Set to open next year, Cambodia’s first cable-stayed bridge is now more than 70 per cent complete, according the government.

Chhim Phalla, director of the Ministry of Public Work’s Department of International Cooperation, which is overseeing the Neak Loeung Bridge and improvements to National Road 1, says that 76.3 per cent of the work on the Neak Loeung Bridge had been completed at the end of March. He adds that the only work remaining was the core centre of the bridge, with 300 metres remaining to connect the two sides.

The bridge is 2,220 metres long, 13 metres wide and 37.5 metres above the water level during the rainy season, and it will have two wide lanes for traffic.

“The Neak Loeung Bridge will be the longest bridge in Cambodia,” Phalla says. “The bridge will bring benefits to everyone because of its proximity to Vietnam and Thailand.”

The bridge is 61 kilometres southeast of Phnom Penh in Prey Veng province.

According to Phalla, the new bridge will facilitate transportation links between Cambodia and Vietnam, leading to the industrial and factory developments in the province.

The bridge will be planned to finish on March, 2014 and spent $90 million, paid for by a grant from the Japanese government.

Construction has been made possible by an official development assistance (ODA) grant by the Japanese government, with bidding for the construction held in Tokyo by Japanese companies, Phalla says. The Cambodian Ministry of Public Works and Transport has played a coordination role.

On the subject of upgrades to National Road 1 between the new bridge and Phnom Penh, says that the 55 kilometres of highway were being upgraded in four phases. The first three phases, he says, are already complete, leaving only the fourth phase, for which bidding would be held in Japan in August, with the work expected to take some 12 months.

Phhally says that government ministries are working together to mediate in disputes associated with people living along the road who were affected by the work.

Meanwhile, with Asean economic integration around the corner, Khom Monirath, board of director of Daily Realty Group, says he expects improvements to National Road 1 and better connections with Vietnam to have a positive impact on land values.

At present, land prices on the other side of the Preah Monivong Bridge in the vicinity of Phnom Penh ranged between $500 and $800 per square metre, he adds.

Van Chanthorn, managing director of Town City Real Estate, says he expects property values in Prey Veng province to increase because it occupied a central location between Cambodia and Vietnam. After the completion of the bridge, he says he expects that investors in factories and warehouses would take interested due to ease of transport.

“Land prices are inexpensive if you compare them to prices for land along national roads 4, 3, and 6,” he says.

Sorn Seap, general manager of Key Real Estate, says land prices along National Road 1 saw an increase of between 10 and 20 per cent in the first four months of this year compared with the same period last year.

“Property prices increased due to widening of the road, while many other construction projects, such as factories, warehouses and borey developments are also close to completion,” he says.

Po Eavkong, managing director of Asia Real Estate, says the bridge was a very positive development, particularly for property to the east of the bridge, which continued to be underdeveloped.