Vietnam plans another bridge over Red River

The Thanh Tri Bridge, expected to be completed in 2005, will be part of a 410-million-dollar lending scheme by the Japan Bank for International Co-operation, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper said.

Hanoi aims to ease north-south traffic flow by building the bridge as part of a third ring road linking highways around the city. A project management unit under the Ministry of Transport has signed a contract with Japan's Pacific International Consultation Company to develop the bridge, the newspaper said.

The Red River is currently crossed by three major spans, including Chuong Duong Bridge, built by French Indochina governor Paul Doumer in the late 19th Century and bombed by the U.S. in the Vietnam War.

Transport-related infrastructure has been labeled a priority for the communist nation's development, donors have said. Earlier this year the ribbon was cut on the 51-million-dollar My Thuan Bridge, which spans a Mekong River tributary in the south.

That 1,535-metre span, most of which was paid for by Australia, serves as an economic and development gateway to the Mekong Delta.

(klei/dpa)