Phước Khánh Bridge

Phuoc Khanh Bridge is being constructed as a cable-stayed road bridge and would be the third bridge of the Ben Luc – Long Thanh Expressway project, itself part of the larger North–South Expressway West.[1] Phuoc Khanh Bridge would cross the Long Tau River, connecting Cần Giờ District with the Nhơn Trạch District, Dong Nai province. It would also serve as a link to the Bien Hoa–Vung Tau Expressway which would ultimately provide a Southeast Asian beltway that would go through Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Ho Chi Minh City, and Vung Tau together.[2]

The bridge is designed to be 3,186 metres (10,453 ft) long and 21.75 metres (71 ft) wide. [3] When completed, Phuoc Khanh Bridge and Binh Khanh Bridge would be the two bridges with the highest clearance for boat traffic in Vietnam (55 meters).[4][5] It plans to allow for four lanes of traffic at an 80 kph speed limit.[6] The initial investment capital was US$162.3 million with an opening initially slated for 2019.[6]

The groundbreaking ceremony took place on July 18, 2015 with the presence and support of the Japan International Cooperation Agency.[2] By 2018, the bridge was off schedule, with a 4.7 kilometer road that was meant to connect Phuoc Khanh and Binh Khanh bridges finished before the bridges themselves.[7] Financing issues were cited as causing delays for the bridge and the overall Ben Luc-Long Thanh expressway project in Vietnam.[8] After construction was halted in October 2019 on the Binh Khanh Bridge, officials sent inspectors in attempt to remove the financial and logistical obstacles delaying the Phuoc Khanh project.[9]

On February 21, 2021, an 8,000 ton container ship Phuc Khanh (Phúc Khánh)[10] had its engine stalled while in the Long Tau River and drifted freely until crashing into a crane on the construction site of the Phuoc Khanh bridge project.[11] This incident caused four containers to fall off the ship, and the collapse of construction-related scaffolding along the crane.[12]