Vietnam’s longest sea bridge to be built in a few days

The Tan Vu-Lach Huyen Bridge is part of the Tan Vu-Lach Huyen Road and Bridge Project for which a contract was signed between the Transport Ministry and the project’s contractors on Tuesday.

The project, which will be kicked off on February 15, covers a 15.63-km traffic line linking Tan Vu – an area at the end of the Hanoi-Hai Phong expressway in Trang Cat Ward of Hai An District – to the port of Lach Huyen on Cat Hai Island.

The line will include about 10.19 km of access road that leads to the bridge that will span 5.44 km over the sea.

The bridge will be 16 meters wide covering four lanes for vehicles and two safety corridors. Meanwhile, the access road will be 29.5 meters wide for vehicles to run at 80 kph.

The total cost of the project is estimated at VND11,849 billion (US$559 million), of which VND10,049 billion will be sourced from the Japanese ODA and the remaining amount will come from the Vietnamese Government’s counterpart capital.

Upon completion, the Tan Vu-Lach Huyen Bridge will be not only be the longest sea-crossing bridge in Vietnam, but also one of the longest bridges of this kind in South East Asia, according to the Transport Ministry.

Speaking at the contract-signing ceremony, Deputy Minister of Transport Truong Tan Vien said, “This project has been started a year later than scheduled, so the project management unit and contractors should mobilize all resources to implement it immediately so that it can be completed in 2017 as previously planned.”

As one of the national key projects, this project will be part of the infrastructure of Lach Huyen Port, connecting the port with the developing areas in eastern Hai Phong as well as linking the Dinh Vu Industrial Park with the Hanoi-Hai Phong expressway, said the ministry.

The project’s goals are to reduce travel time and cost between the above areas, minimize accidents and risks in transporting by ferries and barges, reduce congestion in sea traffic on the Nam Trieu Canal, boost the industrial development in coastal areas of Hai Phong, and promote tourist activities in Cat Ba Islands.

Currently, the longest sea-crossing bridge in Vietnam is the Thi Nai in Binh Dinh Province. The bridge is nearly 2.5 km long and was inaugurated in 2006. It connects the city of Qui Nhon to the Phuong Mai Peninsula.