Photo: DHV Group

Vietnam bridge initiative will allow much larger vessels to travel the Mekong River.

Vietnam’s ministry of transport, public works and water management has launched a four-year, $100-million project to improve navigation along 250 km of the Mekong River, a key transportation corridor. Netherlands-based DHV Group has won a contract covering design and management, and construction is due to start in a year. Work on 18 existing and new bridges, as well as a lock, will allow 600-tonne vessels to ply the river, about 20 times bigger than those now in use.