VietNamNet Bridge - The first section of the highway linking Hanoi capital and Hai Phong city, the two northern economic hubs, was put into temporary use on May 27.

The two-way section starts at the highway’s intersection with National Road 10 and ends at another intersection with Provincial Road 353 in Hai Phong. It is 22.7km long and 33m wide and has six lanes and two shoulders.

Vehicles are allowed to travel on this section at the maximum speed of 120km per hour.

The Hanoi-Hai Phong highway, commenced on May 19, 2008, begins at the Belt Road 3 in the capital city, traverses Hung Yen and Hai Duong provinces, and ends at Dinh Vu port of Hai Phong.

The 105km road is built at a total cost of 30 trillion VND (1.42 billion USD) under the Built-Operate-Transfer contract, said the project investor – Vietnam Infrastructure Development and Finance Investment Joint Stock Company.

The firm said it will collect tolls on this section from June 1 with the maximum of 180,000 VND (8.5 USD) per vehicle, varying with vehicle types.

Some pictures of the road:

The 23km section of the Hanoi - Hai Phong highway project with six lanes and a maximum speed of 120 km/h opened yesterday.   This section is part of the 105.5 km highway, with a width of 33m, 54 bridges, and 9 intersections. Total investment in this road is VND45,487 billion ($2.1 billion), from the Vietnam Development Bank. The project kicked off in May 2008. The highway goes through four provinces of Hanoi, Hung Yen, Hai Duong, and Hai Phong.      The road runs from Hanoi’s belt road No. 3 to the port of Dinh Vu in Hai Phong. Upon completion, it will help shorten travel time between Hanoi and Hai Phong from 2.5 hours to less than 1.5 hours.     The tolls for the first section that will open today are from VND35,000 to VND180,000/vehicle.        The road is paved with Polymer Asphalt, a new technology, which enables vehicles to run at the speed of 120km/h. The traffic signal system.       The second section of 76.4km will be put into operation in August 2015.

VNN/Zing