The 5th Lao-Thai Friendship between Bolikhamxay and Buangkan finished over half of its construction in August.
Mr. Laithong Phommavong, the head of the fifth Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge Project, said that the construction began in August 2019 with a loan of over THB 1 billion from the Neighboring Countries Economic Development Cooperation Agency (NEDA) in Thailand.
The bridge which is being built over the Mekong river has a total length of 535 meters on the Lao side. There is also a second contract to build the entrance to the bridge which would cover a total length of 2,775 meters. This would include checkpoint buildings and other facilities on the Lao side which have a proposed construction period of 30 months and a guarantee period of 24 months.
Mr. Laithong stated that the project collaborated with the task force at the central and provincial levels in order to continue operations and facilitate consulting company team and Thai contractor company to work seamlessly even during the outbreak of Covid-19.
It was proposed that the government look at sources of funding to compensate residents around the area and reimburse the contractor for the amount already borrowed to construct the bridge.
The bridge, located in Kouay Oudom Village, Paksan District, Bolikhamxay Province, is 2.8 kilometers from the 13 South road.
Once completed, the bridge will serve as a significant transportation corridor connecting Thailand and many Vietnamese cities via Laos.
