Dei Edth–Thmor Kor Mekong River Bridge Near 50% Completion, Running Ahead of Schedule

The bridge spans the Mekong River in Kandal province, connecting Dei Edth commune in Kien Svay district on the western bank to Thmor Kor commune in Lvea Em district on the eastern side. Construction is being carried out by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) under a 48-month construction window, with completion targeted for 2028.

Progress has been consistent throughout early 2026. In late January, the MPWT confirmed the project had reached 39.2% completion with subsequent weeks seeing accelerated output that pushed the figure past the 47% threshold by late April.

The bridge is a concrete structure with a total project length of 3,700 metres, comprising a 1,600-metre main span at 26 metres wide (four traffic lanes) and 2,100 metres of asphalt-concrete approach roads of equal width. The $230 million project is funded entirely by Cambodia's national budget. Four traffic diversion roads are also being built to manage flow during and after construction.

Strategically, the crossing serves as a critical link between Xi Jinping Boulevard (Third Ring Road) at National Road 1 and the eastern side of Phnom Penh, connecting onward to the new international airport area and the Phnom Penh–Bavet Expressway. The government has positioned the bridge as a cornerstone of its plan to strengthen economic connectivity between the capital's southern and eastern zones.

The project was jointly inaugurated on June 7, 2023, alongside the Phnom Penh–Bavet Expressway groundbreaking, presided over by then-Prime Minister Hun Sen and former Chinese Ambassador Wang Wentian.

As part of construction access arrangements, Xi Jinping Boulevard has been closed and is expected to remain so until approximately February 2028, with traffic diverted to alternative routes during this period.

Part of a Larger Corridor: The Phnom Penh–Bavet Expressway

The Dei Edth–Thmor Kor bridge does not stand alone, it is the essential Mekong crossing for the Phnom Penh–Bavet Expressway, Cambodia's second expressway currently under development. The expressway will stretch approximately 135 kilometres from Thmor Kor commune in Lvea Em district, Kandal province, to Chrak Mtes commune in Bavet City, Svay Rieng province, near the Vietnamese border.

The expressway is being developed under a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model with a total planned investment of around $1.35 billion. It will feature four lanes, with a 24.5-metre carriageway surfaced in asphalt and ATB concrete, and will include five interchange roads, 26 main and medium bridges, and over 200 tunnel crossings of various sizes.

Together, the bridge and expressway form a continuous corridor connecting central Phnom Penh to the Vietnam border, a route that is expected to significantly cut travel times, reduce pressure on National Road 1, and open up the eastern Kandal and Svay Rieng provinces to stronger logistics and investment flows. For the real estate market, the alignment is already drawing attention to land along the Lvea Em and Kien Svay districts, where proximity to both the bridge junction and the expressway on-ramp is increasingly factoring into buyer and developer calculations.

Sources: Ministry of Public Works and Transport