A pedestrian bridge linking with a metro station in front of the Saigon Hi-tech Park in Thu Duc City.
HCMC plans to build nine footbridges to serve passengers at elevated stations of metro line No.1, which runs 19.7 km between Ben Thanh Market in District 1 and Long Binh Depot in Thu Duc.
The entire metro line has 11 elevated and three underground stations.
Two elevated stations Suoi Tien and Van Thanh already have bridges linked with them.
The footbridge is now basically completed, and the contractor is installing the roof and electricity system for the bridge.
The Hanoi Highway section passing through the High-Tech Park usually has a high traffic density, especially truck and therefore when the metro is put into operation, the pedestrian bridge will help passengers stay safe when entering and exiting the station.
Lying 5 km away, the footbridge linked with Binh Thai station, which is also in Thu Duc City, is taking shape.
The footbridge at Binh Thai Station runs across Vo Nguyen Giap Street.
This bridge is also slated for completion before the Lunar New Year, which will fall on the second week of February.
A worker at the construction site of the third bridge, which will be linked with Phuoc Long station in Thu Duc.
The Ho Chi Minh City Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR), which manages the metro project, said it is boosting progress at the remaining bridges to get them all ready by the time the metro is put into use in July this year.
Aside from the first two bridges that will be completed before the Lunar New year, three more will be finished in February.
Nguyen Thanh Hai, an engineer in charge of building the footbridges, said the bridges will also act as emergency exits in case any troubles occur on the metro line.
As designed, the nine footbridges will link with the elevated stations on one side and with residential or urban areas on the other.
The city is considering a plan to set up elevators at the footbridges to serve the elderly and disabled.
Costing over VND43.7 trillion ($1.85 billion), the entire metro line is now 97% complete after construction began in 2012.
