VietNamNet Bridge – Several important traffic projects have been completed in Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (fifth from left) and other officials at the inauguration of the upgraded Vinh airport in Nghe An Province.

Last Saturday, the Airports Corporation of Viet Nam (ACV) inaugurated the upgraded Vinh airport in Nghe An Province. The VND1.2 trillion (US$57 million) upgrade brings the airport up to international standard and includes a terminal, an expanded landing area for airplanes and an elevated road and parking lot.

The two-storey terminal is built in the shape of a lotus blossom and lotus leaf, covering an area of 11,706sq.m. It has four boarding gates and 28 counters, capable of serving 1,000 passengers at peak hours and hosting three million passengers a year.

The expanded landing area can accommodate seven airplanes at a time, more than double the previous capacity of three, and can accommodate larger jets.

"The project not only helps solve the problem of overloading encountered by the old airport, but also boosts socio-economic development in Nghe An Province and the whole north-central region as a whole," Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said at the launching ceremony, which was also attended by Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Sinh Hung.

Elevated bridge

The same day, the transport ministry and the Nghe An People's Committee put into use an elevated bridge over the North-South railway in Nghe An Province.

Part of the larger project to expand the Quan Banh section of National Highway 1A, the VND190 billion ($8.9 million) bridge is 395.5m long and 12m wide.

As part of Highway 46, which connects Cua Lo Port with the western districts of the province, the bridge is expected to help ease traffic congestion.

"It also helps to boost economic development in the East-West corridor and the whole region," said Huynh Thanh Dien, vice chairman of Nghe An Province People's Committee, at the ceremony that opened the bridge to traffic.

New road

The same Saturday saw the opening of a new road in neighbouring Ha Tinh Province.

The 71.65km road runs through 25 communes and one town in the territories of Cam Xuyen and Ky Anh districts.

To build it, 64.87ha were recovered and 20 public buildings and 6,300 households were relocated, according to officials from the construction ministry. The total cost for building and eviction was nearly VND3.3 trillion ($154 million) financed by Government bonds.

The four-lane road has a speed limit of 80km/h and aims to divert traffic from going through the city of Ha Tinh on National Highway 1A, thus helping to ease traffic congestion in the city.

Bac Lieu commences highway upgrade

Last Saturday, the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu began upgrading the section of National Highway 1A at the gate of the province in addition to a number of highway sections prone to inundation.

The VND633 billion (US$29.6 million) project was to be implemented in 18 months by the Phuong Nam and Pacific Investment joint stock companies under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model, said Le Thanh Dung, vice chairman of Bac Lieu Province People's Committee. It aimed to complete the improved National Highway 1A, which runs from Ha Noi to the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.

Dung described the road as an artery connecting Bac Lieu Province with other provinces in the Mekong Delta and others across the nation as a whole.

The project, expected to be put into use in August 2016 and collect tolls for 13 years and nine months, tackles traffic congestion on four km of inundation-prone sections and the nine km provincial gate section. Dung urged local authorities to work closely with the road's builders and the Project Management Unit in persuading individuals and organisations evicted by the project to collaborate well so that the project could be implemented on schedule.

VNS