Society

Underwater tunnel takes shape

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 first of the fourreinforced-concrete segments was anchored at the construction site ofthe Thu Thiem Tunnel on the Sai Gon River on Mar. 7.

The27,000-tonne structure will be settled in the river bed on march 9,while the other three segments will be towed to the site later fromNhon Trach District in the southern province of Dong Nai.

The 370.8-metre long underwater tunnel will connect the city’s District1 with the new urban Thu Thiem Area in District 2. The tunnel isdesigned to ease the east-west traffic flow in the city.

Experts said the sealed segment will be lowered into a prepared trenchon the riverbed and then covered with backfilling material in order tosecure 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 tunnelentrances at both ends, the driveway and the emergency pathways will bepaved and assorted installation projects will continue until the tunnelis completed and opened in mid-2011.

The tunnel is part of the Sai Gon East-West Highway Project that isbeing implemented by HCM City with financial assistance from the JapanInternational Cooperation Agency (JICA). The agency has provided 41.027billion yen (456 million USD) in ODA for the project.

Addressing a press meeting on March 7, Tsuno Motonori, chiefrepresentative of JICA Vietnam Office, said this was the firstinfrastructure project supported by JICA in HCM City.
 
This new six-lane, 22-km road will connect National Highway 1A with theHanoi Highway in the east. The road will also pass under the Sai GonRiver 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 mostdifficult part of the EWH project. He added that these are the firstimmersed tunnels in Vietnam and also the first project of this type inSoutheast Asia./.

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