World Bank finances US$3 Million repairs to Road No. 13
A section of Road No. 13 north that runs through Vientiane province will soon be upgraded with funding of US$3 million from the World Bank.
The arterial road runs through the province over a distance of 202km, of which a 132km section will be repaired.
Director of the province's Public Works and Transport Department Mr Theankham Thongbon told Vientiane Times yesterday the road improvement project is currently in the bidding stage.
But he expected the work to be finished before Lao New Year in April as the road is key to the transport of goods and people between Vientiane and the north.
This section of the road has developed many potholes after more than 20 years of use. Mr Theankham said that ideally the road should be rebuilt to ensure it could withstand use well into the future.
Transport officials attribute the degradation of the road to long-time usage and overloaded trucks.
The road sustained damage last year when Laos suffered prolonged heavy rain during typhoons Haima and Nock-Ten.
The drive between Vientiane and Luang Prabang now takes longer due to the proliferation of potholes, especially between Phonhong and Vangvieng districts.
Drivers say the journey used to take nine hours but now takes 12 hours because of the poor road conditions.
Last year road damage due to floods and landslides reached about 700 billion kip, accounting for almost half of the total storm damage.
Heavy rain has washed out sections of many roads in Laos, including the main north-south highway Road No. 13. This road is the country's transport backbone and also links Laos with neighbouring countries.
Other common causes of damage to roads are lack of drainage and overloaded trucks, so truck weigh stations are essential to reduce the damage and cut road maintenance costs.
