Work started on November 22 on the construction of a bridge spanning over the Bac Luan river which will connect Mong Cai in northern coastal Quang Ninh province with Dongxing in China’s Guangxi province.

The building of the Bac Luan bridge II was studied in 2006 under the Prime Minister’s instructions. Accordingly, Quang Ninh was assigned to cooperate with relevant agencies to work with the Chinese side to implement the project in line with current regulations.

In March 2012, an agreement on the construction of the bridge was inked by Vietnam and China, defining that the construction must not change the river flow, river-bed and the shared border and will be undertaken by both sides. Once completed, the bridge is a mutually owned facility.

Up to now, the two sides have completed the bridge designing and assessment, meeting mutual technical requirements.

Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony, Vice Chairman of the Quang Ninh provincial People’s Committee Le Quang Tung asked agencies and contractors involved to closely coordinate with a view to implementing the project on schedule with required quality.

Together with the future Ha Long-Mong Cai expressway, the Bac Luan bridge II, with Vietnam’s total investment of over 336 billion VND (16 million USD), plays an extremely important role in transportation and trade exchange between two localities and two countries.

In addition, the bridge serves as a gateway for ASEAN and China.-VNA