HÀ NỘI — The Hưng Hà Bridge crossing the Hồng (Red) River connecting the Hà Nội – Hải Phòng and Cầu Giẽ – Ninh Bình expressways will be officially put into use on Saturday, helping Hưng Yên and Hà Nam provinces attract investment and improve socio-economic development.

The construction project includes the Hưng Hà Bridge with a length of over 2.1km and two approach roads with a total length of over 4km.

The bridge begins at highway No.39 in Phương Chiểu Commune, Hưng Yên City and ends at Bắc Lý Commune, in Lý Nhân District, Hà Nam Province.

“The project started in May 2016. Under the contract, the project was to be completed in 36 months, in May 2019. However, with the direction of the Ministry of Transport and support from local authorities, all work has been completed and the bridge can open to traffic five months ahead of schedule,” Nguyễn Xuân Lâm, deputy director of Thăng Long project management board told Giao Thông (Transport) newspaper.

The VNĐ2.9-trillion (US$126 million) bridge is 22.5m wide with six lanes. VNĐ2.5 trillion came from South Korea’s Economic Development Co-operation Fund and the rest from the Vietnamese government.

The main contractor of the project is South Korea’s Hyundai Development Company.

Nguyễn Ngọc Sơn, director of Hưng Yên Transportation Department, said the distance from the centre of Hưng Yên Province to Phủ Lý City, Hà Nam Province was only about 30km, but it took about 40 minutes travelling by car.

Now, the project connecting the two most modern expressways in Việt Nam has been completed, the distance from Hưng Yên to Phủ Lý is only 20km, taking 20 minutes, according to Sơn.

The bridge will enhance the transport capacity of the two national highways and stimulate the socio-economic development of the Red River Delta region. At the same time, the project will contribute to easing traffic pressure on highways No.1 and No.5 as well as in Hà Nội. — VNS