Vehicles are allowed to travel on National Highway 45 - Nghi Son and Nghi Son - Dien Chau from September 1st.

The Ministry of Transport has decided to allow vehicles to enter two sections of the National Highway 45 - Nghi Son and Nghi Son - Dien Chau expressways, passing through Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces, starting from September 1st, to facilitate travel for people during the National Day holiday on September 2nd.

National Highway 45 - Nghi Son Expressway is ready for vehicles to enter from September 1st - Photo: TRUNG DANG

The types of vehicles permitted on the expressway during the temporary operation period include: passenger cars, buses, and trucks up to 10 tons, with a maximum speed of 80km/h and a minimum speed of 60km/h.

According to the Ministry of Transport on September 1st, the ministry, in coordination with Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces, has put into temporary operation the last 9.7km of the Mai Son - National Highway 45 expressway (from the Dong Xuan interchange to the starting point of the National Highway 45 - Nghi Son expressway).

Simultaneously, the National Highway 45 - Nghi Son expressway and the Nghi Son - Dien Chau expressway will be temporarily put into operation. These two expressway sections are part of the North-South Expressway Eastern phase 2017-2020 project.

National Highway 45 - Nghi Son Expressway

Spanning 43.28km and passing through Nong Cong district and Nghi Son town in Thanh Hoa province, the project has a total investment of over 5,530 billion VND from public funds. The project is managed by Project Management Board 2 (Ministry of Transport) and commenced in July 2021.

The project's starting point is located in Tan Phuc commune, Nong Cong district, connecting to the Mai Son - National Highway 45 expressway project; the end point is in Tan Truong commune, Nghi Son town, adjacent to the Nghi Son - Dien Chau expressway section.

National Highway 45 - Nghi Son Expressway is 17m wide, has 4 lanes, and a maximum operating speed of 80km/h - Photo: TRUNG DANG

The National Highway 45 - Nghi Son expressway was put into operation in phase 1 with a scale of 4 lanes (each lane 3.5m wide), a roadbed width of 17m, a road surface width of 16m, no continuous emergency stopping lanes (only a few emergency stopping points), and a design speed of 80km/h . Upon completion, this section of the expressway will be expanded to 6 lanes according to the plan, with a roadbed width of 32.25m and a design speed of 100-120km/h.

The National Highway 45 - Nghi Son section of the expressway has 18 bridges and 2 interchanges: the Van Thien interchange (connecting National Highway 45 in Nong Cong district) and the Nghi Son interchange (connecting the Nghi Son - Bai Tranh route). A highlight of the project is the Yen My Lake overpass (Thanh Hoa province) with a length of 995.8m.

National Highway 45 - Nghi Son Expressway crosses the Yen My reservoir via the nearly 1km long Yen My Bridge - Photo: TRUNG DANG

Nghi Son - Dien Chau Expressway

Spanning 50km (6.5km in Thanh Hoa province and 43.5km in Nghe An province), the Nghi Son - Dien Chau expressway has a total investment of over 7,293 billion VND from public funds. The project is managed by Project Management Board 6 (Ministry of Transport) and commenced in July 2021.

This section of the expressway has its starting point connecting with National Highway 45 - Nghi Son Expressway in Tan Truong commune, Nghi Son town, Thanh Hoa province; and its end point intersecting with National Highway 7 in Dien Cat commune, Dien Chau district, Nghe An province (this is also the starting point of the Dien Chau - Bai Vot Expressway currently under construction).

The Nghi Son - Dien Chau expressway is 50km long, 17m wide, has 4 lanes, and a maximum speed of 80km/h - Photo: TRUNG DANG

Phase 1 of the Nghi Son - Dien Chau expressway will have 4 lanes (each 3.5m wide), no continuous emergency stopping lanes (only a few emergency stopping points), a 17m roadbed, a 16m road surface, and a design speed of 80km/h. Upon completion, this section of the expressway will be expanded to 6 lanes, with a 32.25m roadbed and a design speed of 100-120km/h.

The Nghi Son - Dien Chau expressway section has 3 interchanges connecting to national highways, including: the Quynh Vinh interchange connecting to National Highway 48D in Quynh Vinh commune, Hoang Mai town, Nghe An province; the Quynh My interchange connecting to National Highway 48B in Quynh My commune, Quynh Luu district, Nghe An province; and the interchange with National Highway 7 in Dien Cat commune, Dien Chau district, Nghe An province.

The 450m-long Truong Vinh Tunnel, located on the border between Nghe An and Thanh Hoa provinces, is an important component of the Nghi Son - Dien Chau expressway. - Photo: TRUNG DANG

The entire Nghi Son - Dien Chau expressway has 22 bridges, including 8 overpasses and 14 bridges on the main route.

A highlight of the Nghi Son - Dien Chau expressway is the 450m-long Truong Vinh tunnel, xuyên through Mong Ga mountain on the border between Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces. The tunnel consists of two 12.5m wide tubes, each with 3 lanes.

The National Highway 45 - Nghi Son and Nghi Son - Dien Chau expressway projects are both component projects of the North-South Expressway Eastern section project, phase 2017-2020 (comprising 11 component projects). Initially, these two projects were to be invested in under the public-private partnership (PPP) method, but no investor could be selected. Therefore, the National Assembly transferred these two projects to public investment.

To date, the Eastern North-South Expressway has connected Chi Lang (Lang Son) to Dien Chau (Nghe An) - Photo: TRUNG DANG

With the opening of the final 9.7km of the Mai Son - National Highway 45 expressway (connecting to the National Highway 45 - Nghi Son expressway) and the National Highway 45 - Nghi Son and Nghi Son - Dien Chau expressways from September 1st, the Eastern North-South expressway has become a continuous route from Chi Lang (Lang Son) to Dien Chau (Nghe An), spanning over 375km (including 14km of Hanoi's Ring Road 3).

Currently, under normal traffic conditions, it takes a passenger car more than 4 hours to travel from Dien Chau (Nghe An) to Phap Van (Hanoi). The opening of over 102km of the Mai Son - National Highway 45 expressway and two sections of the expressway from National Highway 45 to Nghi Son and Nghi Son to Dien Chau will reduce travel time from Dien Chau to Hanoi to approximately 3.5 hours.

Because the Dien Chau - Bai Vot expressway project is not yet open to traffic, vehicles from National Highway 1 connect to the Nghi Son - Dien Chau expressway at the Dien Cat interchange (Dien Chau district) via National Highway 7. The Ministry of Transport said it will continue to request investors to direct contractors to quickly complete and put into operation the remaining supporting items such as local access roads and drainage systems, ensuring smooth operation of the project.

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