Construction of the Co Chien Bridge has begun in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh. The bridge will reduce the distance between the province and Ho Chi Minh City by 70 kilometers.
On Monday, the Ministry of Transport organized the ground breaking ceremony of the bridge in coordination with authorities from Ben Tre and Tra Vinh provinces, which are located on both sides of the Co Chien River.
Amongst those attending the ceremony at Binh Phu Commune in Cang Long District of Tra Vinh Province were Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung and Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong.
Presently the coastal provinces of Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang and Bac Lieu are using the 1A Highway route to commute.
According to Ho Nghia Dung, Minister of Transport, after the Co Chien Bridge is built it will connect Tra Vinh with Highway 60 in the Tien Giang Province, reducing the distance from Tra Vinh to HCMC by 70 kilometers.
This would ease the traffic on the 1A Highway and will be able to cope with the travel load when Dinh An Economic Zone in Tra Vinh province comes into operation.
The Co Chien Bridge will have a total length of 15.7 kilometers and will be ready at a total cost of nearly VND3.8 trillion (US$181 million). The 16m wide bridge will have four lanes and the height of the bridge from the water surface will be 25 meters.
Tran Hoang Kim, Chairman of the Tra Vinh Province People’s Committee said that construction of the Co Chien Bridge would be a valuable asset for the Tra Vinh residents.
At the ground breaking ceremony, permanent deputy Prime Minister, Nguyen Sinh Hung said the bridge was very significant to the Mekong Delta region and would greatly contribute to attracting more investments to the region and help provide better education, health and cultural facilities for residents here.
Mr. Hung ordered the Ministry of Transport, the administration of the two provinces, investors, contractors and supervisory units to ensure the construction be carried out with the highest level of safety, quality and competence in mind.
Besides the Co Chien Bridge, the Ministry of Transport is promoting the Dai Ngai Bridge project, linking Tra Vinh and the Soc Trang provinces.
The ministry will also launch other projects like a railway line from HCMC to Can Tho City, Kien Giang and the Ca Mau provinces; a highway linking Can Tho City with the Phnom Penh, the capital of Laos; several other bridges and upgrading of provincial highways at the border gate areas.
In recent years, the government has built the N1 road along the border; the Ho Chi Minh Highway from Binh Phuoc to Ca Mau provinces; the HCMC - Can Tho Highway and some large bridges like My Thuan, Rach Mieu and Can Tho. Other highways like 53, 54, 60 and 68 have also been upgraded.
