Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved the construction of a bridge connecting HCMC and Dong Nai Province at a cost of VND7.2 trillion ($310 million).
Work on the six-lane Cat Lai Bridge, which will stretch 3.8 kilometers, is expected to start next year.
Residents today take the Cat Lai ferry to travel between District 2, HCMC, and Nhon Trach District in Dong Nai, but the ferry can no longer accommodate current travel needs.
Traffic on the highway that connects HCMC with the districts of Long Thanh and Dau Giay in Dong Nai Province is also exceeding its capacity.
Dong Nai hopes the Cat Lai Bridge will help turn Nhon Trach District into an extension of HCMC suburbs.
HCMC will handle the section of the road, 623 meters long in District 2, that will lead to the bridge, as a build-transfer (BT) project.
The main part of the bridge, of 650 meters, is set to be a build-operate-transfer (BOT) project executed by Dong Nai. If this doesn’t work out, the province will incorporate a build-transfer (BT) project. The southern province will also be in charge of the second section of the 263m long road in Nhon Trach that leads to the bridge.
