After 30 years of waiting, Cat Lai Bridge breaks ground

After a wait of more than 30 years, ground has finally been broken on the Cat Lai Bridge.
The project is considered a major milestone for transforming traffic infrastructure and strengthening connectivity between Ho Chi Minh City and surrounding regions. Once complete, logistics flows and residents' commutes are expected to become far smoother, with positive ripple effects on local economy and urban development.

Dong Nai Province and Ho Chi Minh City are two neighboring localities located at the heart of the Southeast region — the most dynamic economic zone in the country.
Until now, the road network has connected the two areas through several bridges spanning the Dong Nai River.

However, as demand for travel and trade has continued to rise, the number of existing road bridges remains limited and cannot fully meet residents' transit needs. As a result, most of the bridges are operating in a chronically overloaded state. Especially with Long Thanh International Airport about to open, the need to strengthen the transport link between Dong Nai and Ho Chi Minh City has become more urgent than ever.

The Cat Lai Bridge project takes shape after a wait of more than three decades

The Cat Lai Bridge is one of the key transport infrastructure projects linking Dong Nai Province and Ho Chi Minh City — a long-cherished plan local residents have waited more than 30 years for. Expectations for this bridge go beyond ordinary transport demand and reflect a wider call for a strategic connector that will drive balanced development across the entire Southern Key Economic Region.

Dong Nai Province already raised the need to build a bridge replacing the Cat Lai ferry as early as 1994; in 2003, the Cat Lai Bridge project officially entered the investment-review stage.

However, due to long-standing failure to reach consensus among relevant authorities, project progress stalled — leaving connectivity gaps and ongoing inconvenience in logistics and travel between the two regions.

About 14 years later, in May 2017, Vietnam's Prime Minister formally approved including the project in the master plan for Ho Chi Minh City transport development through 2020 with a long-term vision beyond — marking a turning point for restart.

In August 2019, the Prime Minister designated Dong Nai People's Committee as the state authority leading the project to replace the Cat Lai ferry with a bridge, formally directing the project to be pursued via a public–private partnership (PPP) model. With this move, construction of the Cat Lai Bridge entered a more concrete phase.

Over the years that followed, with the goal of strengthening regional and inter-regional transport networks, Dong Nai Province and Ho Chi Minh City continued consultations and discussions to gradually resolve remaining institutional and technical challenges.

On the afternoon of October 21, 2025, at the meeting hall of Dong Nai Province's Party Committee, a joint session of the HCMC Party Standing Committee and the Dong Nai Party Standing Committee was held — co-chaired by HCMC Party Secretary Tran Luu Quang, HCMC Deputy Party Secretary and Chairman of the People's Committee Nguyen Van ..., and Dong Nai Province Party Secretary and National Assembly delegation chief Vu Hong Van.

The meeting concentrated on solutions and implementation plans to strengthen transport-infrastructure connectivity between the two localities.

At the session, the two provinces reaffirmed their commitment to building a tight, trust-based partnership that will evolve into a strategic partnership going forward. On that foundation, they pledged to share experience across economic and social development and to deepen mutual support and collaboration. At the same time, the implementation roadmap for transport infrastructure projects linking HCMC and Dong Nai was clarified — with the Cat Lai Bridge project featured as a flagship work.

Subsequently, on November 13, 2025, General Secretary To Lam visited the Long Thanh International Airport site and held working meetings with relevant agencies. There, he instructed that multi-modal regional infrastructure connectivity between the HCMC metropolitan area and Dong Nai Province must absolutely be ensured, emphasizing the need to simultaneously and in an integrated manner advance the strategic connector infrastructure centered on Long Thanh International Airport and the inter-regional projects linking HCMC and Dong Nai.

Meanwhile, the Cat Lai Bridge investment project is set to break ground tomorrow morning (January 15, 2026). This marks more than the start of a key transport infrastructure work — it is the fruit of years of patience and resolve from both provincial governments, and a symbolic milestone bringing great anticipation and joy to local residents.

The Cat Lai Bridge is set to become a new symbol of Dong Nai Province

Ahead of groundbreaking, the Dong Nai Provincial People's Council officially approved the investment policy for Cat Lai Bridge construction under the PPP model.

Accordingly, the Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee — through investor-selection procedures applicable to special cases — confirmed the consortium comprising Construction Corporation No.1 (CTCP), CC1 Asset Management & Services Co., Ltd. and CC1 Investment JSC as the project's implementing party.

As a key piece of transport infrastructure linking Dong Nai Province and Ho Chi Minh City, the project is expected not only to elevate the area's regional standing but also to emerge as a symbolic landmark in broader urban and real estate development.

The Cat Lai Bridge is planned at a total length of more than 11.6 km — a major transport infrastructure project designed to modern standards. It includes six dedicated motor-vehicle lanes (three in each direction) and two mixed-traffic lanes, with the main bridge designed as a twin-plane cable-stayed (cable) structure. The main span reaches 450 m, fully meeting navigation requirements for vessels on the Dong Nai waterway and ensuring the safety and long-term stable operation of vessels moving between ports and terminals.

The total investment for the Cat Lai Bridge construction project is about VND 20,614 billion, targeting groundbreaking in 2026 and completion / operation start in 2029.

Dong Nai Province has positioned the bridge as more than a piece of transport infrastructure — it is defined as a symbolic landmark of distinctive architectural value, and is expected to become a new source of pride representing the province going forward.

The Cat Lai Bridge groundbreaking ceremony also carries symbolic significance to mark the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam — interpreted as an event that vividly displays Dong Nai Province's resolve to develop, its spirit of innovation and its strong drive to leap forward in the new era.