Thang Long Bridge which connects Hanoi and Noi Bai Airport will be repaired at an estimated cost of VND12.05 billion (USD58,000). The work will be completed by 2016.
Cracks on the Thang Long Bridge road surface
The estimate was issued after the Vietnam Directorate for Roads worked with a Fact Finding group in August to prepare for the third Loan Convention hosted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) credit programme for transportation projects.
They agreed that to complete the repairs to Thang Long Bridge can only be carried out after the Nhat Tan-Noi Bai route is put into use by the end of 2014.
The National Directorate for Roads proposed to use the funds from the second loan convention to hire the Katahira consultancy firm and Engineers international (KEI) to inspect and determine the cause of damage, and to prospose solutions. KEI will also estimate the repair costs in October.
If the repair work is not complicated and is capable of being completed by June 2016, JICA will review the project and ask the Japanese government to use the surplus from loans for the Ring Road 3 Project whose disbursement is still valid in June 2016.
If the work is complicated, JICA will consider using the funds from the third loan convention.
A specific figure will be reported to the Ministry of Transport in September or October this year. However, the National Directorate for Roads said their estimate stands at around VND12.05 billion and they are seeking prime ministerial permission to carry out the plan.
Thanh Long Bridge, located on the Ring Road 3 route, connects Hanoi and Noi Bai International Airport and has to cope with high traffic flows. At the end of 2009, the National Directorate for Roads was assigned VND97 billion from the state budget to repair the bridge's surface. However, two months after the bridge was put into use, cracks and holes appeared on the road surface.
Since March, 2010, Thang Long Bridge has undergone three other repairs including the first one from March 2010 to September 2011, the second one from January 2012 to May 2012 and the third one from July to August 2012. Despite the efforts of both foreign and domestic experts, the cracks have remained.
