Construction started on February 27 on the My Thuan Bridge 2 to connect the Trung Luong-My Thuan and My Thuan-Can Tho expressways between Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho, linking the two economic powerhouses of the southern region.

My Thuan 2 Bridge will have six lanes and a speed limit of 80 kilometres per hour.
(Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Transport)

The construction is forecast for completion in 2023 to facilitate traffic in the Mekong Delta.

The My Thuan Bridge 2 will start from An Thai intersection on the Trung Luong-My Thuan Expressway in Tien Giang province’s Cai Be district and end at the intersection with National Highway 80, the starting point of the My Thuan-Can Tho expressway.

It is located 350 metres upstream from the existing My Thuan Bridge on the Tien River.

The bridge and approach roads will have a total length of 6.61 kilometres. The approach road in Tien Giang province will be 4.33 kilometres long and the approach road in Vinh Long province will be 0.4 kilometres.

The main bridge will have a length of 1.9 kilometres and six lanes with a speed limit of 80 kilometres per hour.

The bridge, part of the Eastern North-South expressway project, will cost an estimated 5 trillion VND (216 million USD).

When it opens, it is expected to ease traffic pressure on the existing My Thuan Bridge and National Highway 1A.

The project is one of 11 sections of the North-South expressway master project with a total length of 654 kilometres traversing 13 provinces and cities.

Three sections are being funded by the Government budget, while the other eight will be built under public-private partnerships.

The total cost for the 11 projects is estimated at 118 trillion VND (5 billion USD), of which the Government will spend 55 trillion VND (2.4 billion USD) on three public investment projects and site clearance for other projects.

The three sections that will be entirely funded by the State budget are Cao Bo-Mai Son (15km), Cam Lo-La Son (98km) and My Thuan 2 Bridge, which will cost a total of 14.279 trillion VND (614 million USD).

The sections to be carried out by private investors are Mai Son-National Highway 45, National Highway 45-Nghi Son, Nghi Son-Dien Chau, Dien Chau-Bai Vot, Nha Trang-Cam Lam, Cam Lam-Vinh Hao, Vinh Hao-Phan Thiet and Phan Thiet-Dau Giay.