More than 15.6 trillion VND will be spent to build a tunnel through the Ca and Co Ma mountains to link up the two central provinces of Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa.

The ceremony to sign the contracts for the BOT (build-operate-transfer) and BT (build-transfer) projects took place in Hanoi on June 14.

In total the tunnel will be 13.4 kilometres long, with the section underneath Ca pass 3.9 kilometres in length.

The project will be carried out by the Hanoi Construction Corporation, the Nam Trung Bo and Tay Nguyen Joint-Stock Companies under the Mai Linh Group, the Hai Thach Investment Joint-Stock Company and the Asia Joint-Stock Company. Construction is scheduled to start in the third quarter of 2012 and be completed by the second quarter of 2016.

Once being completed, the tunnel will reduce traffic accidents on National Highway 1A and help to develop the central region’s economy.-VNA