The Kratie Mekong Cambodia-China Friendship Bridge, valued at $114 million, will officially be officially opened to the public on April 1, 2026, according to Phan Rim, spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.
He shared the welcome announcement on Monday, November 3.
Rim explained that the construction team is currently completing road markings and installing lighting systems, and expects to complete the work by Khmer New Year 2026. The completion of all connecting feeder roads is also expected to be available for use by the April deadline.
The overall project includes the Kratie Mekong Cambodia-China Friendship Bridge, its connecting roads, and several related infrastructure components, explained Rim, who described the work as “98.36% complete”.
Construction began in January 2023 and was financed through a Chinese concessional loan worth $114 million over a 42-month period.
The 1.7-kilometre bridge spans from Talus village, Bos Leav commune, Chitr Borei district, in the east, and Thmar Reab village, Prek Prasap commune, Prek Prasap district, in the west It features two full lanes, two motorcycle lanes and a pedestrian walkway in both directions. The pedestrian lanes are one metre wide, with handrails on both sides.
The connecting road network, totalling more than 32 kilometres, includes a 15-kilometre main approach road and four urban link roads totalling 16 kilometres within Kratie City.
They are currently being widened and upgraded with asphalt surfaces, with tree-lined median strips being planted in some sections.
Rim described roads and bridges as the lifelines of the national economy and noted that they represent the second of the five pillars (“People, Roads, Water, Electricity, and Technology”) of phase one of the seventh-mandate government’s Pentagonal Strategy.
He explained that the Kratie Mekong Cambodia-China Friendship Bridge will serve as a strategic project that will strengthen regional integration, boost communication between residents on the east and west banks of the Mekong, and link remote northeastern areas with urban centres, connecting Kratie province to Kampong Thom province and the Kingdom’s major road networks.
