Three major transport projects to be inaugurate from Jan. 10-12
Hanoi (VNA) – Three major transport
projects will be put into operation from January 10-12, according to the
Ministry of Transport.
The projects are the upgrade of runways of Noi
Bai International Airport in Hanoi and Tan Son Nhat International Airport in
HCM City; the Hai Van 2 road tunnel belonging to the Deo Ca tunnel project; and
Lo Te-Rach Soi Highway.
On January 10, Tan
Son Nhat International Airport’s runway 25R will be put into use again on after
six months of closure for upgrading, along with the inauguration of runway 1B
in Noi Bai International Airport.
The runway 25R upgrading project, started on June
29 last year, has a total investment of more than 2 trillion VND (86 million
USD). The upgrade is carried out in two phases, with the first lasting six months.
In the second phase, the project will upgrade five
existing taxiways and build new rapid exit taxiways, connecting
taxiways and parallel taxiways besides a drainage system, taxiway lights and
aviation signboards.
Tan Son Nhat, Vietnam’s largest airport, has been overloaded for many years and
the resultant damage has been evident in visible cracks and deformation and
subsidence of the asphalt surfaces.
Earlier on January 1, runway 1B of Noi Bai
International Airport in Hanoi was also put into operation after upgrading.
The two-phase project to repair the Noi
Bai runway kicked start on June 29 with an estimated cost of about 2.03
trillion VND (over 88 million USD). The second phase is scheduled to be
completed by December 31, 2021.
Meanwhile, on January 11, the Hai
Van Tunnel 2 – the longest road tunnel in Southeast Asia,
connecting the central province of Thua Thien-Hue and Da Nang city will be inaugurated.
The project of expanding Hai Van Road Tunnel was approved
by the Ministry of Transport in 2016. The first stage is to repair and upgrade
the existing Hai Van Road Tunnel 1 and improve a section of National Highway No
1 running through the Hai Van Pass.
The second stage is to broaden a tunnel, which was
used for the excavation, into a traffic tunnel – Hai Van Road Tunnel 2 – with
four lanes and an approaching road to the tunnel of the same scale. The entire
route is set to be put into operation by the end of 2020.
The Hai Van Road Tunnel 2, which is 6.2 km in
length, built through a mountain, is designed with two sections for vehicles;
each section is 9.7 metres in width. The north approaching road to the tunnel
is about 1.7 km long and the southern approaching road is 4 km.
Construction of the project concluded in
September 2020, three months earlier compared to the plan. It expected to help
in reducing traffic pressure for the current Hai Van Road Tunnel 1. It will
also shorten travelling time for vehicles and improve the efficiency of
transporting goods and passengers.
On January 12, a ceremony will be held in Chau
Thanh district of the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang to open the Lo
Te-Rach Soi highway to traffic.
The Lo Te – Rach Soi Expressway runs southwest
from the Lo Te T-junction in Thot Not district, Can Tho city to Rach Soi commune
in Rach Gia township, Kien Giang province.
The 51km expressway with four lanes will connect with the Vam Cong
Bridge, a major link in the Mekong Delta region, and will be a part of the
western part of the North-South Expressway that will run from Binh Phuoc province
via HCM City to Ca Mau province.
Construction of the over 6.3 trillion VND (270.5 million USD) Can
Tho expressway started in 2016, with the majority coming as loan from the
Republic of Korea.
It is expected to shorten travel time from Can
Tho to Kien Giang to 50 minutes from 1 hour and 30 minutes./.