Dong Nai chooses to build Cat Lai bridge instead of building a tunnel across the river

Dong Nai province chose to build Cat Lai bridge instead of building a tunnel across the river because the construction cost and annual maintenance cost of the tunnel are very high.

Dong Nai chooses to build Cat Lai bridge instead of building a tunnel across the river

Dong Nai province chose to build Cat Lai bridge instead of building a tunnel across the river because the construction cost and annual maintenance cost of the tunnel are very high.

On the afternoon of December 30, Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee worked with the consulting unit on the progress of the implementation of the Pre-Feasibility Study Report of the Project to build a bridge to replace Cat Lai ferry connecting Dong Nai with Ho Chi Minh City.

At the meeting, the consulting unit analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of each construction option.

Specifically, if building a bridge, the total investment cost is about 19,000 billion VND; if building a tunnel under the river (submerged tunnel), the investment level is up to 24,500 billion VND; in the case of building a borehole, the cost increases to more than 33,000 billion VND.

On the other hand, the construction of the submerged tunnel at a depth of about 3 m below ground level, with a river crossing length of about 800 m (twice that of the Thu Thiem tunnel, Ho Chi Minh City), will face many challenges during the construction process.

Perspective of Cat Lai bridge near current Cat Lai port

For boreholes, they must be built at a depth of tens of meters from the existing ground surface to ensure safety. The construction method of boreholes is very complicated and is only suitable for tunnels tens of kilometers long.

Not to mention the river tunnel, when put into operation, will need about 100 billion VND per year for operation and maintenance. Meanwhile, the cost of operating and maintaining the bridge will be much lower.

Therefore, the consulting unit believes that building Cat Lat bridge will save costs and the construction plan is also more feasible than building a tunnel across the river.

After the consulting unit analyzed 3 options, the departments and branches of Dong Nai province all agreed to choose the option of building Cat Lai bridge instead of building a tunnel across the river.

At the meeting, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoang, Vice Chairwoman of Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee, said that although the plan to build a tunnel across the river was approved in principle by the Prime Minister after Dong Nai proposed it, after research, it was found that the cost of building the tunnel and operating and maintaining it was very expensive.

Therefore, Dong Nai province leaders also agreed to choose the option of building Cat Lai bridge and adjusting the direction of the access road to avoid overlapping planning as well as affecting national historical relics.

Regarding the route leading to Dong Nai, the leader of Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee assigned the Department of Transport to review and complete the route leading to Cat Lai Bridge, minimizing the route passing through religious buildings and overlapping with other plans.

The Department of Transport was also assigned to coordinate with the consulting unit to work with Ho Chi Minh City to agree on a plan to build Cat Lai bridge.

Currently, Dong Nai province and Ho Chi Minh City have not yet agreed on the construction time of Cat Lai Bridge.

While Dong Nai province wants to start the project before 2025, Ho Chi Minh City proposes to build Cat Lai Bridge after 2030.

Explaining this proposal, the HCM City Department of Transport said that after 2030, Ring Road 3 (HCMC) and the Cat Lai - Phu Huu inter-port road will be put into operation (including Nhon Trach Bridge connecting to Thu Duc City). Furthermore, the construction of Cat Lai Bridge after 2030 will be in line with the relocation and arrangement of seaports in HCM City.

After many discussions, the two localities have not yet agreed on a time to build this bridge.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/dong-nai-chon-phuong-an-xay-cau-cat-lai-thay-vi-lam-ham-vuot-song-d237180.html