The Hanoi - Hai Phong expressway project is a national key road project, with practical significance in the process of economic and social development in the Northern region. The construction start of this project is in accordance with the Government's planning policy and strategy for Vietnam's traffic development until 2020, aiming to relieve congestion on National Highway 5, shorten travel time between Hai Phong and Hanoi as well as other provinces and cities, create favorable trade conditions and attract investment.

A section of the Hanoi - Hai Phong Expressway is being completed (Photo: Cong Luan Newspaper)

It is for the above reasons that on November 29, 2007, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 1621/QD-TTg allowing investment in the Hanoi-Hai Phong expressway project in the form of BOT (Build - Operate - Transfer). Accordingly, the starting point of the Project is located on Ring Road 3 of Hanoi city, passing through Hung Yen and Hai Duong provinces. The final point is Dinh Vu port - Hai An District - Hai Phong City. According to the approved policy, the 105.5 km long Hanoi - Hai Phong Expressway Project is a type A expressway, the design speed is 120km/h, the road surface width is 33m with 06 main lanes, 02 emergency stop lanes, toll collection in a closed automatic form, both sides have a system of collector roads and green tree strips.

Inspecting the starting point of the Project at the Thanh Tri - Hanoi bridge abutment

In phase 1, the Project has 06 intersections linking with localities: Belt 3 of Hanoi City, National Highway 10, Provincial Road 353 and the intersection of Tran Hung Dao Street in Hai Phong City; There are 19 intersections; 104 underground sewers for people's lives. The project has 41 bridges with a length of about 12km, including many large bridges such as Thanh An bridge, Lach Tray bridge, Thai Binh bridge... The investor of the project is Vietnam Infrastructure Development and Financial Investment Corporation (VIDIFI); The design consulting unit is YOOSHIN-KPT Consulting Joint Venture (Korea - Vietnam); Supervision consulting unit: Meinhardt Joint Venture (Australia) and Vietnam-Japan Construction Consulting.

The construction unit is rushing to complete the items before the opening date of the Hai Duong - Hai Phong route (Photo: Cong Luan Newspaper)

The special feature of this project is that it is invested in a pilot BOT form, not invested with state budget capital like other transport infrastructure projects. The total investment of the project is 45,487 billion VND. The project started in May 2008 and is expected to be completed and put into use at the end of 2015.

The project has 11 main construction packages and 7 auxiliary packages (traffic safety, lighting system, smart traffic system, service station, parking lot...). According to the direction of the Prime Minister and the request of the Ministry of Transport, traffic will be opened on May 19, 2015, and from May 27, 22.7km of Hai Phong city will be officially put into temporary operation (From the intersection with National Highway 10 to the intersection with Provincial Road 353 - Pham Van Dong Street (Hai Phong City) and by the end of 2015, the entire route will be put into operation.

Supervision consultants (Meinhardt International-Australia Joint Venture) always closely monitor the quality of each stage of the project.

According to records at the scene by a reporter from NB&CL Newspaper, currently, the progress of implementing the project's construction and installation packages is approximately 90%. In particular, the construction volume on the main route of the package has been basically completed, and is currently constructing a 5cm smooth asphalt concrete layer using Polymer-modified asphalt and a rough layer (to ensure an exploitation speed of 120km/h); The progress of auxiliary bidding packages (traffic safety system, lighting system, green landscape, auxiliary architectural works, management and operation systems...) has also been urgently completing the final stages.

Mr. Dao Van Chien - Chairman of the Board of Directors of VIDIFI Corporation - Project Investor answered an interview with reporters at the construction site

Hai Phong intersection toll station (Photo: Cong Luan Newspaper)

Talking with reporters of NB&CL Newspaper at the construction site, Mr. Dao Van Chien - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam Infrastructure Development and Financial Investment Corporation (Vidifi) - Project investor - said:

“The Hanoi - Hai Phong expressway (also known as National Highway 5B) is one of the model roads in terms of quality, the first expressway in Vietnam built according to international standards. The route will have a smart traffic control system and an automatic, closed toll collection system, modern and smooth traffic organization, a camera system installed to control and record images, service stations, fuel supply and repair equipment...”

After the first 22.7 km of technical traffic was opened and put into operation from May 27, efforts were made to speed up the project's items to ensure completion by the end of 2015 in accordance with the direction of the Government and the Ministry of Transport.

Source: Dao Binh - Son Hai (Cong Luan Newspaper)