Vietnam will start the Ca pass tunnel project connecting Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa provinces in central region on Sunday [Nov 18], the Ministry of Transport said in a press briefing in Nov 12. The whole Ca pass tunnel project has a total length of 13.4 km, with Ca Pass Tunnel and Co Ma Tunnel stretching 3.9 km and 500 m respectively. The project also includes approach roads and a bridge stretching more than 9 kilometers and two parallel tunnels totaling 8.5 meters in width.Once operational, the VND15.6 trillion ($746.55 million) tunnel is expected to have four lanes to allow vehicles to travel at 80 kilometers per hour. It will be the third tunnel on the north-south axis road along Vietnam’s central coast.Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang at the signing ceremony of the tunnel project’s investment under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) and build-transfer (BT) format said that the project would kick start on Sept 2. But then construction was re-scheduled until last month and until now it still hasn’t started.Earlier, France’s Credit Agricole Corporeate Corporate and Societe Generale Bank signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ca Pass Investment JSC of Vietnam, the investor of the project, to provide loans for the project.Under the Vietnamese road development system by 2020, Ca pass tunnel is expected to connect the North and South of Vietnam and contribute to boosting socio-economic development in Central Vietnam. (Kinh Te Do Thi – Economy & Urban Nov 13 p7, Hanoi Moi – New Hanoi Nov 13 p4, Dan Tri Nov 13)
