New Mekong bridge opens, linking Xayaboury and Vientiane provinces
A newly built bridge crossing the Mekong River and connecting the provinces of Xayaboury and Vientiane has opened, and is the third bridge linking Xayaboury with neighbouring provinces.
The 365-metre bridge runs from Nasak village in Paklai district, Xayaboury province, to Khokkhaodor village in Xanakham district, Vientiane province.
Head of the Public Works and Transport Department in Xayaboury province, Phengxoy Phengmeuang, told Vientiane Times on Thursday “The project is fully complete and the bridge is open for use.”
“Motorists can cross the bridge and vehicles can pass along it unimpeded,” he said.
An official handover ceremony will take place in October, the Director of the project told media recently.
The bridge is made of steel and is 8 metres wide with two traffic lanes.
The total cost of construction is about 189 billion kip, with the Netherlands government providing grant aid totalling 2.3 million Euros (over 20 billion kip) towards the project.
The government is funding the remainder of the construction cost.
This is the longest steel bridge in Laos, followed by the Thangon Bridge that crosses the Nam Ngum River in Vientiane.
Xayaboury is also linked to Luang Prabang province by a bridge that spans the Mekong between Thadeua village in Xayaboury and Pakkhone village in Luang Prabang. Another bridge crosses the Mekong at Pakbaeng, linking Xayaboury to Oudomxay.
This newest bridge will facilitate tourist travel from Loei province in Thailand to Vientiane via Road No. 4 in Xayaboury province and Road No. 11 on the left side of the Mekong.
Vientiane is 204km from the bridge, which is reached via Road No. 11.