Contractors of Ho Chi Minh City’s first metro line project installed steel beams on a pedestrian bridge connecting with the Saigon Hi-Tech Park station of the rail route early on Sunday morning, making it the first among nine footbridges along the line to experience girder installation.

The city’s first metro line, which is 19.7 kilometers long, runs from Ben Thanh Market in District 1 to Suoi Tien Theme Park in Thu Duc City.

The project carries an estimated price tag of VND43.7 trillion (US$1.9 billion).

The installation demonstrates that the first metro line project is entering the final stage.

Engineer Nguyen Thanh Hai, who is in charge of work on footbridges, as parts of the city’s first metro line project, said that the pedestrian bridge stretches from Hanoi Highway to the elevated Saigon Hi-Tech Park station in Thu Duc.

The footbridge is expected to make it convenient for commuters to access the station.

“Metro line No. 1 is undergoing the completion process in which the girders of pedestrian bridges are installed. The beam installation on the footbridge connecting with Saigon Hi-Tech Park Station acted as a stepping stone to the completion of the remaining eight pedestrian bridges,” said Hai.

“A month ago, we worked with relevant agencies to map out a detailed plan to install beams on the pedestrian bridge,” Nguyen Trung Hieu, deputy head of the management board of the Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien metro line, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

The construction of these footbridges is the last component of the first metro line project, Hieu underlined.

The beam installation is slated for completion on Monday, while workers will quickly complete other relevant components of the bridge such as roofing, floor tiling, and lighting and instruction-board installations.

As planned, a footbridge linking Binh Thai Station will have girders installed in December, while the others will be completed before the 2024 Lunar New Year holiday, due in February.

The city’s first metro line will be put into commercial operation in July 2024.

The line has 17 trains, each consisting of three cars and designed to run at up to 110 kilometers per hour above the ground and 80 kilometers per hour underground.

It embarked on a test run over the entire route for the first time in late August.

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