Vientiane’s Smart Clean-Cooling Road System pilot project has reached 95 percent completion, and contractors expect to finish all work in October, the contractor said.
The project is the first of its kind in Laos and a pilot in the center of the capital. The contractor company, Muanglao Development Co., Ltd, is installing a 100-meter automatic water sprinkler system on each side of the road median, covering 200 meters in total along Lane Xang Avenue.
The stretch runs from Vientiane Secondary School and the United Nations House in Laos to the Patuxay Monument.
Bounleuth Khounthavong, President of Muanglao Development Co., Ltd., told local media that poles fitted with automated sensors will monitor road surface temperature.
If the surface exceeds 40 degrees Celsius, the system will immediately spray a water mist to reduce the heat. The sensors also detect air pollutants, including PM2.5 or PM10
The Government of South Korea funds 100 percent of the project through a grant.
Bounleuth said the company began work in March this year.
His team has built a 30-cubic-meter water storage tank, drilled a groundwater well to supply water for road spraying, and completed the concrete leveling on Lane Xang Avenue according to plan. The company installed the necessary equipment for the system on 26 and 27 September.
After the company finishes the remaining tasks in October, the system will undergo a 30-day official trial run. Authorities will hand over the project in mid-November 2026.
Officials have not announced any plan to extend the system to other roads in the capital or to other provinces.
South Korea developed the technology, known as the Smart Clear Cooling Road System, to help combat urban heat and fine dust.
The system uses automated nozzles embedded in roads to spray recycled groundwater, lowering asphalt temperatures during periods of extreme heat. South Korea began testing the system in 2007 on a small section of road in Seoul before expanding it to other major cities.
