Tunnel nears completion

News - More than 80 per cent of the construction work on the Thu Thiem Tunnel has been finished, according to Luong Minh Phuc, head of the East – West Highway and Water Environment Project Management Board.

Phuc informed city leaders about the project progress as they visited the construction site on Sunday.

On the same day, Japanese contractor Obayashi completed pouring the concrete in the final section to connect it to District 1 side.

In order to complete the project as scheduled, hundreds of workers have worked around the clock on the ground and dozens of metres under the bed of Sai Gon River.

The project management board arranged staff to work in three shifts.

Each shift, with at least 300 workers and engineers, has worked to finish the tunnel every day, including weekends and holidays.

A representative of Obayashi said during the visit of the deputy chairman of HCM City People’s Committee, Nguyen Thanh Tai, that the tunnel was not only significant to the city’s people but to the relationship between Viet Nam and Japan.

The contractor is waiting for the concrete to dry to take off the scaffolding and begin the bidding package No 3, the electromechanical installation. The task is expected to be completed in six months.

According to the contractor, when completed, all systems, including water supply, lighting, fire prevention, ventilation vehicle-count and others, will meet international standards.

The tunnel is the longest in Southeast Asia with a total length of 1,490m.

It can withstand a six-point Richter-scale earthquake and has a 100-year lifespan. It is designed to transport 45,000 automobiles and 15,000 motorcycles every day.

The tunnel is part of the East – West Highway and Water Environment Project. The contractor said it would be open to traffic in early March 2011. The entire East – West Highway will open three months later.