Ba Ria-Vung Tau Provine in southern Vietnam on Tuesday approved in principle a plan to spend approximately VND4.9 trillion (US$213 million) building a bridge connecting an expressway with its seaport.

The bridge, named Phuoc An, is projected to serve as an important link between Cai Mep – Thi Vai International Port in Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Ben Luc – Long Thanh Expressway, which connects Long An Province in the Mekong Delta with southern Dong Nai Province and is part of a planned national north-to-south expressway.

The bridge is expected to measure 3.5 kilometers in length, with a vertical clearance that allows ships with a tonnage of up to 30,000 metric tons to pass through, and include a total of 848 meters of linked roads.

Nearly VND2.9 trillion ($126 million) of the investment capital of the bridge will come from the provincial budget, while the other VND2 trillion ($87 million) will be allocated from the state budget.

Construction of the bridge alone will cost VND3.75 trillion ($163 million).

The new bridge will facilitate transport between the Mekong Delta and the eastern part of southern Vietnam and help the Cai Mep – Thi Vai seaport reach its designed capacity.

The Phuoc An Bridge project has been discussed for more than ten years but has faced different difficulties regarding the source of investment, the form of investment, and the location of the bridge.

It was not until a field inspection by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to the planned location of the bridge in May and a meeting between leaders from Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Dong Nai Provinces and the Minister of Transport in July that the difficulties were finally resolved.

With the in-principle approval from the provincial People’s Council and readily available capital, the next steps are “merely procedural,” said Nguyen Van Trinh, director of the management board for Cai Mep-Thi Vai transportation projects — the project’s developer.

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