Vietnam’s US$251M Hai Van road tunnel is due to be officially opened on 19 May to celebrate the 115th birthday of the country’s late President Ho Chi Minh.
Main contractors were local firm Song Da Construction Corporation, in partnership with South Korea’s Dong Ah Construction, which built the 2.4km southern drive and Japan’s Hazama Construction and Civil Engineering Construction Corp No. 6 (Cienco 6) which constructed the 3.8km northern section. The firm’s also built a parallel evacuation tunnel.
The 6.2km, 7.5m high and 11 m wide two-lane tunnel will cut the distance through the Hai Van pass by 9km and connect Lang Co in Thua Thien-Hue province with Da Nang. Construction was supervised by an international team of consultants led by Japan’s Nippon Koei with US firm Louis Berger and Vietnam’s Tedi. Construction of the tunnel started in August 2000.
