Lo Dieu and Tan Thanh are accessible by motorcycle or car from Bong Son Town on National Highways 1A, a beginning point of a coastal road that runs by these two beaches and other obscure but tranquil beaches in the province.

Nestled in a small hamlet between two passes named Lo Dieu, the beach of the same name in Hoai My Commune looks like a giant bow and its yellow sand tempts sea lovers to at least sit or lie leisurely on the beach or else jump into the turquoise waters.

As the beach is rather remote, it is quiet most the year round except for Lunar New Year holiday, or Tet, when locals and visitors from Bong Son put on parties on the beach in the late afternoon to enjoy local foods and the joys of the biggest holiday of Vietnam.

We did not have any party during our visit to Lo Dieu Beach over the weekend as we arrived after breakfast and before noon, so it was not an appropriate time to have a party. Furthermore, we had a long way ahead and more beautiful beaches to explore.

We got into our hired nine-seat car after touching down on the sand and taking photos to move on to other unspoiled beaches along the way, a drive that put a few of our group to sleep. But, they were awakened when our car ran over some holes on some sections of the road.

After traveling more than 50 kilometers of rough road we reached Tan Thanh, a beach that can attract both sea lovers and those who are afraid of the scorching ocean side sun. Breezes from the ocean welcome all visitors.

Tan Thanh Beach is bounded by lines of pine trees, naturally creating a wonderful area for visitors to take a siesta or rest while listening to the gentle waves clapping against the shore and the bells hung on the cows and oxen grazing the weeds in the far distance.

For lovers of swimming in the sea, they cannot miss their chance at Tan Thanh Beach to cool down, shrug off the tiredness and be revitalized after hours of sitting in a car.

There are no showers here and some may be scared of not being able to rinse their skin with fresh water after the sea water. Never mind. A good towel and a change of clothes is enough to be comfortable on the way to Quy Nhon City for a proper bath.

Before leaving Tan Thanh, ask the locals to point out the mountain whose peak has a boulder that looks like a woman waiting for her husband. Visitors can see this landmark attraction even from the car on the way to Quy Nhon, the capital city of Binh Dinh Province.

The event, organised by the IIR Exhibitions from Gingapore, attracted traffic managers, policy-makers and transport businesses from many regional countries.

Viet Traffic 2009 focused on meeting the increasing demands of passengers and resolving issues related to railway and road transport. According to the organising board, Viet Transport 2009 was a good opportunity for the participants to discuss key issues in the development of Vietnam’s road transport sector, taking into account the country’s stable economic growth rate and its plans for developing the infrastructure.

It also mentioned sources of investment for transport projects and pointed out several shortcomings when implementing rural transport and railway projects.

During the conference, the Vietnamese delegates also discussed strategies and ways of developing the country’s road transport sector with their overseas partners.

Transport officials from Southeast Asia (ASEAN) will meet in Hanoi from December 7-11 to step up road links and open transport services among member countries.

The meetings are expected to produce major treaties and agreements to pave the way for the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015.

They include the Multilateral Agreement for the Full Liberalization of Passenger Air Services (MAFLPAS) and ASEAN Transit Transportation.

In addition, Japan and South Korea as dialogue countries of ASEAN will approve other deals with the block as ASEAN-Korea Transport Cooperation Agreement, ASEAN-Korea Transport Partnership Work Plan, and an agreement to jointly investigate marine accidents.

The meetings are part of the 28th ASEAN Senior Transport Officials Meeting (STOM 28) that are held twice a year and the 15th annual meeting of ASEAN Transportation Ministers (ATM15).

Ba Ria – Vung Tau province started the construction of the Cai Mep – Thi Vai road connecting all seaports along the Thi Vai river on December 4.

The project has a total investment of over VND 6.3 trillion.

The 21.3 kilometre road runs from the general container port Cai Mep Ha in Tan Thanh district, Ba Ria – Vung Tau province to the Phuoc An port in Long Thanh district, Dong Nai province.

Six bridges, 4.7 kilometre in combined length, will be built on the road.

The project is divided into two phases. In the first phase, the road and bridges in Ba Ria – Vung Tau province will be built with a total investment of over VND 2.8 trillion. This phase is scheduled to be over by 2012. In the second phase from 2012 to 2015, the 3.254 kilometre long Phuoc An bridge will be built with a total investment of over VND 3.5 trillion

The road is of extreme important significance in transporting goods for 41 ports (14 ports are being exploited, 14 others are being built and 13 remaining ports are being prepared to invest with a total registered capital of around VND 100 trillion) and six industrial parts along the road section in Ba Ria – Vung Tau.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on November 29 issued an order to kick-start the Trung Luong-My Thuan expressway project in Than Cuu Nghia commune, Chau Thanh district, Tien Giang province.

Present at the ground-breaking ceremony were Minister of Public Security, Le Hong Anh, and ranking officials from relevant ministries and departments and leaders from the southwestern region.

The project is part of the North-South expressway and plays an important role in connecting and promoting socio-economic developments between the Mekong Delta and Ho Chi Minh City.

The Trung Luong-My Thuan expressway will be 43km long, starting from Than Cuu Nghia commune, Tien Giang province, and end where National Highway 1A connects to My Thuan Bridge. With a total investment capital of VND19,000 billion, the expressway will consist of 4 lanes capable of coping with speeds of 120km per hour. 54 bridges are also scheduled to be built along with stations and technical support services on the expressway.

Addressing the ceremony, PM Dung commended the Ministry of Transport (MoT), the Expressway Investment Joint Stock Company, the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), related agencies and localities for their well-coordinated efforts to start work as scheduled.

He requested that the MoT, investors and the consultancy unit finish construction work in 3 years and ensure the quality of the project. He also asked Tien Giang province to press ahead with site clearance work and deal with resettlement issues.

Mr. Dung emphasised that the country’s modernization and industrialization needs to develop its expressway system for future. He said as the state budget is still limited, it is necessary to mobilize outside sources for infrastructure investment and the Government will create favourable conditions for investors, he added.

He asked the MoT to coordinate with related agencies to sign contracts for the rights to collect fees on the expressway, which is estimated to cost over VND9,000 billion.

The Ministry of Transport said it had disbursed VND20.6 trillion (US$1.21 billion) for 34 vital projects over the last 10 months, accounting for 80 per cent of its yearly budget.

The disbursement, exceeding last year’s spending by 10 per cent and the largest in five years, was used for bridges, expressways, highways and seaports.

Among major transport projects are the Nhat Tan cable-stayed bridge across the Hong (Red) River in Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh Highway’s 2nd phase, the Noi Bai-Lao Cai expressway, the expressway linking HCM City–Long Thanh and Dau Giay, Van Phong international transhipment seaport in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa, Cai Nui-Can Tho Port and the extension of Highway 51.

Other vital transport projects slated for completion in the last two months of this year include the Quan Lo-Phung Hiep road in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, Thanh Tri Bridge, the HCM City–Trung Luong expressway on National Highway 1, and Lang-Hoa Lac expressway.

Transport Minister Ho Nghia Dung said the disbursement this year had been impressive but criticised the transport sector for being behind schedule in the assessment, design and bidding for construction projects.

In addition, the transport sector would start construction on three other expressway and waterway multi-billion-dong projects by year end.

– The construction of the Ha Noi–Thai Nguyen expressway began earlier this week. The 63.1km four-lane project is the biggest expressway in the midland northern province with a total investment capital of VND8,104 billion ($476 million).

– An expressway linking Trung Luong and My Thuan in Tien Giang Province will be built in late November under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) form. The project worth VND15,000 billion ($882 million) is 42 km long.

– A large waterway, to be built by the Marine Navigation Department in mid December for large capacity vessels to enter Hau River, is the largest dredging project so far in the Cuu long Delta. It will create a deep waterway for vessels of 10,000 to 20,000 DWT to go in and out of the Hau River.

The project has an investment capital of VND3,148billion ($185 million) from the State budget.

HCMC – A project to build the Ca Pass Tunnel in central Vietnam will be carried out under the BOT (build-operate-transfer) and BT (build-transfer) forms, according to a source from the Transport Ministry.

The source told the Daily on Wednesday that in a statement issued by the Government Office, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung agreed with the Transport Ministry on first phase development plans for a tunnel under Ca Pass on National Highway 1A under the BOT and BT forms. The PM required the ministry to balance the accounts to repay the investor and to ensure capital for site clearance.

Under the instruction, the tunnel will be built under the BOT form while the approach roads to the tunnel under the BT form.

Transportation experts said that building a tunnel under Ca Pass was of paramount importance. Linking Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa provinces will not only reduce traffic accidents but also boost transportation and link economies throughout the region.

Phu My BOT Joint Stock Company (PMC) has applied to be the investor for the tunnel project with total investment of over VND8 trillion (US$450 million).

PMC general director Nguyen Thanh Thai said his company had worked with the Vietnam Road Administration and two provincial authorities to apply for building the tunnel since last year. PMC is also the developer of the Phu My Bridge, the first cable stayed bridge in HCMC that is scheduled to open to traffic in September.

In the statement, PM Dung authorized the Transport Ministry to assign a consultant to negotiate with the investor for the BOT and BT contracts.

According to the plan, Ca Pass Tunnel will have a total length of over 11 kilometers, comprising a four-lane tunnel 5.7 kilometers long and 5.9 kilometers of approach roads. The tunnel will start from Dong Hoa District in Phu Yen Province and connect to Co Ma Pass in Van Ninh District, Khanh Hoa Province.

The current road over Ca Pass has a length of 12 kilometers with many sharp and dangerous bends on National Highway 1A. Some areas are deteriorating and dangerous.

If built, Ca Pass Tunnel will be the third tunnel on the north-south axis road along Vietnam’s central coast.

Two new tunnels, one under Hai Van Pass linking Danang and Thua Thien-Hue provinces and the other, under Ngang Pass in the northern central province of Quang Binh, have opened to traffic. (Saigon Times)

The Ministry of Transport is pursuing an ambitious plan to develop an expressway across the country with a vehicle speed of more than 100 km per hour. The Vietnam Road Administration has submitted to the transport ministry the final report on the master north-south road plan which will connect Phap Van of Hanoi City and the Can Tho bridge in the southern Mekong Delta.

The cross-country road will be divided into 16 sections, with a total length of 1,811 km, around 74 km shorter than National Highway 1A, the country’s current backbone.

Vietnam will need a hefty budget of VND312.8 trillion (US$18.4 billion) for the project from now to 2020 and thereafter.

In the first phase, the first four road sections with a total length of 222 km will be finished by 2010 at a total cost of VND53.13 trillion (US$3.1 billion). The next sections will be built in the second phase from 2010 to 2020 with a total length of 1,082 km.

The third phase will develop the remaining sections and expand Phap Van-Cau Gie Expressway from four lanes to six lanes. The 30 km Phap Van-Cau Gie road in Hanoi has been already opened to traffic.

In early 2007, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung asked the ministries of planning-investment and transport to speed up preparations for the cross-country expressway.

Two other expressways are under way in the country – Cau Gie-Ninh Binh and HCMC-Trung Luong. And the Road Administration and the State-owned Vietnam Expressway Corporation are raising funds for 13 other expressway projects.

Mai Anh Tuan, deputy head of the road administration, said the master plan would provide investors with an overview of the next backbone of the nation.

The ministry will invite local and international tenders for construction of the expressway under various investment forms such as build-operate-transfer (BOT), build-transfer (BT), build-operate-own (BOO), and public-private partnership (PPP).

Deputy Transport Minister Ngo Thinh Duc said State money would go to priority road sections and that the ministry wanted greater public participation in expressway development.

As for the 12 expressway sections proposed for construction until 2020, one has been completed, two are under way, and three will get off the ground this year using State finances and official development assistance loans.

These include HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay, Trung Luong-My Thuan, My Thuan-Can Tho and Danang-Quang Ngai.
Vietnam Cement Corporation, Binh Minh Export and Import Corporation (Bitexco) and Song Da Corporation have proposed developing four expressways – Ninh Binh-Thanh Hoa, Thanh Hoa-Vinh, Dau Giay-Phan Thiet and Phan Thiet-Nha Trang.

VietNamNet/SGT

The total investment capital for the project will be VND5,000 billion including VDN3,000 billion for road signs and VND1,000 billion for reservation.

The length of the highway will be 9 km with 380 metres road and 8 km bridge. Vehicles will be able to travel at 100 km an hour.

The project will help to reduce traffic jams and accidents as well as help the area’s commercial and economic development.(VOV)

 German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), Siemens and the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies (HIDS) launched Monday a transport project in HCMC.

The project will focus on the quality of transport infrastructure, traffic synchonization and management, HIDS Director Nguyen Trong Hoa said.

During the first year, project workers will conduct research to map out future traffic conditions for HCMC, according to Hoa.

It will then prioritize spending and design strategies to cope with the conditions, he said.

It is aided by the German government via Siemens and GTZ who specialize in technical cooperation for sustainable development with public sectors around the world. (Thanhnien news)