Investors selected for HCMC's Thu Thiem No. 4 Bridge

Three investors chosen to build new span linking south and east of the city.

The Ho Chi Minh People’s Committee has asked the government for permission to plan for the construction of Thu Thiem No. 4 Bridge under the build-transfer (BT) model and has selected three investors: the Phat Dat Real Estate Development Corporation, the 620 Infrastructure Development and Investment Corporation, and the 168 Construction and Development Corporation.

The three investors built the My Loi Bridge in the Mekong Delta’s Long An and Tien Giang provinces with investment capital of over VND1.4 trillion ($63 million).

Thu Thiem No. 4 Bridge has investment capital of more than VND5.2 trillion ($234 million), excluding interest costs. It will link the southern and eastern parts of Ho Chi Minh City, easing traffic jams in Binh Thanh, Thu Duc, Binh Chanh, and Nha Be districts and Districts 7 and 8.

Under the BT model, as an investor in the bridge Phat Dat can develop its projects in seven land plots and many other outstanding plots in the center of the city.

Last year the city’s Department of Traffic and Transportation asked the city’s People’s Committee for permission to allow investors to study the construction of the Thu Thiem No. 4 Bridge to connect Districts 2 and 7.

The key project of constructing a bridge across the Saigon River is part of efforts to develop the city by 2020.

Five bridges and a tunnel will connect the Thu Thiem urban area in District 2 with other regions of the city. The Thu Thiem No. 1 Bridge and the tunnel under the Saigon River have been open since 2010 and 2011, respectively.

Early this year work also began on the 1.5 km Thu Thiem No. 2 Bridge, with total investment of VND3 trillion ($150 million), which is expected to open in 2018.

The Thu Thiem New Urban Area is located to the east of the Saigon River, opposite District 1, on a total area of 657 ha. It is to be a new modern central district, enlarging the existing center of Ho Chi Minh City. The city’s People’s Committee continues to call for other investors to develop projects in the urban area.

by Tue Lam / vneconomictimes.vn