HoChiMinh Trail becomes HoChiMinh highway.

HoChiMinh Highway Project

The Ho Chi Minh Trail will soon be the Ho Chi Minh National Highway, thanks to the approval of a massive road-building project by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai.  Vietnam’s second trans-national north-south highway will connect Ha Tay Province’s Hoa Lac village west of Hanoi and HCM City’s Binh Phuoc Cross Road via the historic path used for decades by freedom fighters along the western border of the country.

Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2000 and last three years.  Under the Ministry of Transportation plan approved by the PM, a total capital investment of VND 5,300 billion (US $378 million) will be needed to build the roadway for he first phase.  Money for the project will be mobilized from the State Budget and overseas development aid (ODA).  Construction of the 1690 km-long national highway will require almost 53 million cubic meters of stone and soil to build up the road.  Five million square meters of the road will be paved with asphalt and 314

1. Name of project: HoChiMinh highway.

2. Orientation: from PacBo (CaoBang province) to Dat Mui (CaMau province). Total length: 3,129 km.

3. Technological criteria: Road from 2 to 8 lanes. Loading capacity of bridges: 30 tons.

Project procedures:

Phase 1 (year 2000 to 2005):

- From HoaLac-XuanMai-HaTay province to BinhPhuoc intersection-HCM city.

- 2 lanes, loading capacity of bridges: 30 tons.

- Starting on 5th April 2000 - Finish in 2005.

At the moment, the first part of HCM highway from KheCo (HaTinh) to NgocHoi (KonTum) - total 962km will be expectedly finished on 2th September 2003.

Phase 2 (year 2005 - 2010)

Extend the highway from Hanoi to CaoBang (in the north) and from HCMC to CaMau (in the south).

- HCM highway in the north: 402km from PacBo(CaoBang) to HoaLac. The highway goes through CaoBang, BacCan, TuyenQuang, PhuTho, SonTay and onto HoaLac.

- HCM highway in the south: 537 km from ChonThanh (BinhPhuoc)  to DatMui (CaMau). The highway goes through ChonThanh, DucHoa, CaoLanh, LongXuyen, NuiSap, RachSoi, VinhThuan and CaMau, mostly based on provincial roads.

Phase 3 (after 2010)

Enlarge the road from 2 to 8 lanes from HoaLac to BinhPhuoc intersection of HCMC.

Source : TuoiTre Newspaper 8^thApril 2003.

new bridges will be built.  Under the PM’s decision design for the new road will be based on last year’s highest flood levels to ensure traffic flow year round.

The road, to be named after he late president Ho Chi Minh, will follow the roads and trails of the wartime trail along the Truong Son mountain range, then proceed through the central and Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) provinces.  Construction of the legendary trail began on May 9, 1959, the birthday of Ho Chi Minh, with the establishment of the Military Transport Division 559 or Truong Son Division.  That day has been observed as the found day of Truong Son forces ever since.

From the first footpath crossing over the mountain range to the victorious Ho Chi Minh Campaign of 1975, this strategic road developed into a network of five axial roads running along the Truong Son on its eastern and western flanks and 21 lateral roads leading to the major battle fronts.  The total length of the extensive HCM road measured 16,000 km, of which 3,140 km was shaded by tropical forest to make traffic possible even in daytime.  In addition, there were 500 k waterways and 13,000 km pipeline that transport petrol through the mountain range.  Because of its strategic importance, the trail attracted heavy aerial bombardment from US forces during the war.

Authors of he new project’s feasibility study said that the new national highway will not only help alleviate heavy traffic on National Highway 1 but also spur development in the 20 provinces it will traverse.  The MoT said that the 1,070 km first phase of construction will stretch from Ha Tay Province on the south-west outskirts of Hanoi through the Tay Nguyen province’s Kon Tum District.

The PM’s decision dated February 3 also urged relevant ministries, agencies, and especially the localities through which the highway will run to coordinate with the MoT so the highway can be completed in 2003.

Source: Vietnam News