On the bridge's HCMC side, several piers have been established.
The bridge will have 39 piles and two abutments.
Project managers from the Ministry of Transport's My Thuan Project Management said HCMC has transferred all the land plots needed to build the bridge, and construction has so far been conducted without any major obstacles.
The board said work on the bridge's city side could be complete four months earlier than initially scheduled.
Workers make a steel cage for a pile.
Ngo Truong Giang, 30, who sits inside the cage, said every worker sleeps and eats at the construction site to ensure the project’s progress.
The Nhon Trach Bridge construction site lies in an area completely separated from roads and therefore the contractor must rely on waterways to transport building materials and equipment.
The road leading to the bridge on the HCMC side will connect with the HCMC – Long Thanh – Dau Giay Expressway, which connects HCMC and Dong Nai and also links to the Dau Giay – Phan Thiet Expressway, which runs to the beach town of Phan Thiet in the central region.
Dong Nai Province, however, has not finished site clearance for the project, and the contractor has not been able to keep pace with work on the HCMC side.
The province has been told to finish site clearance within the next month so that the bridge can be completed in three years as scheduled.
An artist's impression of the Nhon Trach Bridge. Photo by My Thuan Project Management Board.
HCMC Ring Road No.3 will run more than 90 km (56 miles), including 8.2 km in HCMC. It will also pass through Binh Duong, Long An and Dong Nai provinces, all industrial hubs.
Since it was approved in 2011, only 16 km have been completed, all in Binh Duong.
HCMC and its neighbors agree that the ring road is necessary to tackle chronic traffic jams in several areas.
When finished, the ring road will have eight lanes allowing vehicles to travel at 100 kph.
The road is expected to cost a total of VND75.38 trillion (US$3.2 billion), with funding coming from the government and Official Development Assistance (ODA) loans.
