Haivan Tunnel Project

More than 300 officials officially celebrate the tunnel’s ‘breakthrough’ moment. — VNA/VNS Photos Cong Dien

Builders are exaltant about their breakthrough in the Hai Van pass tunnel.

A cross section view of Hai Van tunnel

DA NANG — The tunnel through Hai Van mountain that will supplement the narrow, dangerous high pass that for centuries has been used to traverse a natural barrier across Viet Nam was joined last Friday.

About 300 officials representing the Viet Nam Government, the Japanese Embassy, the Japan Bank for International Co-operation and the provinces of Thua Thien-Hue and Da Nang celebrated the breakthrough.

"We can say that construction of the tunnel has been safely done and the positioning is perfect," said the Transport Ministry’s Project Management Unit 85 general director Nguyen Ngoc Tran.

"It not only signifies the success of the project but also confirms our ability to use the New Austrian Tunnelling Method," he said.

Transport Minister Dao Dinh Binh said that more than 2,100 personnel had been used to complete the 6.7km-long, 11.9m wide and 7.5m high tunnel since work began in August 2000.

They had included 2,100 designers, engineers and workers employed by PMU85, and a variety of consultants from Nippon Koei-Louis Berger-TEDI; Hazama-Cienco 6, the Dong Ah, and Song Da Corporations.

"The breakthrough marks the initial success and reaffirms the effective co-operation between the Viet Nam and Japanese governments," he said.

It was also a symbol of the solidarity among engineers and the workers of Viet Nam and other countries.

Binh thanked the Japanese Government and the Japan Bank for International Co-operation for providing 85 per cent of the US$251 million required for the tunnel as Official Development Assistance.

The bank’s chief representative in Ha Noi, Hiroshi Suzuki, said that as a major component of the East-West economic corridor, the tunnel would accelerate indus-trialisation and modernisation in Viet Nam and among its neighbour.

He put the total of Japan’s ODA loans to Viet Nam at about US$6.5 billion for 39 development projects and four commodity loans.

The Hai Van Tunnel is one of 20 transport projects funded with ODA loans from Japan and will link Lang Co in Thua Thien-Hue with Lien Chieu in Da Nang.

It is one of 30 of the world’s longest tunnels and is expected to play a vital role in the economic development by reducing travelling time and making road transport safer.

Thua Thien-Hue People’s Committee Chairman Nguyen Van Me said completion of tunnel would create conditions favou-rable to socio-economic development in the central provinces on National Highway 1, especially Thua Thien-Hue and Da Nang.

It would also help those provinces integrate with the Greater Mekong Sub-region via the Highway 9, part of the East-West Economic Corridor that links central Viet Nam with Laos, Thailand and Myanmar. — VNS