Feasibility studies of Vietnam’s North-South Expressway approved

The Ministry of Transport (MOT) has approved the feasibility study reports of 11 sub-projects of the eastern North-South Expressway project for the 2017-2020 period, according to a ministry official.

Cau Gie-Ninh Binh Expressway (Photo: Bao Dau tu)
Cau Gie-Ninh Binh Expressway (Photo: Bao Dau tu)

Deputy Head of the MOT’s Department of Public-Private Partnership Bui Quang Thai stated that, among the 11 component projects, three will be three public investment projects while the remaining eight will be implemented under public-private partnership (PPP) contracts.

The public investment projects for the Cao Bo-Mai Son and Cam Lo-Son La sections are in the process of selecting technical design consultants, with the contracts to be signed in December and the technical designs to be completed within six months.

The selection of technical design consultants for the My Thuan 2 Bridge, the other public investment project, is scheduled for November but the duration for producing the technical designs is estimated at nine months since it is a complex cable-stayed bridge.

Technical design consultants for the eight PPP projects will also be selected this month with the contracts to be signed in January 2019 and the duration for completing the designs at around eight months.

Construction of the Cao Bo-Mai Son and Cam Lo-La Son sections are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2019. Work on the approach road of the My Thuan 2 Bridge is scheduled for the second quarter of 2019 and construction of the main bridge will start in 2020.

Meanwhile the PPP projects will begin later due to the additional process of preliminary selection and international bidding.

Under a resolution approved by the National Assembly in 2017, 654 kilometres of expressway will be built during the 2017-2020 period with a total cost of VND118.716 trillion (US$5.1 billion).