HANOI, September 11 (Engineering Daily) -- Project Management Unit 7 has just reported to the Ministry of Transport the proposal of investment project to build Rach Mieu bridge 2 in the provinces of Tien Giang and Ben Tre with a total investment of VND 4,434 trillion ($ 194.5 million).
Accordingly, investment construction project of Rach Mieu bridge 2 has an investment scale of 4 lanes, road width of 17m, design speed of 80 km/h. Project preparation time is up to Quarter IV/2018 and construction work is from Quarter I/2019 - Quarter I/2024 (5 years).
Representative of Project Management Unit 7 said that Highway 60 which has been upgraded by the Ministry of Transport, completed three large bridges of Rach Mieu, Ham Luong and Co Chien, therefore the number of vehicles on the route is increasing due to high traffic conditions.
Recently, while the Co Chien bridge was opened in May 2015, at Rach Mieu Bridge there is a frequent traffic jam due to sudden traffic increase (13,000 vehicles / day), especially in holidays, due to the large bridge length and narrow width (2 lanes). During peak hours, the number of vehicles is unstable and the traffic flow through the bridge is limited, thus, the traffic congestion can be occurred at any time.
To face that situation, Ben Tre province has proposed to the Government, the Ministry of Transport to invest in the Rach Mieu bridge 2 to address traffic congestion and socio-economic development of Ben Tre province and surroundings.
In order to mobilize investment capital, the Project Management Unit 7 also expects donors from the Korea Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF). The total investment of the project is $ 194.5 million (equivalent to VND 4,434.6 billion), of which the ODA loan of EDCF is $ 153.14 million (equivalent to VND 3,491.59 billion) and counterpart fund of $ 41.36 million (equivalent to 943 billion).
If the investment project is approved, the Project Management Unit 7 will assess thoroughly to solve the existing traffic congestion at the existing Rach Mieu bridge; to improve traffic and logistics capacity for Highway 60; to promote the socio-economic development of the Mekong Delta; to complete the eastern coastal corridor; to reduce the load and destroy the monopolistic position of National Highway 1A.
