New bridge to link District 1, Thu Thiem

Another bridge will link HCM City’s downtown with the Thu Thiem area in District 2, according to the memorandum of understanding signed between the HCM City Department of Transport and Public Works and the Viet Nam Construction & Import-Export Corp. (Vinaconex) on Thursday.

The Thu Thiem Bridge No. 2, also known as Ba Son Bridge, will connect the Ton Duc Thang-Le Thanh Ton Intersection in District 1 to a roundabout in Thu Thiem. When done, it will be 25 metres wide and 1.2 km long, including 800 metres of the main span of the bridge.

Construction costs of the six lane bridge will run about VND1,560 billion (nearly US$100 million).

The bridge’s design will be picked from a design contest in early 2009, according to Tran Quang Phuong, director of the HCM City Department for Transport and Public Works.

Construction should begin in February of next year and last 40 months.

Thu Thiem Bridge No. 2 is part of a master plan to build four new bridges in the next 3 years. The first Thu Thiem Bridge, which crosses the Sai Gon River, opened last January. A third Thu Thiem Bridge is in the works, and will run from downtown to District 7.