A section of the Cổ Cò River. Quảng Nam Province and Đa Nẵng City began dredging project on the 28km River in reviving an ancient water route from 16th century and expanding a new tourism route between Đa Nẵng and Hoi An. Photo courtesy Le Phưoc Chín 

QUẢNG NAM — Quảng Nam Province and Đa Nẵng City authorities have started dredging the Cổ Cò River to revive the waterway and promote tourism water traffic between Hoi An and Đa Nẵng.

The project will cost VNĐ1.336 trillion (US$58 million).

Chairman of the People's Committee of central Quảng Nam Province Le Trí Thanh said the two localities had agreed to the project on a 28km section of the Cổ Cò River from 2019, but work was delayed by the COVID-19 and land clearance till late 2020.

He said reviving the river would help boost tourism links and the tourism property market as well as offer a new tourism route between the two parts of central Viet Nam.

The Cổ Cò River, which was known as the Lo Giang River in the 16th century, was a major water route connecting the Thu Bồn River in Quảng Nam Province and the Han River in Đa Nẵng.

It also served as a trading route from the former busy trading port of Hoi An and Đa Nẵng from previous centuries, but the river was encroached by rising sand and water flow change in the 18th century.  

The dredging plan was initiated by the two localities in 1994 but the project only commenced construction in 2019.

Đa Nẵng started building a 3.6km concrete dyke system in late 2020 and cleared land for building infrastructure facilities including a boat dock and river cross bridges. The city said it would finish dredging a 7km river section in June this year.

Meanwhile, Quảng Nam commenced the 19km river section earlier this month.

The project aims to expand inner waterway services between the two tourism hubs, which have largely been neglected due to the use of roads.

The tourism waterway project will include 50-seat boats, bridges, wharves and recreational centres.

The launch of the project will also help ease traffic between Hoi An – a UNESCO world heritage site – and Đa Nẵng.

In the past, Đa Nẵng and Quảng Nam Province inked an agreement on integrated management of the Vu Gia-Thu Bồn river basin and Quảng Nam-Đa Nẵng coastline with support from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Institute for Social and Environmental Transition-International (ISET-International). — VNS