The starting point of Ben Luc – Long Thanh Expressway in Ben Luc District of Long An Province. It is connected with HCMC – Trung Luong Expressway, the only route linking Ho Chi Minh City with Mekong Delta.
Costing more than VND31 trillion ($1.34 billion), Ben Luc – Long Thanh will run 57.7 km between the provinces of Long An in the Mekong Delta and Dong Nai, a neighbor of HCMC, and pass through the city.
Built in July 2014, the route was hoped to improve regional connectivity between the delta, the country's agriculture hub, and the southeastern region, home to many industrial zones. The project was originally set for completion in 2019 but due to funding issues, was delayed several times, with the latest deadline pushed to 2025.
Lying five kilometers from the starting point is an intersection with National Highway 1 in HCMC's Binh Chanh District.
Most of the work on the expressway stopped in late 2018 and the investor, state-owned Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC), said it would resume work in the third quarter this year.
A majority of the expressway in Binh Chanh District has been completed and residents have been using it to avoid crowded National Highway 1.
Ben Luc – Long Thanh is designed to have four lanes for vehicles to move at 100 kph. Once completed, it will be the longest expressway in southern Vietnam.
Guardrails by the side of the expressway are damaged after their screws were stolen.
The contractor of this section has reported losses of many parts of the expressway, including cables and barriers. Put together, damages exceed VND11 billion ($472,000).
A section of the expressway through Binh Chanh District remains unchanged compared to four years ago.
The expressway runs through difficult terrains that require the construction of several bridges and viaducts.
One of them is Binh Khanh Bridge which stretches 2.76 km long including leading roads. Crossing the Soai Rap River, it links Nha Be and Can Gio districts of HCMC. At 70% complete, the bridge has been left untouched since December 2018.
Binh Khanh Bridge has two piers that rise 150 meters high each, making them the highest bridge piers in Vietnam.
Phuoc Khanh Bridge will cross the Long Tau River to link HCMC’s Can Gio District with Dong Nai’s Nhon Trach District.
The expressway runs 27 km through Dong Nai Province, including a three-kilometer section through a mangrove forest in Long Thanh District.
Workers build the median strip for a section in Dong Nai Province. The entire expressway is now 80% complete.
A section of the expressway at the meeting point with National Highway 1 in Dong Nai Province.
The VEC last week proposed extracting VND1 trillion of state budget to build this intersection, saying the project is of important value as it leads to Long Thanh airport, which is under construction in Dong Nai to become the nation's largest.
