The last part of the main span of the Can Tho cable-stayed bridge, the longest of its kind in Vietnam, was put in place on Oct. 3.

So far, the project’s contract package to build a 5.4km entrance ramp by Vietnamese contractors has 96 percent completed, while another package to build the other approach viaduct with a length of 7.69km by a Chinese contractor has 75.4 percent completed.

With a total investment capital of 4.83 trillion VND (342.6 million USD) from the Japanese Government’s ODA capital and the Vietnamese Government’s counterpart contribution, the construction of the Can Tho bridge started in Sept. 2004 and scheduled to completed in Dec. 2008.

However, the construction was halted for six months due to its collapse of an entrance ramp in September 2007 that killed 50 people and injured 81 others.

The deadline for its completion then was extended to late March 2010.

Once completed, the 15.85km long bridge spanning over the Hau River, a tribute of the Mekong River, to connect Can Tho city and Vinh Long province, will have the longest main span in Southeast Asia.

The main span, built by a consortium of Japanese contractors – the Taisei Corporation, the Kajima Corporation and the Nippon Steel Corporation, is 2.75km long and 23.1m wide with four lanes./.