The developer Ministry of Transport (MoT) earlier handed over the project’s tender package 1 valued at VND502 billion ($24.2 million) to Civil Engineering Construction Corporation 4 (Cienco 4).

Package 1 involves building around 1.2 kilometre road, two 300-metre-long viaducts and some subordinate items such as sewer and diaphragm wall systems in the access road’s beginning section.

According to the MoT, the project’s total investment of VND4.956 trillion ($239.4 million) will be sourced from Japanese official development assistance (ODA) capital and the Vietnamese government’s counter-part capital. This also includes $667 billion ($32.2 million) under the land acquisition and resettlement project to be developed by Hanoi People’s Committee.

The access road project will be divided into two sub-projects. Subproject 1 involves building a 7.850km section and subproject 2 relates to building a 4.350km section.

“The access road, together with Nhat Tan bridge and Noi Bai airport’s T2 passenger terminal construction projects will create a complete work up to international standards to service people’s burgeoning travel requirements,” said PMU85’s general director Nguyen Ngoc Canh.

Once in place, the road would help shorten travel distance from Hanoi’s Ba Dinh square to Noi Bai airport to 15km instead of 30km.

Deadline for project finalisation would be June 2014, according to the MoT.

“The project’s progress depends chiefly on the land acquisition pace,” said Canh.

In fact, the people’s committee of Hanoi’s Soc Son district where the road travels through could only transfer 17.6ha out of 80ha in subproject 1 as of July 20, 2011. At subproject 2, the district authorities just ratified the general land acquisition scheme and are about to embrace survey and measuring activities.

“Delayed site clearance may seriously affect the project’s progress,” Canh said.