The Bình Tiên Bridge and Road project will be built by four contractors with total investment of VNĐ3.508 trillion (US$157 million) to relieve traffic congestion, the city’s Transport Department has said. Photo cafef.vn

HCM CITY — The Bình Tiên Bridge and Road project will be built by four contractors with total investment of VNĐ3.508 trillion (US$157 million) to relieve traffic congestion, the city’s Transport Department has said.

The transport project links District 6’s Phạm Văn Chí Street and East-West Avenue; District 8’s Tàu Hủ and Đôi canals; and Bình Chánh District’s Nguyễn Văn Linh Street.

Expected to be completed by 2020, the project will be divided into two sections.

The first section from District 6’s Phạm Văn Chí Street to District 8’s Tạ Quang Bửu Street will be managed by DMK Company and 319 Corporation.

A bridge will be built over Tàu Hủ and Đôi canals, with total investment of VNĐ2.605 trillion (US$117 million).

Since the section will be implemented under a Build-Transfer (BT) model, the two contractors will receive plots of land equal to 40 per cent of the investment capital, while the remaining 60 per cent will come from the state budget.

The two contractors will also be able to use several land plots in District 8’s ward 6, 14 and 15.

The second section of the project, from District 8’s Tạ Quang Bửu Street to Bình Chánh District’s Nguyễn Văn Linh Street, will be handled by the Licogi 16 Joint-Stock Company and BCCI Company, with total investment of VNĐ903.6 billion (US$40 million).

The two contractors will be given land along Bình Tiên Bridge and Road and other land plots in return.

Though Bình Tiên Bridge and Road project was approved by the government in 2010, it has yet to start because city authorities have faced challenges arranging the land for contractors.

Bình Tiên Bridge, including roads leading to the bridge, will be 3,200 metres long and 30-40 metres wide. It will have four main lanes.

To reach southern metropolitan areas, drivers have had to rely on Nguyễn Tri Phương Street and National Highway 50; and Y, Chà Và, and Nhị Thiên Đường bridges.

However, due to rapid urbanisation and traffic congestion, more problems have occurred at these hotspots in recent years. — VNS