Work to begin on three major projects along North-South Expressway

Cao Bo-Mai Son Expressway

The Cao Bo-Mai Son Expressway in the northern provinces of Nam Dinh and Ninh Binh will be the first of the new projects to kick off this year.

The 15-kilometer (9-mile) expressway, which will connect Cau Gie-Ninh Binh Expressway with National Highway 1, was initially planned to be a two-lane road with a total investment of about VND3.69 trillion ($158 million).

A later revision by the Ministry of Transport expanded it into a four-lane expressway with a new budget of about VND5.29 trillion ($226.89 million).

The technical design for the Cao Bo-Mai Son Expressway has been completed and site clearance is underway. Construction contractors will be selected through a bidding process and work is set to begin in July.

Cam Lo-La Son Expressway

The 98-kilometer Cam Lo-La Son Expressway in the central provinces of Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue will be the second project to start work this year.

With an approved total investment of about VND7.7 trillion ($330.43 million), the technical design consultancy for this has also been completed and work is set to begin in the second quarter of the year.

Once completed, the Cam Lo-La Son Expressway will connect Ho Chi Minh Highway with the nearly-complete La Son-Tuy Loan Expressway and the Da Nang-Quang Ngai Expressway, boosting connectivity between key economic regions from Quang Tri to Quang Ngai.

My Thuan 2 Bridge

The third state-funded project along the North-South Expressway to kick off this year will be the My Thuan 2 Bridge, which will cross the Tien River to connect the southern provinces of Tien Giang and Vinh Long.

The 6.6km long new bridge, 350 meters (383 yards) upstream from the existing My Thuan Bridge, will link the Trung Luong-My Thuan Expressway with the My Thuan-Can Tho Expressway.

The My Thuan 2 Bridge and the roads leading to the bridge are designed with six lanes, allowing maximum speeds of 100 kilometers per hour. The roads leading to the bridge, however, would only have four lanes and a maximum speed of 80 kilometers per hour.

A total investment of VND5 trillion ($214.59 million) has been approved for the project, and work is scheduled to start towards the end of this year.

The three projects are part of 11 sections of the North-South Expressway that will cost over VND118 trillion ($5.06 billion) in total, of which VND55 trillion ($2.36 billion) will be funded by the state. Together, the sections will stretch 654 kilometers from Nam Dinh Province near Hanoi to Vinh Long Province to the southwest of Ho Chi Minh City.

They are part of the ongoing 2,000-kilometer long transnational expressway, which is set to be finished by 2025.