Nha Trang Expressway Opens

The Nha Trang - Cam Lam Expressway is over 49 km long, started construction in September 2021 with a total cost of over VND 7,600 billion, implemented in the form of public-private partnership (PPP), BOT contract (build - operate - transfer).

The Project Investor is Son Hai Group Company Limited. The project has a scale of 4 lanes, 17m wide; then the road will be expanded to 32m wide, 6 lanes, starting point in Dien Tho commune, Dien Khanh district, ending point in Cam Thinh Tay commune, Cam Ranh city.

The entire Nha Trang - Cam Lam expressway is arranged with 18 emergency stops, with an emergency lane at each end of the route. The expressway also has 25 bridges, including 10 overpasses, each bridge is 5 - 12m wide depending on the connecting road. According to the plan of the Ministry of Transport , cars are allowed to run on the Nha Trang - Cam Lam expressway at a maximum speed of 80 km/h and a minimum speed of 60 km/h.

A section of the Nha Trang - Cam Lam highway. Photo: Bui Toan

The investor representative said that to meet the inauguration schedule, about 1,700 engineers and workers worked day and night to complete the final items of the project. The project also applied many modern technologies, especially the technology of constructing the median strip using cement concrete poured in one piece at the site using specialized German machines to help the concrete surface smooth and crack-free.

Among them, Doc San tunnel is one of the most important but also the most difficult items to construct in the Nha Trang - Cam Lam expressway project, which has also been completed. Doc San tunnel has two tubes, total length of 1.5 km, each side is nearly 750m long, with an investment capital of more than 1,200 billion VND.

The project started in November 2021. To speed up the project, the investor arranged the most experienced contractors in mountain tunnel construction. The tunnel construction site was arranged with 4 construction teams to dig and reinforce the tunnel, and 2 teams to reinforce the tunnel roof. The construction units organized 3 shifts and 4 teams continuously, digging an average of about 10 m of tunnel per day.

According to the Investor, the Nha Trang - Cam Lam Expressway project will become the first route to deploy an intelligent transportation system (ITS). The comprehensive intelligent transportation system on the Nha Trang - Cam Lam Expressway includes a monitoring and operation system on the route and tunnel, a non-stop toll collection system, a communication system, traffic cameras, etc.

Route of Nha Trang - Cam Lam and Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet expressways. Graphics: Manh Cuong

For the Nha Trang - Cam Lam section, vehicles are allowed to operate the route from the beginning to the end of the project. However, in the condition that the next expressway sections at the two ends of the project, Van Phong - Nha Trang and Cam Lam - Vinh Hao, have not been opened to traffic, the plan to organize remote traffic flow on the expressway is as follows:

In the North-South direction, the above vehicles are allowed to travel from National Highway 1 to National Highway 27C, enter the expressway at the National Highway 27C intersection (the beginning of the route at Km5+783) to the Cam Ranh intersection at Km52+892 connecting to National Highway 1 via National Highway 27B.

The project put into conditional operation the main route and 2/4 intersections, including the starting intersection at Km5+783 connecting with National Highway 27C in Dien Tho commune, Dien Khanh district, Khanh Hoa province and the ending intersection at Km52+892 connecting with National Highway 27B in Cam Thinh Tay commune, Cam Ranh city, Khanh Hoa province.

When put into use, the Nha Trang - Cam Lam Expressway will connect the Cam Lam - Vinh Hao, Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet, Phan Thiet - Dau Giay Expressways to Long Thanh - Ho Chi Minh City. The project will help shorten travel time between key economic zones, create conditions to promote the rapid formation and development of industrial zones, and reduce the load on National Highway 1.

In particular, the fact that the project investor, Son Hai Group Company Limited, opened the project 3 months ahead of schedule in the context of many key highways being delayed is considered a bright spot in the transportation sector.

Phan Thiet - Vinh Hao Expressway is 101 km long, with public investment of more than 10,800 billion VND, and construction started in November 2020.

A section of Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet expressway. Photo: Nguyen Tien

On this highway, vehicles are exploited from the beginning of Vinh Hao intersection connecting with Phan Thiet - Dau Giay component highway to Ho Chi Minh City. The project has put into operation 5/5 intersections, including: Vinh Hao intersection (Km134+700), Cho Lau intersection (Km162+777.78), Dai Ninh intersection (Km178+655.22), Ma Lam intersection (Km208+701.74), Phan Thiet intersection (Km234+617.56).

With the Phan Thiet - Vinh Hao expressway section in operation, cars from Ho Chi Minh City and the southern provinces can go straight to Binh Thuan province by expressway without having to go on National Highway 1. In the future, when the Vinh Hao - Cam Lam section is completed, cars will run seamlessly from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang by expressway.

The opening of the Nha Trang - Cam Lam and Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet expressways also helps increase the length of the completed North-South expressway axis to 835 km, an increase of 458 km compared to the period before 2020.

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