The government on Saturday signed a $73.75 million contract with a Chinese company to build a bridge in Phnom Penh spanning the Tonle Sap river and to pave National Road 41, officials said yesterday.
The funds for the two projects come from a loan from the Chinese government received earlier this year, according to Suon Rachana, secretary of state at the Ministry of Public Works.
The contract will pay the China Road and Bridge Company $27.5 million to build the new Chroy Changva Bridge, which will be located next to the Japanese-Cambodian Friendship Bridge and help ease the flow of traffic across the river, Mr Rachana said.
“After it finishes construction, it will allow a flow of traffic just like the Monivong twin bridges,” he said, referring to the recently opened Preah Monivong bridges in Phnom Penh. “The bridge is very important to improve the traffic jams in that area.”
The new bridge will be 719 meters long and construction will be complete in around three years, although a ground-breaking date has not yet been set, Mr Rachana added.
China Road and Bridge will also be paid $46.25 million to pave the 95-kilometer National Road 41, which connects National Road 4 in Kompong Speu province to Kampot province.
Kompong Speu provincial governor Kang Heang welcomed the project yesterday, saying that National Road 41 was set to become an economic corridor between three provinces.
“It will help to improve traffic on a major road for people to transport their products and travel,” he said. “This road will become a major economic corridor for villagers in three provinces-Kompong Speu, Takeo and Kampot province.”
At a signing ceremony for the contract on Saturday, Minister of Public Works Tram Iv Tek said that Chinese grants and loans had already provided Cambodia with 1,500 km of paved highways and three major bridges at a total cost of nearly $1 billion.
