Special features of My Thuan 2 Bridge, the first cable-stayed bridge made by Vietnamese people

My Thuan 2 Bridge is the first cable-stayed bridge designed and constructed by Vietnamese engineers and workers. This is an important traffic project to realize the dream of becoming a Dragon, the aspiration to rise up of the Mekong Delta region.

In the last days of 2023, millions of people in the Mekong Delta were happy when My Thuan 2 Bridge and My Thuan - Can Tho Expressway were officially inaugurated and put into use.

Many people in the Mekong Delta commented that "if you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together"; but now people say "now if you want to go fast and far, you have to take the highway and My Thuan 2 bridge". Notably, My Thuan 2 bridge is the first cable-stayed bridge designed and constructed by Vietnamese engineers and workers.

My Thuan 2 Bridge inauguration ceremony on December 24.

Going back in time, 23 years ago (in 2000), My Thuan Bridge, the first cable-stayed bridge in Vietnam with a length of more than 1.5km and a width of nearly 24m for 4 lanes across the Tien River, connecting the two provinces of Tien Giang and Vinh Long, was inaugurated.

At that time, this was a big event, attracting the attention of many people in the Mekong Delta, people flocked to visit My Thuan bridge like a festival.

Because at that time, many comments said that the construction of My Thuan bridge was to open the way, connect, spread, and create momentum for socio-economic development in the Mekong Delta region in the 21st century.

23 years later, My Thuan 2 Bridge was inaugurated, along with other important traffic works, to realize the dream of becoming a Dragon, the aspiration to rise of the Mekong Delta region.

My Thuan 2 Bridge is not too long, but it plays a key role in opening the entire expressway from Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho and is a lifesaver for My Thuan 1 Bridge which is always overloaded during holidays and Tet. My Thuan 2 Bridge is about 350m upstream of My Thuan 1 Bridge on the Tien River.

My Thuan 2 Bridge across Tien River, started construction on March 16, 2020, with a total investment of more than 5,000 billion VND. This is a national key project, a special-grade road traffic project designed and built by Vietnamese engineers.

The bridge is designed to be nearly 2km long with 6 lanes, a design speed of 80km/h, a main span of 350m, and two towers over 120m high. Connecting the Trung Luong - My Thuan and My Thuan - Can Tho expressways, connecting Vinh Long and Tien Giang provinces, it is a vital route with the largest traffic volume among the main national highways in the region.

My Thuan 1 Bridge and My Thuan 2 Bridge.

Notably, this is the first cable-stayed bridge designed and constructed by Vietnamese engineers and workers. My Thuan 2 Bridge started construction during the Covid-19 pandemic; social distancing seemed to freeze the construction site.

"Eat food in the mortal world and talk about the underworld"

However, overcoming their worries, hundreds of engineers and workers working with the motto "3 on-site" stuck at the My Thuan 2 bridge construction site. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh directly visited the My Thuan 2 bridge construction site 4 times to resolve difficulties; encourage and motivate contractors, engineers and workers.

When talking about My Thuan 2 Bridge, many people talk about "the days of eating in the living world and talking about the underworld", because in this project, engineers and workers had to construct 52 bored piles with a diameter of 2.5m, up to 110m deep, which are currently the longest bored piles in the Mekong Delta region. Besides, during the construction of My Thuan 2 Bridge, contractors, engineers and workers also encountered difficulties with materials, weather, deep rivers and strong currents.

In addition, My Thuan 2 Bridge also faces challenges because this is a special construction site, engineers and workers have to construct towers more than 120m long from the water surface, storms always threaten their lives.

Engineers and workers also carefully calculate every detail when constructing the main girder using the balanced cantilever technology for each extended segment; as well as performing cable tensioning techniques so that after closing, the internal force of the cable can be adjusted to meet the designed curvature.

All of these challenges were gradually conquered by the Vietnamese contractor, engineers, and workers, keeping the promise to put the project into operation in 2023.

My Thuan 2 Bridge opens to traffic after inauguration ceremony.

At the inauguration ceremony, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized the advantages of My Thuan 2 bridge compared to My Thuan 1 bridge: longer, higher, wider; My Thuan 1 bridge used foreign funding, My Thuan 2 used more capital and domestic capital.

My Thuan 1 Bridge was designed and constructed by foreign countries, while My Thuan 2 is a large-span cable-stayed bridge project carried out entirely by a team of Vietnamese engineers and workers in all stages, with the prominent role of the contractor Trung Nam Group, marking the growth and maturity of Vietnamese human resources.

The investment cost of My Thuan 1 bridge is about 5,000 USD/m2 and My Thuan 2 bridge is about 2,400 USD/m2, which means saving about 50%; creating more jobs and livelihoods for people.

Chairman of Vinh Long Provincial People's Committee Lu Quang Ngoi said that the inauguration and putting into use of My Thuan 2 Bridge is a great driving force for the province and the Mekong Delta to connect traffic, shorten the time to Ho Chi Minh City, facilitate the transportation of goods and passengers, reduce costs, and increase income for people and businesses.

My Thuan 2 Bridge is a large span cable-stayed bridge project carried out entirely by a team of Vietnamese engineers and workers in all stages.

According to Chairman of Tien Giang Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Vinh: "The inauguration and putting into use of My Thuan 2 Bridge is very important, aiming to reduce traffic congestion on National Highway 1 and My Thuan 1 Bridge. In addition, My Thuan 2 Bridge also creates a synchronous connection to effectively promote the projects being invested and built in the region, which is the basis for the development of the Mekong Delta in the coming time."

According to vietnamnet.vn

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