Work on the fifth Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge in Bueng Kan is almost complete, and the bridge is expected to open to the public sometime next year, Deputy Minister of Transport Manaporn Charoensri said on Monday.
The construction is about 80% finished, and the rest of the work will be carried out in 2024 as planned, the deputy transport minister said following a site inspection on Monday.
The opening of the new bridge will ease the movement of goods, people and services and increase the value of trade between Thailand, Laos and Vietnam from "billions of baht to tens of billions of baht", Ms Manaporn added.
Once completed, the bridge will connect the northeastern province of Bueng Kan with Pakson, a town in Bolikhamsai province in Central Laos.
The bridge, together with its associated access roads, spans 16.18 kilometres, 12.13km of which lies in Thailand and the rest in Laos.
In addition, said Ms Manaporn, the government is planning to speed up improvements to roads around the area, to maximise the benefit of the new transport route.
The bridge is a part of a new transport route which runs through Nong Khai, Bueng Kan, Nakhon Phanom and Sakhon Nakhon.
When the bridge opens, more vehicles will traverse the route, so the existing single-carriageway approaches will have to be upgraded and turned into a dual carriageway.
Traffic bottlenecks will need to be corrected to improve traffic flow and reduce the risk of accidents, which will affect the transport of passengers and goods on this new route, she said.
