Ocic Invests USD45 Million in Two Bridges

• 19 November 2017
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Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday 23 October 2017 presided over the groundbreaking ceremony on the construction of the new concrete bridge spanning 800m across the Tonle Sap River from Chroy Changvar Satellite City to National Road 5. “The new bridge will help the traffic flow on national road 6 and 5, while the old Chroy Changvar bridge gets repaired,” he said.

“The bridge will make travel easier as well as transporting goods from the provinces to Phnom Penh and from Phnom Penh to the provinces, which are in constant growth. Previously, Phnom Penh cover only about 300 square kilometres, but now the fast growing city has expanded to 700 square kilometres with new achievements and infrastructures to serve the needs of the people.” The Prime Minister explained.

A month ago, Phnom Penh City Hall has announced the temporary traffic closure of the Cambodia-Japanese Friendship Bridge after survey conducted by JICA for the measurement to repair.

Originally constructed in the 1960s and re-opened for traffic in 1995 after being rebuilt by the Japanese, more than 20 years of heavy traffic on the Cambodia-Japanese Friendship Bridge has taken its toll leaving the bridge requiring urgent repair. The bridge is expected to be closed for approximately two years until July 2019.

Deputy director of OCIC Touch Samang joined the traditional Cambodian prayer for happiness before breaking ground on 12 September said that the temporary iron bridge will be 12 metres wide and 500 metres long and will take about 6 months to complete. “The iron bridge is being built to replace the restored bridge at an estimated cost of USD10 million,” he said.

According to Mr Touch, the new concrete bridge across the Tonle Sap river will be 20.5 metres wide and 500 metres long and will take about 28 months to complete with an estimated cost about USD35 million. Soon after the Friendship Bridge renovations are successfully completed as planned, the USD10 million steel bridge will be taken down.

Longer term, a new permanent bridge is expected to be built in the same place as the temporary bridge to connect to the Chroy Changva satellite city. The bridge is the main traffic artery linking the capital Phnom Penh to the north of the country across the Tonle Sap river and the costs of the renovation are being met through Japanese aid.

Kleang Hout, governor of the Chroy Changva district who presided over the ceremony, said that “the concrete bridge plays a crucial role to ease the traffic jams,” he said, adding that “it is a link of paramount importance linking Ruessey Keo and Chroy Chongva.”

OCIC is one of the Cambodia’s leading developers and is behind dozens of property developments. The Chroy Changvar City Development Project, being built on 307.3 hectares, is a satellite city project by OCIC. The Chroy Changvar Satellite City includes three communes in Phnom Penh’s Russey Keo district – Chroy Changvar, Prek Leap and Prek Tasek.

The Khmer Times reported that the firm has invested a total of USD1.6 billion in the satellite city. The satellite city will have schools, sports centres and a stadium, government complexes, a riverfront esplanade and a clubhouse. Also included are power plants and around-the-clock security checkpoints.

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