The new Tân Kỳ - Tân Quý Bridge in HCM City’s Tân Bình District whose construction has stalled. — Photo tuoitre.vn

HCM CITY — The HCM City Department of Transport has sought urgent approval from the People's Council to switch to public funds to complete the Tân Kỳ Tân Quý Bridge in Bình Tân District.

A key project to replace an existing bridge, it was being constructed in the form of BOT (build - operate - transfer) since the first quarter of 2018 by a private investor.

But when it was 70 per cent complete, the investor suspended work due to land acquisition problems.

The city decided to pull the plug on the BOT contract and in 2020 told related agencies to study how it could be made a public project.

The four-lane bridge will be 82.9 metres long and 16 metres wide, and have a 1.5-metre pavement and stairs on either side.

It can be used by vehicles of over 30 tonnes, an improvement over the original bridge’s capacity of five tonnes.

It is budgeted to cost VNĐ492 billion (US$20.67 million). — VNS