Chinese engineering firm completes main construction work of Laos' longest bridge

VIENTIANE - China Railway No 2 Engineering Group (CREC-2) has completed the main construction work of the longest bridge along the China-Laos railway which is also the longest-ever bridge in Laos.

Zeng Fanbing, the superintendent from the CREC-2 in charge of the construction of the sixth section of the China-Laos railway project, told Xinhua on Friday that his team finished the concrete casting of the last bridge pier of the Nam Khone super major bridge on Thursday, thus completing the main construction work of the longest bridge along the railway project.

The Nam Khone super major bridge, located in the northern suburb of Lao capital Vientiane, has a total length of 7.5 km. A total of 230 bridge piers have now been erected. The highest pier reaches 10.5 meters.

The China-Laos railway is one of interconnectivity projects under the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. Construction of the railway began in December 2016 and the railway is expected to open to traffic in December 2021.

The China-Laos railway has a length of over 414 kilometers, linking Mohan-Boten border gate in northern Laos and capital Vientiane. Operating speed on the route is designed at 160 km per hour.