National Route 1A

National Route 1A at the km 119 marker in Bắc Giang

National Route 1A (Vietnamese language: Quốc lộ 1A (or abbrv. QL1A) or Đường 1 is the trans-Vietnam highway. The route begins at km 0 at Huu Nghi Quan Border Gate (cửa khẩu Hữu Nghị Quan) near the Sino-Vietnamese border.^[1] The route ends at (km 2301 + 340m)^{[citation needed]} at Nam Can township in Cà Mau Province.

Road layout

Map showing the route of National Road 1A

National Route 1A runs across provinces and cities of Vietnam:

• Lạng Sơn (km 16)
• Bắc Giang (km 119)
• Bắc Ninh (km 139)
• City of Hanoi (the capital) (km 170)
• Phu Ly (km 229, tỉnh Hà Nam)
• Ninh Bình (km 263)
• Thanh Hóa (km 323)
• Vinh (km 461, Nghệ An)
• Hà Tĩnh (km 510)
• Dong Hoi (km 658, province of Quảng Bình)
• Dong Ha (km 750, province of Quảng Trị)
• City of Huế (km 824, province of Thừa Thiên-Huế)
• City of Da Nang (km 929)
• Tam Kỳ (km 991, province of Quảng Nam)
• Quảng Ngãi (km 1054)
• via 1D: Quy Nhơn (km 1232, province of Bình Định)
• Tuy Hòa (km 1329, province of Phú Yên)
• via 1C: Nha Trang (km 1450, province of Khánh Hoà)
• Phan Rang-Tháp Chàm (km 1528, province of Ninh Thuận)
• Phan Thiết (km 1701, province of Bình Thuận)
• Biên Hòa (km 1867, province of Đồng Nai)
• TP Hồ Chí Minh (km 1889)
• Tân An (km 1936, province of Long An)
• Mỹ Tho (km 1959, province of Tiền Giang)
• Vinh Long (km 2024)
• Can Tho City (km 2058)
• Hau Giang Province
• Sóc Trăng (km 2119, province of Sóc Trăng)
• Bạc Liêu (km 2176)
• Cà Mau (km 2236, province of Cà Mau)

Specifications

• Total length 2,300.45 km ^[1]
• Road width: 10-12 m
• Road surface: paved with asphalt
• Total bridges: 874 bridges, bridge load varies from 25 to 30 metric tonnes

History

The National Route 1A was constructed by the French colonists in early 20th century. It has been upgraded recently by Japanese ODA as well as loans from World Bank. During both the First Indochina War and Second Indochina Wars (the Vietnam War), Road 1A was the site of a number of battles between Vietnamese forces and French or American troops. One of the most notable engagements was the French Operation Camargue in 1953.

References