Today, April 16, the Acting Chairman of the Quang Tri Provincial People's Committee, Ha Sy Dong, sent a document to the Ministry of Construction regarding the proposal to build Dakrong Bridge at km 249+824 of Ho Chi Minh Road, Quang Tri Province. The total proposed budget is about 60 billion VND from the urgent capital or surplus capital of the Ministry of Construction invested in emergency cases to ensure traffic to soon implement the investment in the construction of the new Dakrong Bridge.

Dakrong suspension bridge has been in operation for more than 20 years - Photo: ST

According to the proposal, the Ho Chi Minh Trail West branch is a vital route serving trade between Vietnam and Laos, connecting from La Lay International Border Gate with National Highway 9 to seaports in Quang Tri province and the region.

Currently, the demand for transporting coal from Laos to Vietnam for export through seaports is estimated at 20-30 million tons/year; the traffic volume of heavy trucks, container trucks, and semi-trailers on the route is increasing.

Meanwhile, Dakrong suspension bridge km 249+824 Ho Chi Minh road branch West is a cable-stayed suspension bridge that has been in operation for more than 20 years with a design load of H18-X60 that does not meet the operating load. Currently, the road management agency has installed signs to limit the bridge's load, prohibiting trucks, 22-ton monocoque vehicles, 30-ton semi-trailers, 32-ton trailers, and at the same time installed signs to separate vehicles exceeding the permitted load of Dakrong bridge from traveling in the direction of Ho Chi Minh road branch West to National Highway 49C (Hue City) to National Highway 1, National Highway 9 (Quang Tri Province).

Limiting the load capacity of Dakrong bridge has increased the transportation distance from La Lay International Border Gate to the seaport in the province and region, increasing logistics costs for businesses compared to transporting along the route from La Lay International Border Gate to National Highway 9 via Dakrong suspension bridge.

Therefore, the Provincial People's Committee proposed the Ministry of Construction to invest in building a new reinforced concrete bridge to ensure synchronous exploitation of the load on the route, shortening the transport distance of vehicles from La Lay International Border Gate to seaports in Quang Tri and Quang Binh provinces; contributing to promoting the circulation of goods between countries in the region and socio-economic development of Quang Tri province.

Minh Long