NEAK, LOEUNG CAMBODIA – Cambodia on Monday inaugurated the Japan-funded Tsubasa Bridge across the Mekong River.


During the opening ceremony in Neak Loeung, about 60 km east of Phnom Penh, Cambodian Prime Minister HE thanked Japan for its assistance. “Long live the friendship between Cambodia and Japan,” he said.

The suspension bridge, built at a cost of ¥119.4 million, allows National Route 1 to cross the Mekong River. At 2,215 meters, it is the longest bridge in Cambodia.

Calling the bridge a “dream come true,” HE said it “replaces the costly and time consuming boats and ferries that have been used by Cambodian people as well as regional transport operators for ages.”

Akihiro Nishimura, a senior official in the transport ministry, read out a message from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe saying the bridge is expected to not only contribute to economic development of Cambodia, but also the wider Mekong region.

He noted that the bridge’s inauguration coincides with the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Cambodia and Japan and the formation of an ASEAN Economic Community.

The bridge in Kandal Province is part of links in the “southern economic corridor,” a roughly 1,000-km-long road linking Ho Chi Minh City with Bangkok via Phnom Penh.

It is the third large-scale bridge donated so far by Japan after the Cambodia-Japan Friendship Bridge built across the Tonle Sap River in Phnom Penh and the Kizuna Bridge across the Mekong in the country’s eastern province of Kompong Cham.

In a gesture of gratitude for Japan’s grant assistance, Cambodia earlier this year issued a new 500 riel banknote carrying images of the two Japan-built bridges that span the Mekong.

Rama wrote:It looks great. But why is it only 1 lane in each direction? Not very future proof is it?

StroppyChops wrote:

Rama wrote:It looks great. But why is it only 1 lane in each direction? Not very future proof is it?

1 lane? You underestimate Khmer drivers. That's a four-lane highway, right there.

Rama wrote:

StroppyChops wrote:

Rama wrote:It looks great. But why is it only 1 lane in each direction? Not very future proof is it?

1 lane? You underestimate Khmer drivers. That's a four-lane highway, right there.

You underestimate Cambodian hawkers...the bridge has recently been downgraded to some complicated one-way traffic sharing allocation scheme operated by a policeman at either end with whistles and walkietalkies. There have been so many hawkers that have set up permanent stalls along the pavement that the late comers (UEDA Coffee, Olympic Kebab etc. from Phnom Penh) encroached on the Phnom Penh - HCMC lane and as they've paid the district police a fee they're staying in that lane and it's become a kinda of picnic lay by spot.

...all true. Been widely reported in the Khmer language media.

Flexnez wrote:The main reason for the traffic jam was not the real traffic on the road - it was mainly caused by all the Khmers who had nothing better to do on a holiday than to go sightseeing at the new bridge