Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway: Roadmap to finish in 2026

Progress overview and new completion milestones

The Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway project, one of the key infrastructure projects in the South, has achieved an overall construction output of about 88.23%, equivalent to VND 14,017 billion out of a total value of VND 15,887 billion. According to the latest adjustment decision of the Ministry of Transport in early 2025, the completion time of the entire project is postponed to the end of September 2026.

This expressway is nearly 58 km long, passing through three localities including Long An (2.7 km), Ho Chi Minh City (26.4 km) and Dong Nai (28.7 km). The section passing through Nhon Trach district, Dong Nai province, is more than 22 km long, and is currently in the final stages of completion after the obstacles have been resolved.

Panoramic view of a section of Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway under completion. — Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway is about 58 km long, passing through Long An, Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai provinces.

Update on construction of main packages

To date, the project has completed 8 packages (A1-1, A2-1, A3, J2, A5, A6-1, A6-4 and A7). There are currently 5 other packages under construction (A2.2-4, A6-2, A6-3, A6-5 and A8), achieving an average output of 66.8% and expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2025.

Regarding major bridge projects, package J1 (Binh Khanh bridge) has reached 88.25% of the progress and is expected to be completed in August 2025. Meanwhile, the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 component project through Dong Nai, with an intersection directly connecting to the expressway in Nhon Trach, is also 8.4% ahead of the contract progress after completing 100% of the site clearance work.

The intersection area between Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway and Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 in Nhon Trach. — The intersection area between Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 and Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway in Nhon Trach District, this is also the end point of Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3.

Opened sections and upcoming plans

On February 7, Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) officially opened and put into operation two sections with a total length of 10.4 km. Specifically:

Western section: 3.4 km long, connecting from Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong expressway intersection (Ben Luc district, Long An) to National Highway 1 (Binh Chanh district, Ho Chi Minh City).
Eastern section: 7 km long, connecting from Phuoc An intersection (Nhon Trach district, Dong Nai) to National Highway 51 (Long Thanh district, Dong Nai).

According to the plan, the western sections (from Km3+420 to Km21+739.5) and the eastern sections (from Km35+900 to Km50+530) with a total length of nearly 33 km are expected to be completed before April 30 this year.

One of the two sections of the Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway was opened to traffic in February. — On February 7, VEC opened to traffic and put into operation two sections of the Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway Project with a total length of 10.4 km.

Bottleneck at Phuoc Khanh Bridge and solutions

Package J3, construction of Phuoc Khanh Bridge across Long Tau River (connecting Can Gio District, Ho Chi Minh City and Nhon Trach District, Dong Nai), is the most complicated item and has the biggest impact on the progress of the entire project. This is a large cable-stayed bridge with the highest clearance in Vietnam (55m), requiring complex construction techniques.

After completing legal procedures, VEC plans to restart the J3-1 package in March 2025. Due to the complexity, VEC has proposed adjusting the completion time of the entire project to September 30, 2026 to accommodate any difficulties that may arise during the construction of Phuoc Khanh Bridge.

Phuoc Khanh Bridge, the most complicated item of the Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway project. — Phuoc Khanh Bridge is a large cable-stayed bridge with the highest clearance in Vietnam (55 m), so construction will be difficult.

Technical specifications and strategic role

The Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway is built according to the standards of a class A expressway, with a scale of 4 lanes and 2 emergency lanes, a design speed of 100 km/h. The total investment for phase 1 of the project is about 31,320 billion VND. After completion, the route will help connect the national expressway network, reduce the load on National Highway 1, National Highway 51 and significantly shorten the travel time from the Western provinces to Dong Nai, Ba Ria - Vung Tau.