Hundred billion VND bridge in Nghe An completed but lacks access road

One day in early November, after just a light rain, the more than 1km long red dirt road into Phu Son commune (Tan Ky district) quickly turned into a plowed field. Trucks entering the commune to purchase agricultural products had to struggle for nearly an hour to get through the muddy roads.

However, this is also the only road connecting Phu Son commune with the remaining communes. The reason is that the road is part of a hundred billion project leading to this commune and has not been completed after nearly 10 years of starting.

After nearly 10 years of construction, Phu Son Bridge has finally been completed. Photo: Tien Hung

“This road was built by the cadres and people of Phu Son commune who pooled money to hire people to transport soil, and then borrowed fields from Nghia Hanh people to build it for a few days. But if it rains, it will be difficult to pass through,” said Mr. Nguyen Hai Dong - Chairman of Phu Son commune People's Committee.

The road and bridge project to Phu Son commune, Tan Ky district, including 18 km of asphalt road and Phu Son bridge across Con river, started construction in 2009 with a total investment of up to 162 billion VND after many additions. According to the plan, the above road and bridge will be completed and put into use after 36 months.

However, trucks over 2.5 tons are banned from crossing the hundred-billion-dong bridge. Photo: Pham Bang

This route will connect Ho Chi Minh Road to the center of Phu Son commune, and is expected to contribute to the development of the local economy as well as trade between regions, ending the need for local people to cross the river by ferry every day, especially during the rainy season. However, up to now, after nearly 10 years since the start of construction, 2 changes of contractors, 4 extensions of construction time, the project is still unfinished.

“After many years of waiting, at the beginning of this year, the bridge was finally basically completed and opened to traffic. However, the road leading to the bridge is still not accessible because they have not built a culvert. We estimate that this culvert will only cost about 5 billion VND,” said the Chairman of the People’s Committee of Phu Son Commune.

There is no culvert, which means there is no bridge. Because of this inconvenience, Phu Son people had to open a detour about 1 km long with red soil. The route passes through the fields in Nghia Hanh commune.

The road leading to the bridge has not been built yet, making the bridge meaningless. Photo: Tien Hung

The project route is 18km long, of which 13km has been completed so far. According to records, only 3km of the approach road to the bridge has not been implemented yet, including a section that needs to be built with a culvert.

“10 years ago, when the bridge was started, everyone was excited. But we waited forever and it never finished. Of the first generations who came here to clear the forest to make a new economy, only one is still alive. Everyone hopes to one day easily cross the Con River, but why is it so difficult?” - Mr. Nguyen Van Thao (62 years old), said sadly.

People then had to clear their own way across the field. Photo: Pham Bang

People in Phu Son commune mainly live on sugarcane. However, the unfinished road and difficult traffic make it difficult for traders to regularly squeeze prices from people.

The investor representative said that the road and bridge project to Phu Son commune started construction in 2009, with an initial total cost of 117 billion VND, but after many adjustments, the total project cost has now increased to 162 billion VND.

However, just one rain shower can make this route impassable. Photo: Tien Hung

The project is said to be slow to be implemented because some contractors "ran away" and had difficulty arranging capital. Recently, Tan Ky district invited contractors to work to continue the project but without results. Tan Ky district is also not sure when this project will be completed, although the number of remaining items is not much./.