The 57.1 km Ben Luc-Long Thanh Section of Vietnamese North-South Expressway is partly being built by two Japanese construction companies and local firms. The 10.7 km section funded by Japanese ODA consists of three packages, one of which has been commission to a joint venture of Shimizu and Vinaconex. Sumitomo Mitsui Construction and local firms are responsible for the other two.

Shimizu’s J1 section is to build 2763.5-meter Binh Khanh Bridge with completion slated in March 2020. The Japanese company is responsible for main bridge that requires advanced engineering while Vinaconex is building the approaching bridges. “Vinaconex has grown into a trustworthy partner,” Mr. Nakamura of Shimizu highly appreciated the firm, which Shimizu had worked with at the Bai Chai Bridge construction in Northern Vietnam in 2003. Some 300 Vietnamese are currently working at the site. The total of a million accident-free hours is likely to be achieved in the beginning of the next year. (2016/08/10)