[VN] Vietnamese highways - Đường giao thông Việt Nam

[staff]

Yeah, one would think that a north-south national highway would be enough considering the country is some 150 km wide the whole stretch. What would really benefit infrastructure would be a north-south high speed rail line.

[hkskyline]

ADB loans Vietnam one billion dollar to build highway to China
26 September 2008
Agence France Presse

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Vietnam on Friday signed the bank's biggest single loan project, for a four-lane highway linking Hanoi with southern China.

The 1.1 billion dollar deal will help build a 244-kilometre (151 mile) highway to cut travel time between Hanoi and Lao Cai province from 8 to 3 hours, said Vietnam State Bank Governor, Nguyen Van Giau, at a signing ceremony.

The highway, to be completed in 2012, "will bring about opportunities and promote trade relations and cargo transport between provinces in northern Vietnam and China's Yunnan province", Giau said.

"The highway will give a shorter and lower cost route to major ports and inland markets, have great potential for tourism and also substantially enhance Vietnam's ability to export agricultural and maritime products to Yunnan province as well as to improve international competitiveness," said ADB country director for Vietnam, Ayumi Konishi.

According to the Ministry of Transport, Vietnam will need up to 25 billion dollars to develop 2,600 kilometres (1,600 miles) of highway between now and 2020.

[nazrey]

Vietnam Needs US$48 Billion To Develop Highways
November 07, 2008 14:44 PM

HANOI, Nov 7 (Bernama) -- Vietnam will need some US$48 billion for the construction of 20 highways with a total length of over 5,870km, according to a proposed scheme to develop the country's highways network between now and 2020 and beyond, which have been scrutinised by the Government.

Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported Friday that at a seminar held here on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung said developing the domestic road network, including the highways, is considered a matter of great importance for Vietnam to create impetus for socio-economic development.

Under the master plan, the trans-national express system will include two routes, the systems in the north and south will have six routes each, the system in the central and central highlands region will have three routes and there will be three routes in the beltways in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

The target of the plan, formulated by the Ministry of Transport, is to form a network of modern national highways linking key economic hubs, main border gates and important traffic points that is able to coordinate with other modern modes of transport.

The plan is expected to help tackle the issue of traffic jams, as well as effectively reducing traffic accidents, initially in big cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

According to the plan, highway routes connecting key economic zones, major cities and their beltways, and big sea ports will be prioritised for investment.

Vietnam now has 18 highway projects in the pipeline, including six under construction or to begin construction next year. Many of these projects have received funding from international organisations such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the German Reconstruction and Development Bank (KFW) and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

At the seminar, Deputy PM Hung called on international donors to give more assistance, both financial and technological, in order to develop Vietnam's traffic network to meet increasing demand, reduce traffic accidents and minimise the impact on the environment.

The World Bank (WB) Acting Country Director in Vietnam Martin Rama pledged to increase levels of assistance to Vietnam in developing its transport infrastructure and to mobilise all available investment resources.

Martin Rama said the WB is ready to partner Vietnam in this area, financing and sharing experiences related to forming sustainable management and financial mechanisms.

According to a recent World Bank survey, Vietnam's rapid economic growth associated with a high-speed urbanisation process and an increasing number of transport facilities, has put unrelenting pressure on the existing road systems.

In addition, poor infrastructure and the high rate of traffic accidents are additional factors influencing Vietnam in its decision to build new roads.

-- BERNAMA

[hkskyline]

ADB approves 29 million-dollar aid for Vietnam road projects
24 October 2008
Agence France Presse

The Asian Development Bank said Friday it has approved loans and grants totalling 29 million dollars to support three road projects in Vietnam.

Two of the expressway projects will connect Hanoi and Lang Son, and Ha Long and Mong Cai in the northeast to boost cross-border ties with China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, the Manila-based lender said in a statement.

The other expressway will connect Ben Luc and Long Thanh in the greater Ho Chi Minh City area in the south.

The ADB package includes a 26 million-dollar technical assistance loan in special drawing rights, an ADB grant of 1.5 million dollars for a feasibility study on one section, and a 1.5 million-dollar grant from the ADB-administered Japan Special Fund for a feasibility study on the southern expressway.

"The expressways will reduce travel costs and improve road safety; and ultimately support sustainable economic growth and enhanced economic exchanges, as well as reducing poverty and increasing livelihood opportunities in the project areas," said ADB transport specialist Yasushi Tanaka.

[marki]

Vietnam is building some fantastic bridges in the south, here are some photos of the Mekong River bridges. These were taken in June this year from the Ho Chi Minh to Can-Tho speed boat (I highly recommend this boat trip). The plan is to link southern areas like Can-Tho to Ho Chi Minh and the rest of Vietnam my motorway. It involves around 4 large bridges like this one at My-Tho and many more small ones. The bridge below is near My-Tho.

















Ive also posted this in the Bridge forum: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=775394

Mark.

[marki]

More pictures. These are of the bridges over the River Hao (Song Hao) at Can-Tho.

Main Channel


Main Channel - North Bank


Main Channel - South Bank


South Channel


South Channel - North Bank


South Channel - South Bank


Satellite Image from Google Maps, apparently taken around the same time.


The part of the bridge that collapsed tradgically in Septermber 2007, is on the north bank of the main channel. Some news stories:
1. Vietnam bridge collapse kills 52 people - Accident cuts off part of span linking Mekong Delta, Ho Chi Minh City
2. Hope fades for survivors in Vietnam bridge collapse
3. Vietnam bridge collapse kills 42

Mark.

[LamDai]

[wyqtor]

Thanks for the photos. We still have very few pictures from the country, so it's best to keep them in one place instead of scattered .

[ChrisZwolle]

merged

[LamDai]

Vietnam highway Traffic Jams photos :

Saigon: (Saigon traffic jams can cause a 10km cars line )





Hanoi: (Hanoi's traffic jam usually about 10 hours )



Saigon's highway :


Hanoi's highway :

[napoleon]

Originally Posted by LamDai

Hanoi's highway :

It's a beautiful highway.

[LamDai]

Originally Posted by napoleon

It's a beautiful highway.

It's Lang Hoa Lac highway in Hanoi .

[Pansori]

It would be very interesting to see a map of existing/planned main roads and expressways.

[squirrelq]

[squirrelq]

[squirrelq]

[squirrelq]

[squirrelq]

[squirrelq]

[squirrelq]