Investment policy adjusted, capital increased for Cat Lai and Dong Nai 2 bridge projects

Dong Nai province is moving forward with significant infrastructure upgrades, with its People's Council approving revised investment policies for the Cat Lai and Dong Nai 2 bridge projects. These adjustments, made under the public-private partnership (PPP) model, aim to enhance connectivity between Dong Nai and Ho Chi Minh City and alleviate traffic congestion on the existing Cat Lai ferry.

The Cat Lai bridge project will see a substantial increase in its total investment, rising from over 24.003 trillion dong. This adjustment is attributed to modifications in the project's scale, aligning with architectural competition outcomes and connection plans with Ho Chi Minh City. Key factors driving the cost increase include expanded land acquisition areas and widened intersection zones for connecting roads like Lien Cang and 25C.

The project is now divided into two components. The first involves compensation, site clearance, and the construction of connecting roads and bridges from the Dong Nai side to the Ben Luc-Long Thanh expressway, with an investment of over 9 trillion dong from Dong Nai's budget. The second component focuses on the construction of the main bridge and approach spans, costing nearly 15 trillion dong under a build-transfer (BT) contract, to be paid from state funds. The main bridge itself will span 4.7 kilometers as part of a total route length exceeding 11.6 kilometers.

Similarly, the Dong Nai 2 bridge project's total investment has been adjusted upward by nearly 264 billion dong, bringing it to over 12.748 trillion dong. This increase is largely due to higher costs for compensation, support, and resettlement, along with an expanded land acquisition area at the intersection with the Bien Hoa-Vung Tau expressway. This project is also split into two parts: one for land clearance and connecting infrastructure, budgeted at over 4.290 trillion dong from the provincial public investment fund, and the other for the bridge construction itself, valued at over 8.457 trillion dong under a PPP BT contract.