VietNamNet Bridge – South Korea's Keangnam Corporation has extended an apology to the Government and people of Viet Nam for a crack that appeared across the recently opened Noi Bai-Lao Cai highway.

The 75 m crack appeared several days after the road opened to traffic. The cracked section was part of Package A4 won by Keangnam.

The US$1.5 billion expressway, the longest in the country at 245km, opened on September 21. It halves the travel time between Ha Noi and the northern province of Lao Cai and enables vehicles to travel up to 100kph.

However, a 75 m crack appeared several days after the road opened to traffic. The cracked section was part of Package A4 won by Keangnam.

Director General Hae Nam Jang said in a letter sent to Transport Minister Dinh La Thang that packages A4 and A5 of the project were implemented following international standard.

Involved units, including consultants and contractors, were all prestigious companies that were carefully chosen via international bidding. He stressed that contractors strictly abided by technical standards under the supervision of consultants.

Both consultants and contractors had anticipated the possibility of such a crack appearing, as the road was built on weak land, he said. As the main contractor of the project, Keangnam was committed to fixing the crack.

VNS/VNN