The first of the four reinforced-concrete segments was anchored at the construction site of the Thu Thiem Tunnel on the Sai Gon River on Mar. 7.
The 27,000-tonne structure will be settled in the river bed on march 9, while the other three segments will be towed to the site later from Nhon Trach District in the southern province of Dong Nai.
The 370.8-metre long underwater tunnel will connect the city’s District 1 with the new urban Thu Thiem Area in District 2. The tunnel is designed to ease the east-west traffic flow in the city.
Experts said the sealed segment will be lowered into a prepared trench on the riverbed and then covered with backfilling material in order to secure its position and protect the tunnel.
The installation of each unit takes about one month to complete.
After the four units are secured and connected with the tunnel entrances at both ends, the driveway and the emergency pathways will be paved and assorted installation projects will continue until the tunnel is completed and opened in mid-2011.
The tunnel is part of the Sai Gon East-West Highway Project that is being implemented by HCM City with financial assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The agency has provided 41.027 billion yen (456 million USD) in ODA for the project.
Addressing a press meeting on March 7, Tsuno Motonori, chief representative of JICA Vietnam Office, said this was the first infrastructure project supported by JICA in HCM City.
This new six-lane, 22-km road will connect National Highway 1A with the Hanoi Highway in the east. The road will also pass under the Sai Gon River through the Thu Thiem tunnel.
The western part of the highway opened to traffic to September 2 last year.
Four bridges over the canal Khanh Hoi, Calmette, Chu Y and Cha Va , also opened last year.
The road section on the Thu Thiem side will be gradually opened starting in April this year.
Motonori said the installation of the immersed tunnel units is the most difficult part of the EWH project. He added that these are the first immersed tunnels in Vietnam and also the first project of this type in Southeast Asia./.
