Cai Mep – Thi Vai port complex, whose throughput is growing at 10-15 percent annually, is more than 20 kilometers long, and accounts for over 30 percent of Vietnam’s container exports, but its access roads have become highly congested.

The constructions, one completed and the others under way, and will cost over VND14.2 trillion ($614.5 million).

The Cai Mep - Thi Vai inter-port road, the completed one, allows traffic to flow smoothly between the ports and industrial zones along the Cai Mep - Thi Vai river. It is 18 kilometers long with six lanes, cost VND2.84 trillion ($122.86 million).

It starts at Cai Mep lower port in Phu My town and runs to Nhon Trach District in neighboring Dong Nai province, a major industrial hub.

The 4.3-kilometer Phuoc An Bridge over the Thi Vai River, to be built at VND4.8 trillion ($207.72 million), will connect the Cai Mep - Thi Vai inter-port road with Phuoc An Port in Nhon Trach District. It will have enough clearance to allow 30,000-ton ships to pass underneath.

It will also allow traffic to flow smoothly to the Mekong Delta, improve waterway freight transport and reduce congestion on Highway 51.

Authorities are in the process of selecting bids and approving the bridge’s design.

Construction of Road 991B connecting Hoi Bai - Toc Tien Road and the downstream Cai Mep Port began in May 2018 at a cost of VND3.95 trillion ($170.97 million). It is 10 kilometers long, has four lanes and four bridges, including a 664-meter overpass across Highway 51.

Authorities said it would be key to goods transport in the port complex, industrial zones in Phu My town and Cai Mep and between logistics companies and the 2,850-hectare warehouse of Cai Mep lower port. Once it is connected to the Long Son Industrial Park in Vung Tau, all goods will be transported through Highway 51 and the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway.

The 3.7-kilometer Long Son – Cai Mep road, which is between the end of 991B and Long Son Oil and Gas Industrial Park, will cost VND1.19 trillion ($51.42 million).

The six-lane road will include a 400-meter bridge over the Rang River in Ba Ria – Vung Tau.

When completed by the end of 2025, it will link Vung Tau, Long Son, Cai Mep - Thi Vai, and Phu My, reducing the distance between the downstream Cai Mep Port and Highway 51 from 25 km to just eight km.

A road behind My Xuan - Thi Vai Port will connect the port with the industrial park next to Highway 51. The 2.6-km, VND407-billion ($17.61 million) road is expected to be completed in mid-2023.

The final project, the Phuoc Hoa - Cai Mep road, which will run 4.4 km from Highway 51 to the Cai Mep - Thi Vai inter-port road, will cost VND954 billion ($41.27 million). When completed later this year, it will allow smooth transport of goods between the port and highways near Cai Mep – Thi Vai port complex.