{"id":3909,"date":"2026-07-28T17:55:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T08:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/?post_type=news&p=3909"},"modified":"2026-07-28T17:55:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T08:55:00","slug":"cat-lai-bridge","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/news\/cat-lai-bridge\/","title":{"rendered":"A bridge for the ferry east of Ho Chi Minh City: where the Cat Lai Bridge stands now"},"content":{"rendered":"

A bridge will span the Cat Lai ferry crossing at the eastern edge of Ho Chi Minh City. On July 26, 2026, the Vietnamese paper Tuoi Tre featured the Cat Lai Bridge (c\u1ea7u C\u00e1t L\u00e1i) under the angle of 'connecting the development axis stretching from eastern Ho Chi Minh City to Dong Nai,' laying out afresh an outline of over 11.6 km total length, 8 lanes and 24.003 trillion dong in total cost (about 148 billion yen at roughly 162 dong to the yen). The groundbreaking ceremony was held on January 15, 2026, and in June the Dong Nai People's Council voted to increase the budget. But when you'll actually be able to cross isn't settled. Since the Dong Nai side raised a '2028 opening' target in September 2025, that year has not been reconfirmed. For people living in eastern Ho Chi Minh City, expatriates commuting to Nhon Trach, and travelers using the year-end-opening Long Thanh airport, we separate the settled from the unsettled.<\/p>\n

What Tuoi Tre laid out was the bridge'sOutline<\/strong>was the only one<\/h2>\n

The paper's article says the bridge would be built right where the ferry now docks, connecting directly to Nguyen Thi Dinh Street (duong Nguyen Thi Dinh) on the Ho Chi Minh City side and running out toward Vo Chi Cong Street (Vo Chi Cong) and the My Thuy (My Thuy) roundabout. As for the present, it describes tens of thousands of people and vehicles crossing at the Cat Lai ferry each day, with lines of cars waiting to cross the river stretching for kilometers at peak times and on holidays.<\/p>\n

Worth noting is that this article carries not a single quote from anyone involved. The parts discussing the bridge's effects are all the paper's own narration, with no voices from residents or officials. It also doesn't touch on how long the ferry will keep running.<\/p>\n

The name of the river is unsettled too. Tu\u1ed5i Tr\u1ebb writes it as the So\u00e0i R\u1ea1p (s\u00f4ng So\u00e0i R\u1ea1p) in some places and the \u0110\u1ed3ng Nai (s\u00f4ng \u0110\u1ed3ng Nai) in others, while Thanh Ni\u00ean and S\u00e0i G\u00f2n Gi\u1ea3i Ph\u00f3ng standardize on the \u0110\u1ed3ng Nai. B\u00e1o L\u00e2m \u0110\u1ed3ng even writes, in describing the land, that it's on the bank of the Saigon River (s\u00f4ng S\u00e0i G\u00f2n).<\/p>\n

A plan nursed for 30 years reaches its January groundbreaking<\/h2>\n

A Tuoi Tre sidebar notes that more than 30 years have passed since this project was proposed. It only took shape in 2026: on the morning of January 15, the Dong Nai provincial People's Committee held the groundbreaking for the Cat Lai and Long Hung bridges (the two Dong Nai bridges). According to Thanh Nien, Deputy Prime Minister Mai Van Chinh, Dong Nai party secretary Vu Hong Van and representatives of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee attended, and the paper summarizes that the deputy PM praised the two localities' cooperation and called for securing schedule and quality to press ahead with synchronized implementation early. The remarks at the ceremony do not appear as verbatim quotes in the articles we could verify.<\/p>\n

The rough project cost shown at that point was just under 18.3 trillion dong (about 113 billion yen). Then on June 11, at the second extraordinary session of the Dong Nai City People's Council, it was approved as an adjustment to the investment policy under a PPP (public-private partnership) scheme and raised from over 20.6 trillion dong to over 24.003 trillion dong. Most of the increase is around land, with compensation, support, and resettlement costs swelling from over 2.9 trillion dong (about 17.9 billion yen) to over 4.4 trillion dong (about 27.2 billion yen). The reasons Saigon Giai Phong cites are the incorporation of the selected architectural design and aligning it with infrastructure on the Ho Chi Minh City side.<\/p>\n

The financing structure is out too. The project is split in two: land acquisition on the Dong Nai side and construction of the connecting road come to over 9 trillion dong (about 55.6 billion yen) in public funds, while the main bridge and the approach bridges at both ends are just under 15 trillion dong (about 92 billion yen) under a PPP. Bao Lam Dong writes that this 9-trillion-plus dong is Dong Nai's budget, not necessarily a central-government burden. By amount, the investor side is over 62% and the state side just under 38%. The contract type is BT (build-transfer), with payment to the investor drawn from public land auction proceeds or public investment funds, Thanh Nien reports. The project is reported to be proposed by Vietnam Construction Corporation No. 1 (CC1).<\/p>\n

The Cat Lai Bridge by the numbers<\/h2>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Item<\/th>\nDetails<\/th>\nSources<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Total length<\/td>\nAbout 11.6 km (of which the river crossing is about 4 km; another paper puts it at about 4.7 km)<\/td>\nTuoi Tre \/ Bao Lam Dong<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lanes<\/td>\n8 lanes (6 for cars, 2 for light vehicles)<\/td>\nTuoi Tre \/ Thanh Nien<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Design speed<\/td>\n80km\/h<\/td>\nThanh Nien<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Starting point<\/td>\nOn Nguyen Thi Dinh Street, about 400 m from the My Thuy intersection (Cat Lai Ward, Ho Chi Minh City)<\/td>\nThanh Nien<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
End point<\/td>\nConnects to the Ben Luc\u2013Long Thanh Expressway (Dai Phuoc commune, Dong Nai Province)<\/td>\nThanh Nien \/ Tuoi Tre<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total project cost<\/td>\nOver 24.003 trillion dong (about 148 billion yen) \/ over 20.6 trillion dong before revision<\/td>\nSaigon Giai Phong \/ Tuoi Tre<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Site area<\/td>\nAbout 127 ha (over 121 ha in Dong Nai, about 5.2 ha in Ho Chi Minh City)<\/td>\nS\u00e0i G\u00f2n Gi\u1ea3i Ph\u00f3ng newspaper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Method<\/td>\nPPP\/BT contract; investor selection treated as a 'special case'<\/td>\nThanh Nien \/ Sai Gon Giai Phong<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Groundbreaking ceremony<\/td>\nCarried out on January 15, 2026<\/td>\nThanh Nien \/ Tuoi Tre<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Completion and opening date<\/td>\nA '2028 opening' target was stated in September 2025. No reconfirmation in later votes or reporting<\/td>\nDoanh Nhan Sai Gon<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

Conversions use 1 yen = about 162 dong. The 3.389 trillion dong increase amounts to about 20.9 billion yen. The structure has private funds covering more than 60% of the main project.<\/p>\n

\"August 19\" and \"the second quarter\"\u2014only the dates don't line up<\/h2>\n

The way the schedule is stated doesn't match across outlets. B\u00e1o L\u00e2m \u0110\u1ed3ng, following the June resolution, wrote that full-scale construction (kh\u1edfi c\u00f4ng) is planned for the second quarter of 2026. Yet a July 26 box from Tu\u1ed5i Tr\u1ebb states that groundbreaking is \u201cplanned for August 19.\u201d Set alongside January reporting that a groundbreaking ceremony was held on January 15, this date doesn't add up.<\/p>\n

Since there's no basis for deciding which is right, the safest reading is that the start-of-construction sequence is still fluid. On the opening year too, apart from Dong Nai People's Committee Vice Chairman Ho Van Ha stating a '2026 start, 2028 opening' target at a September 9, 2025 working session (Doanh Nhan Sai Gon), no figures have been made public. That target predates the groundbreaking and hasn't been restated even now, after the budget-increase vote. If you see 'opening in year X' in a real-estate ad, check whether the source is this September 2025 target.<\/p>\n

Let's line up the stated positions as they are<\/h2>\n

Who decided what becomes clear when you read across the articles. First,Dong Nai People's Council<\/strong>is the party that, at its June 11 session, voted to adjust the investment plan. This is where the decision to raise the amount was made.<\/p>\n

Next isHo Chi Minh City People's Committee<\/strong>submitted to the city People's Council a draft resolution agreeing to make Dong Nai the authority in charge of carrying out this project spanning two administrative areas, Tuoi Tre reported in January. Half the bridge is on the Ho Chi Minh City side, but Dong Nai holds the reins.<\/p>\n

The third isDeputy Prime Minister Mai Van Chinh<\/strong>and at the groundbreaking ceremony it praised the coordination between the two localities and called for securing the schedule and quality, Thanh Ni\u00ean reports. In a separate article on December 10, 2025, the same paper also reported that, given the urgency of making effective use of Long Thanh Airport, the Dong Nai Provincial People's Council approved selecting an investor as a \u201cspecial case\u201d for this project.<\/p>\n

The fourth is the project proposer'sCC1<\/strong>Bao Lam Dong names the company as the proposing party. As for the outlet's own take, the paper writes that \"the ferry crossing's role, in place since French rule, will end.\" Conversely, the voices of ferry users and people doing business nearby appear in none of the articles we checked.<\/p>\n

Even with the bridge, the congestion in the east won't clear on its own<\/h2>\n

A design placing the start point about 400 m from the My Thuy intersection is exactly what trips up anyone who knows the map. My Thuy is the intersection where cargo from Cat Lai port converges, jamming for reasons entirely separate from the ferry queue. The bridge zeroes out the wait to cross the river, but if the intersection processing on the far side doesn't change, the ferry-landing line could simply be replaced by a line ahead of the intersection. The Tuoi Tre article, too, speaks of the bridge bundled with Ring Road 3 and the port-access roads, framing it as effective only once the surrounding works are all in place.<\/p>\n

Another premise is a design that links the endpoint directly to the Ben Luc\u2013Long Thanh Expressway. In other words, how usable this bridge is depends heavily on the expressway's opening status. Access to the new airport opening at year's end is at a stage where whole groups of roads are moving at once (Roads worth $456 million break ground all at once toward Long Thanh Airport, opening at year's end<\/a>), as a practical matter for travelers, assume that for now the main artery from central Ho Chi Minh City to the airport remains the Ho Chi Minh City\u2013Long Thanh\u2013Dau Giay Expressway. How to use the two airports is also still being sorted out (Giant Long Thanh airport opens December 1: how to use it alongside SGN?<\/a>\uff09\u3002<\/p>\n

What's likely to matter to residents is that 2 of the 8 lanes are set aside for light vehicles. Since motorbikes can travel separately from the 80 km\/h main lanes, you can reach the far bank without taking the ferry.<\/p>\n

What's already moving is land prices on the Nhon Trach side<\/h2>\n

What moved faster than the bridge itself is the land. Compensation, support and resettlement costs went from about 17.9 billion yen equivalent to about 27.2 billion yen equivalent\u20141.5 times in roughly half a year. The land area also grew from about 120 ha in January to about 127 ha, of which over 121 ha is on the Dong Nai side and only about 5.2 ha on the Ho Chi Minh City side. In both cost and land, the burden leans almost entirely to the Dong Nai side.<\/p>\n

B\u00e1o L\u00e2m \u0110\u1ed3ng cites, as specific places where the land was widened, Li\u00ean C\u1ea3ng Street (\u0111\u01b0\u1eddng Li\u00ean C\u1ea3ng), the intersection with Street 25C, and the stretch from the bank of the Saigon River past the Li\u00ean C\u1ea3ng junction. Rather than a residential area, it's a location that overlaps a logistics corridor linking one port to another. Talk of setting aside development space in front of subway stations is advancing in various places (Ho Chi Minh City Metro Line 2: 940 ha in front of stations to become five new urban areas<\/a>), what moves first at Cat Lai is likely to be warehouses and factories, not housing.<\/p>\n

For Japanese companies with manufacturing or logistics bases in Nhon Trach, the traffic environment will change through land acquisition and connecting-road work before the bridge even opens. It's worth tracking Dong Nai's resolutions and construction notices.<\/p>\n

What you can and can't base a decision on now<\/h2>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Point of discussion<\/th>\nCurrent status<\/th>\nHow to treat it in practice<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
The bridge's location and connections<\/td>\nAlready announced (Cat Lai ward to Dai Phuoc commune, connecting to the Ben Luc\u2013Long Thanh Expressway)<\/td>\nUsable as a factor in choosing a base<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Scale, lanes and design speed<\/td>\nAlready announced (8 lanes, 80 km\/h, 2 light-vehicle lanes)<\/td>\nCan assume motorbike access<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total project cost and funding structure<\/td>\nPublished (over 24.003 trillion dong; investors over 62%, the state just under 38%)<\/td>\nA gauge of how hard the project is to reverse<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Timing of full-scale construction<\/td>\nReports are split (Q2 \/ August 19)<\/td>\nDon't build plans around a fixed date<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Completion and opening date<\/td>\nOnly a 2028 opening target, shown in September 2025<\/td>\nDon't treat it as fixed; check the source<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
End of ferry service<\/td>\nNot stated<\/td>\nFor now, plan your travel around the ferry<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Whether there's a toll, and how much<\/td>\nNot stated<\/td>\nNot included in cost estimates<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
How land acquisition is progressing<\/td>\nOnly revisions to cost and area have been made public<\/td>\nKeep checking Dong Nai's resolutions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

If you're traveling between Ho Chi Minh City and Nhon Trach within 2026, your options come down to two: the ferry or the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway. You still can't plan an itinerary that counts on the bridge.<\/p>\n

Summary<\/h2>\n

What's settled right now for the Cat Lai bridge is its location, scale, money and project type; only the timeline stays fixed as a mere target. If talk advances that \"the bridge is coming soon\" without filling this gap, decisions on leases and relocating bases can slip by years. First, rebuild your travel plans on the premise of the ferry and the expressway. Next, if your company has business toward Nhon Trach, check the Dong Nai People's Council resolutions and construction updates each quarter. Third, when you come across advertising claims that include an opening date, match them against the underlying resolution or notice.<\/p>\n

Sources:Tu\u1ed5i Tr\u1ebb<\/a>\uff0fTu\u1ed5i Tr\u1ebb (groundbreaking ceremony)<\/a>\uff0fThanh Ni\u00ean<\/a>\uff0fS\u00e0i G\u00f2n Gi\u1ea3i Ph\u00f3ng<\/a>\uff0fB\u00e1o L\u00e2m \u0110\u1ed3ng<\/a>\uff0fThanh Ni\u00ean (investor selection)<\/a>\uff0fDoanh Nh\u00e2n S\u00e0i G\u00f2n<\/a><\/small><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The outline of the Cat Lai bridge linking eastern Ho Chi Minh City with Dong Nai has firmed up. Total length exceeds 11.6 km, and the budget has risen to over 24 trillion dong. Groundbreaking is done, but the only opening target given is \"in service in 2028.\" We've boiled it down to what travelers and expats can use now on how the ferry-dependent route will actually change.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"swell_btn_cv_data":"","ssp_meta_description":"\u30db\u30fc\u30c1\u30df\u30f3\u6771\u90e8\u3068\u30c9\u30f3\u30ca\u30a4\u3092\u7d50\u3076\u30ab\u30c3\u30c8\u30e9\u30a4\u6a4b\u306e\u8f2a\u90ed\u304c\u56fa\u307e\u3063\u305f\u3002\u7dcf\u5ef6\u957711.6km\u8d85\u3001\u4e8b\u696d\u8cbb\u306f24\u5146\u30c9\u30f3\u8d85\u3078\u5897\u984d\u3002\u52d5\u571f\u5f0f\u306f\u6e08\u3093\u3060\u304c\u3001\u958b\u901a\u306f\u300c2028\u5e74\u4f9b\u7528\u300d\u306e\u76ee\u6a19\u304c\u793a\u3055\u308c\u305f\u304d\u308a\u3060\u3002\u6e21\u3057\u8239\u306b\u983c\u3063\u3066\u304d\u305f\u52d5\u7dda\u304c\u5b9f\u969b\u3069\u3046\u5909\u308f\u308b\u306e\u304b\u3001\u65c5\u884c\u8005\u3068\u99d0\u5728\u54e1\u304c\u4eca\u4f7f\u3048\u308b\u60c5\u5831\u306b\u7d5e\u3063\u3066\u6574\u7406\u3057\u305f\u3002","ssp_meta_keyword":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"purpose":[],"keyword":[],"location":[],"class_list":["post-3909","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/3909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3909"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/3909\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4086,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/3909\/revisions\/4086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3909"},{"taxonomy":"purpose","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/purpose?post=3909"},{"taxonomy":"keyword","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyword?post=3909"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=3909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}