On July 5, the Ho Chi Minh City Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board (Traffic Board) said it had sent a document to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee regarding the plan to start the Rach Tom bridge project (new Nha Be commune) - a key traffic project on Le Van Luong road, connecting Ho Chi Minh City with the new Tay Ninh province (old Long An province).
Previously, the project was scheduled to start construction at the end of June 2025, but had to be postponed due to land clearance problems.
According to the adjusted plan, the project will start on July 10 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
Rach Tom Bridge has a total length of more than 683 m, including the main bridge 173 m long, 15 m wide, and the approach roads at both ends of the bridge are more than 500 m long, 29 m wide.
The total investment is nearly 500 billion VND, of which the construction cost is more than 140 billion VND and the site clearance cost is about 224 billion VND.
In 2024, the Traffic Department has disbursed all compensation, support and resettlement funds with a total amount of 224 billion VND to the Compensation and Site Clearance Department of the old Nha Be District.
To date, 83/111 affected households have agreed to receive money, of which 64 cases have been paid. On June 27, the site of the M1 abutment and T1 pillar were handed over for construction.
It is expected that the site at the M2 abutment and T4 pillar locations will be handed over before July 31, 2025, and the entire site will be completed by September 30, 2025. The Traffic Department will implement the construction in accordance with the handed-over schedule.
Rach Tom Bridge is one of four iron bridges on Le Van Luong Street built before 1975, including: Rach Dia Bridge, Long Kieng Bridge, Rach Tom Bridge and Rach Doi Bridge.
Of these, two bridges, Long Kieng and Rach Dia, were newly built and put into operation in 2023 and 2024.
Rach Doi Bridge - the last remaining iron bridge on the route has been approved by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council for investment since 2016, with a total capital of nearly 781 billion VND. The new bridge is expected to be about 452 m long and 15 m wide; the approach road is about 300 m long and 29 m wide. The Traffic Department said it is urgently completing procedures to soon start this project in the near future.
Le Van Luong route plays an important role in connecting the South of Ho Chi Minh City with the new Tay Ninh province, especially in the context of increasing trade and travel demand between the two localities.
When all four bridges on the route are completed, the infrastructure system in the South will have a strong "transformation", contributing to reducing congestion, shortening travel time, and at the same time creating momentum to promote socio-economic development for the southern area of Ho Chi Minh City and the new Tay Ninh province.
