15:45:19.0, 02-26-2010
Deputy Prime Minister has recently agreed to a plan that Vietnam Government will borrow loans from the World Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to build the Da Nang – Quang Ngai Expressway. This giant project is expected to commence in 2011 and finish in 2014, according to the Prime Minister's Decision on approving the detailed planning of Vietnam North-South Expressway Eastern Network.
Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC), which is a state-owned company established by Ministry of Transportation (MoT) was designated to implement this project. In January 2010, VEC contracted Project Management Unit 28 (an experienced affiliating unit of MoT) for the consultancy services during the feasibility study formulation, implementation and handover periods of this project.
Da Nang – Quang Ngai Expressway is a section of Vietnam's strategic North-South expressway network in a development strategy until the year 2020. This section is aligned to the west of the existing national highway 1A, with the start point in Hoa Vang district of Da Nang and the end point located in Son Tinh District of Quang Ngai. The road will be 130.5 km in length, 25.5 meters in width and will have four traffic lanes, four major bridges and one tunnel. The total investment capital was estimated at US$ 2.48 billion, of which the first phase is US$ 1.5 billion.The highway project is aimed at stimulating the social-economic development of the Central Coast Region, especially of Da Nang, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai. Easier communications will strengthen the commercial links between the there provinces and promote the free flow of traffic for both cargo and passengers among these localities. This section will later connect to the whole national expressway network to become the bloodstream of the national economy. According to Vietnam's expressway detailed planning, the expressway section project linking Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh will start in 2016, while the one connecting Quang Tri and Da Nang will commence in 2015.
The socio-economic development strategy of Vietnam applies harmonized development policy among the North, the Central, and the South of Vietnam. Construction of this expressway section is essential for the socio-economic development and growth of the central region. The development of this expressway network has been identified as one of the key factors for Vietnam economic growth by 2020 and the Da Nang – Dung Quat expressway project has been identified as one of the priority projects. This section is located between Ho Chi Minh City and Ha Noi, in Central Vietnam, with more than 40% of traffic being long-distance traffic connecting Northern and Southern Vietnam.
One of the main drivers for development of this link is the Dungquat Economic Zone which also includes the operational oil refinery and several large-scale FDI projects. New positive progress of this expressway section projects takes place while an ambitious master plan is being worked out to expand Dungquat to a vast area of 45.000 hectares.
By TVdanh
