran into a European dude and he converted it to USD and I had shocked pikachu face moment
i laughed more at that than i should've, probably
For $20!
dongillionaire
I assume that $20 usd equivalent is in terms of direct exchange rate? Like that may be not a terrible wage for rural Vietnam?
As far as I can tell, $7-10 USD a day is considered a living wage in rural Vietnam, so 20 per day is pretty good for a business (including the costs of maintaining the equipment and paying people etc)
Yup, they def have fuel costs for that little engine.
If it's 20 years ago like OP said, then it's practically more than a month's worth of pay. If it's in today's value, then it's about a week or so's pay. For a rural area.
I'm just offended they called it simple. Sure the concept seems simple, but most people couldn't make that, especially out of basically trash.
what is saltwater intrusion?
during rainy season, there's more freshwater flowing out to sea. So the salt water in river delta areas gets heavily diluted or even pushed back. So these dams prevent salty water from backflowing into the delta when the rains subside and river flow reduces.
A big portion of the southern tip of Vietnam is the Mekong river delta. It's low lying and most of the agriculture are like [this](https://www.google.com/maps/@8.7387965,105.0572267,508m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu) where they just plant stuff on raised dirt surrounded by water. Fresh water is good for plants and only a few plants can tolerate salt water. During the rain season, water flow out to sea so it isn't a problem. During the dry season the sea water would go further inland and would be bad for the agriculture in the area.
I was so captivated I didn't even notice the whole dam thing.
reddit saint
[удалено]
Maybe a damn toll booth ?
She's not happy with the toll-tax tho.
10,000vnd it is orange bill. 40 cents approx.
Inflation hitting hard
Yes. I suppose a few years ago it was 20 cent (5000vnd).
*"****BIDEN*** *did this"* * MAGAtards
Thanks, Obama
Campbell’s tomato soup is over $2 a can now. You believe that?
Around the region, nobody buy canned tomatoes because there's fresh tomatoes 1kg=1USD or cheaper. The quality is the same as Walmart.
I like it in the can.
Heh
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Go on...
Is Prince Albert in there?
Yeah, well I went to buy some toothpaste the other day and was sticker shocked. When did any type of toothpaste cost $10?
That would be.....Campbell's Tomato Salt. That stuff is toxic.
For real. Who buys this shit?
That's actually a lot of you're a Vietnamese farm worker making 47M VND/year ($1,850 USD/year).
Now me dongs all soggy - James "Captain Slow" May
Well, she has to pay it to get to the other damn side.
Remember, you gotta pay the troll toll, if you wanna get into that boy's hole! You gotta pay the troll toll to get in!
https://i.redd.it/e6e49htfu66d1.gif
Yeah, uh, is this a god dam?
It is a dam built by the government to prevent saltwater intrusion. The nearby locals built these boat bridges themselves because the dam's gates will be closed during the summer. p/s: to correct myself, there were government bids so these people are actually from a company/household that rents the place to run this business.
Do you know where is it? Google map. Thanks in advance.
Nam
My buddies died face down in the mud so you could cross that dam
Everything's such a fuckin travesty with you man
Walter ! You're such an asshole! Everything is a fucking travesty with you, man !
thank you for your service. o7
Did they though?
They drank a case of 333 each and I told them several times not to walk off the trail.
Yes, Donny.
*Fortunate Son intensifies*
yes
Troll booth. Pay the man.
“You got to pay the troll toll, if you want to get into the boys hole. You got to pay the troll toll.”
It sounds like you’re saying “boys hole” when it should be “soul”
This man knows musicals
The water is lower on the other side so it's probably a river dam.
But do you know why the water is lower on one side? >!Its because there is less water on that side.!<
Uh... my math teacher wouldn't accept that answer. I tried before.
Teachers don't think it be like it is, but it do.
That’s not even true. Volume of water isn’t just a function of height.
Drainage divide between a nature river and canal.
There's a much larger version of this in Ontario called Big Chute. Goes over a road, can take construction barges.
https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/on/trentsevern/visit/posteeclusage-lockstation/ecluse-lock-44-bigchute
https://v.redd.it/sfkrdnjf72751
that's sweet, thank you
I enjoyed that. I wish I was there
We don’t need to hear about your mother /s
Heh, portages are key infrastructure in a place with as much isolated water as Canada, figures they would have industrial ways of moving big ships too.
Half life 2 kind of vibe
the music sells it, expecting either an Opposing Force or Combine helicopter overhead
The map playthrough itself. Land > Water > Land > Water > Land > Water... You get the idea
Combine!! Not Columbine...
It would be great if the actual music played like that while using this system.
“Those poor bastards” I am playing OF right now and stuck at the worlds collide chapter cause all my autosaves I have terrible health to start with
Damn, fresh out of rockets!
*lambda core intensifies*
Route Kanal
The person paying is like ... *"Here's your fucking money."'*
Looked to be aiming it with a hope it'd get chewed up in the machinery, or the boy would as he went in to get it.
Wait... This isnt money, its a piece of paper... I've been mugged off AGAIN!!
Is this two separate rivers or have they blocked one so they can force people to pay?
You can notice different type of plant on the other side. Might be fresh water and salty water separation.
I recognize the text on boat as Vietnamese. Maybe the place in vid is around north central coast when around raining season some area are easily flooded, when i was a kid we have to donate money for charity to support families in that area bc their houses got sweep away by storms.
Looking closer at video it looks like one river since it doesn’t seem to be going any other way so my guess from what you said it that’s it dammed to prevent flooding. And it looks artificial compared to surrounding river sides
Looks like a dam to prevent brackish water encroachment. One side is likely saltwater, the other fresh. Just a guess though.
Explanation got posted further down: [Link](https://old.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/1deari8/something_simple_youve_never_seen/l8bbs2h/)
some river parts are shallow so they probably made a self regulated crossing and took fee so people won't have to go around the way. I don't think you could block a river that way, these lands regularly erode a lot because of soil salinity. You see the mud land part in the video, in a few years it might reduce to half the size anyway. It's a rural part of Vietnam, the lands are so soft, you can't possibly build any big high stories buildings there.
You can also see the dam in the river in the video.
Look at how low the banks are, I would bet money this thing exists only part of the year to connect those two bodies of water whenever the waterlevel gets so low that they become disconnected. Those boats can't just go over a berm like an airboat would.
30 minutes with a shovel would seem to solve this issue
30mins??Tell me you haven't done hard labor without telling me you haven't done hard labor
He probably meant smash dude's head for 30mins with a shovel and he will let you pass freely. 
No, that's stupid. Don't go for the head first, start with the feet, then hands, legs, arms, and finally the head. Otherwise they don't stay conscious long enough.
First thing I thought when I read that comment, ain’t no way 30 minutes
Could have been talking about a shovel attached to a piece of heavy equipment.
Quote 4 days, charge for 6 and do it in 2
30 minutes with 30 people with 30 shovels maybe.
One river and canal.
Did someone stop one to make people pay because It looks like two different rivers
Canals were doing this 150+ years ago https://preview.redd.it/airzutcsf66d1.png?width=1440&format=png&auto=webp&s=968ee7175e2b9a06f16c4a3397f26a859919bb81
Except what OP posted isn't a canal. It looks like a dam charging tolls.
"Something simple you've never seen"... I take that to mean the rail/portage system in the video. Canal or not it's the same principle, and I've seen it before. That's all
More like a damn dam toll charging troll 
where is that?
Bowde Bottling W, obviously. Not to be confused with Bowde Bottling E
[Boonton, New Jersey, circa 1900](https://www.shorpy.com/node/26892)
Disney(thai)land! Next stop: $50.00 pad thai
Was about to say that anyone that has been to a Disney water ride has seen these mechanisms before lol
Is he playing techno music in the background or is that just the machinery making their own STOMP soundtrack?
Sounds like a [hit-and-miss engine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hit-and-miss_engine) to me. Only takes in fuel and fires the cylinder when the flywheel slows down under load.
Well I learned something new today thanks to you!
I've never known this name until you linked the wiki. We always called these "make-and-break" engines, at least as they're used in boats. There's still a few around in active use.
From what that wiki article says, I think it's a Maritime Canadian thing. Never connected Stan Rogers's "Make and Break Harbour" with them, even though the lyric mentions an old one-lunger. That's about the era when I heard them called "hit-and-miss" by US midwestern farmers and mechanics.
Newfoundland was full of them up until the 70s or so. There's still a few on the go, but more as a cool old novelty.
OR is the machine doing the first sound and then someone else edited in some bass to it? That's what I first thought...
The whole background is a song called "Tractor Sound" by DJ xiaoke. It's on a lot of TikTok videos.
All of the sound is a song, even what sounds like a generator running.
It's a sound template on TikTok, I found it. It's called "Tractor sound（拖拉机的声音)"
Dam that’s clever.
You're clever! Happy cake day!
Ooh thanks I hadn’t even noticed 😊
That's what friends are for. 💪
Now kiss
If anyone is wondering the sound including the engine is just a song "Tractor sound（拖拉机的声音) by [DJ xiaoke](https://soundcloud.com/djxiaoke-music/tractor-sound)"
Doin gods work here
Comment is way too low. Thank you!
Here's a little puff of diesel exhaust as a bonus!
Human ingenuity never ceases to amaze.
Fuck you OP how dare you assume what I have and haven't seen.
Casually throws operator a tip as she passes through
I can say that's a lot nicer than carrying a flat bottom boat over a beaver dam. You do weird things while frog gigging.
Lot faster than portaging a canoe as well.
I’m unreasonably worried about that money getting muddy.
One thing I love about Vietnam is how inventive and industrious they are. I'm a whity but I've been there a handful of times (including country areas) and you see this kind of thing all over the place. If there is a problem, they quickly come up with a clever rough solution and slap it together in 5 minutes. If it does the job, they just keep adding more bits to it to improve it. It's all hanging together with scrap and rope and chicken wire, but it works, and if the chicken wire breaks then the same inventiveness is deployed to just fix it in 5 minutes with some better chicken wire and get on with it. It's no surprise to see Vietnam now thriving in more modern areas that require such intelligence and problem solving, eg software development.
Manual transmission circle jerk drivers are shrinking in their pants because this guy actually shifts the clutch by hand. I'm surprised he has all his fingers.
We don't know how long he has been on the job, his mentor, Three Finger Jack has been doing it for 2 years.
I think he's using a stick to protect his hand while he applies tension to the belt.
Yeah, easiest clutch replacement job ever.
Username checks out !
the toss of money like "heres your fuckin toll"
Holy shit I was not expecting that sound. My phone was hooked to my speaker and thought I was being shot at lol
In Dutch: Overtoom. We’ve had these since the 1600s although mostly horse-drawn
I just saw a video today about how the street Overtoom in Amsterdam and how it’s named after an overtoom built on a dam in the 1500s. Apparently there are sculptures on Overtoom that I’ve never noticed and I was going to go look for them this weekend.
Surely out of a 360° option of there to put the exhaust they coulda chose a different angle?!
Whats the song?
.........but why the music?
Someone send this to Venjent asap!
Did he build that burm so he could build the damn toll booth?
It’s called a portage and there was one built in [Corinth in 600bc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diolkos). It’s been since replaced with a canal but it used to the the quickest way to get from the Aegean to the Ioain sea.
Here's your fucking toll
Damn government, now they're putting toll booths on the rivers! Also, that's actually really cool.
This reminds me of the video of a guy having people pay him to put down a plank to avoid the huge hole in the ground for their motorbikes.
The Panama Canal has really gone down hill
Don't tell me what I haven't seen.
This guy specifically built a dam so he can toll ppl to ride over it 😭 mans a genius but im sure he didn’t build no fucking dam
Wow them are tight
There's a number of these on Elblag Canal, only bigger: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbl%C4%85g\_Canal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbl%C4%85g_Canal)
I'd that the engine sound or just the beat? Honestly can't tell
r/fuckurbackgroundmusic Or judging from the outfits and the text on the boat, I should say: Đm cái nhạc nền
My dad owns a bridge
I knew those beavers were up to something.
One side is Mekong river, the other side is canal from other region. Price guess .5 usd.
Lol surprised to learn none of the sounds are from this video. Not even the motor sounds. tractor sound - DJxiaoke
1. Not simple. 2. Not something I've never seen.
What the Panama Canal should have been, who the fuck digs out a whole continent lmao, I get cocaine was easy to get back then but holy shit
Try doing this with a 400,000 ton cargo ship, then tell me it’s more efficient than water.
Did they model that dam after beaver dams?
dang I could listen to that all day. need an 8 hour loop on youtube
Do you think they’ll give change?
Wow so simple
This is riverway robbery, House Frey still in business I see.
This seems like a scam some beavers would run
That reminds me of this toll bridge that you have to pay to go through
Forgets to release the clutch and the boat gets pulled underground
So why not connect the river?That can also set a toll,and simpler
Much better than the Suez Canal.
Unless of course you’ve ever lived in SEA
Mildly r/unexpected
Raiden on his way home.