Saigon hopes to finish four major infrastructure projects in 2020

Delayed anti-flooding project

The VND10 trillion ($431 million) anti-flooding project is set to be completed this year after failing to meet the original deadline of April 2018.

Phu Xuan Floodgate in District 7, one of six floodgates in Ho Chi Minh City's anti-flooding project. Photo by VnExpress/Le Chi.

Six floodgates and a dike will be built in Districts 1, 4, 7, 8, Binh Chanh, and Nha Be along the Saigon River where floods are commonplace when it rains or during high tide, benefiting 6.5 million people, or half the city’s population.

The work began in 2016, but was delayed by the drying up of banks credit, disagreements between the consultancy and contractor over materials and land acquisition bottlenecks.

The contractor completed 77 percent by the end of last year, and has promised to finish it by the end of this year if the lands are handed over in time.

Four arterial roads in Thu Thiem

Four major roads will be built in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area in District 2 at a cost of VND8.2 trillion ($353.74 million), a six-lane ring road, a four-lane lakeside road, a two-lane road along the Saigon River, and an elevated road. A lake, yet unnamed, will be dug in the middle of the peninsula.

Construction began in April 2013, but failed to meet its 2018 deadline due to land acquisition problems.

There will be almost 12 km of roads and 10 bridges linking the urban area with other districts.

Thu Thiem Bridge 2

Another construction work in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area is the VND4.26 trillion ($183.78 million) Thu Thiem Bridge 2 connecting it with District 1 in the downtown area.

An artist's impression of Thu Thiem Bridge 2 connecting Thu Thiem New Urban Area with District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo courtesy of Ho Chi Minh City's Department of Transport.

The 1.4 km six-lane cable-stayed bridge with will be lit up at night.

The project broke ground in 2015 and was supposed to be completed in 2018, but has missed several deadlines due to land acquisition difficulties in District 1.

If the land is handed over soon, it could open to traffic by the end of the year, according to the contractor.

Vietnam’s largest bus station

The city is building the VND4 trillion ($172.56 million) new Mien Dong (Eastern Region) Bus Station in District 9, which will be the largest in the country with a capacity of seven million passengers a year.

The under-construction Mien Dong (Eastern Region) Bus Station in District 9, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.

It will be three times the size of the existing station 20 km away in Binh Thanh District.

Construction began in April 2017 and was originally supposed to be completed by the end of that year. While construction of the terminal, pick up and drop off points and parking zones have been completed, the roads connecting it with the surrounding areas have not.

The contractor has said that if all the outstanding issues are dealt with quickly, the bus station could open on April 30.