Doan Thanh Tam, deputy director of Can Tho ODA Project Management Board, which is overseeing the construction, said the work should have been finished in 24 months, but 17 months after it began, it is only 57 percent complete.
The board said the two spans on either side would be finished in time but not the main span.
The contractor has blamed the delay on the Covid-19 outbreak and delayed handover of lands by Can Tho authorities, but the board said it has warned that the construction must be finished this year.
The work had begun in September 2020.
It comprises the bridge, which connect Ninh Kieu and Cai Rang districts, thus linking the downtown area with National Highway 1, and approach roads.
It is budgeted to cost VND800 billion (US$35 million) and funded by the government from official development assistance.
The steel arch bridge will consist of three spans, with the middle stretching 150m, and the other two, 49m each.
The bridge, to be the fifth across the Can Tho River, is 600m long in total, including roads leading up to it, and 23m wide.
