Meeting examines plan to build Red River tunnel

March 02, 2011 | 10:19

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A four-lane tunnel may be built under the Red River, linking Hoan Kiem district of Hanoi with Long Bien district.

Red River

Delegates discussed the project during a meeting last weekend hosted by the municipal People's Committee. The tunnel aims to reduce traffic congestion in the capital.

The tunnel will start at the end of Tran Hung Dao street and will be 1.5km long and 18-20m wide.

Delegates said the tunnel will serve the developing urban area across the Red River .

Head of Hanoi Construction Planning Institute La Thi Kim Ngan said the city should build a tunnel instead of new bridges, which are costly due to land clearance.

Director of the municipal Transport Department Nguyen Quoc Hung said the city should use different technologies to build the tunnel than what was used to build Thu Thiem Tunnel in Ho Chi Minh City .

Hung added that the tunnel would lead to more traffic jams on Tran Hung Dao street during the construction of the structure.

The People's Committee has also received proposals from VinGroup Joint-stock Company and the Ministry of National Defence's Truong An Company to build the tunnel.

The People's Committee's vice chairman Phi Thai Binh asked the institute to provide more details about the necessity and effectiveness of building a tunnel instead of a bridge.

The committee will consider the proposals and submit a recommendation to the Prime Minister for approval.