MoT options for North-South Highway construction

The Ministry of Transport has submitted to the Government a scheme to build the North-South Highway from Hà Nội to HCM City with total investment of about VNĐ230 trillion (US$10.2 billion).

Deputy Minister Nguyễn Nhật said that construction of the highway, which would begin from the east of the capital city and stretch more than 1,620 kilometres, would be carried out from 2017 to 2022.

The investment would be mobilised from the State budget and private organisations and individuals. More than VNĐ136.2 trillion ($6.1 billion) would be mobilised from organisations and individuals, accounting for nearly 60 per cent. The State budget would take the rest.

Nhật said the highway would be built using the Build-Operate-Transfer model.

To ensure capital and financial plan and investment efficiency, the ministry proposed research on investment plans for the road sections.

Nhật said the road sections, whose transport demand was forecast to reach 30,000-35,000 vehicles per day by 2030, would have four-lanes at least 22 metres wide. Other road sections forecast to be less busy would have four-lanes 17 metres wide.

After research, the ministry has drafted three options for the scale of investment and construction for the project.

In the first option, the project would be built with four-lane roads and site clearance would be fully implemented. The sections of Hà Nội-Vinh and Phan Thiết-Dầu Giây would have four-lanes 22 metres wide. The sections of Vinh-Túy Loan and Quảng Ngãi-Phan Thiết would have four-lanes with width of 17 metres.

Site clearance would be implemented for the size of six and four lanes respectively.

The cost was estimated to be VNĐ229.8 trillion. Of which, the State budget would fund VNĐ93.5 trillion, 40.7 per cent of total.

In the second option, the sections would be the same as the first one, but site clearance would be implemented for the size of four lanes for all sections.

The cost was estimated to be VNĐ223.2 trillion, of which the State budget was VNĐ87.6 trillion, accounting for 39.1 per cent.

In the third option, the section of Pháp Vân-Nghi Sơn would have six-lanes 29 metres wide, and the section of Nghi Sơn-Dầu Giây would have four-lanes with width of 22 metres.

The cost for this option was VNĐ280.9 trillion. The State budget was VNĐ135 trillion, covering about 48.1 per cent.

Nhật said the ministry suggested the first option was best due to low construction and site clearance costs.

The project is under Government consideration

Source: VNS