First Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge
The First Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge (, ; , ) is a bridge over the Mekong, connecting Nong Khai Province and the city of Nong Khai in Thailand with Vientiane Prefecture in Laos; the city of Vientiane is approximately from the bridge. With a length of 1,170 meters (0.73 mi), the bridge has two -wide road lanes, two -wide footpaths and a single gauge railway line in the middle, straddling the narrow central reservation. History. Opened on 8 April 1994, it was the first bridge across the lower Mekong, and the second on the full course of the Mekong . The cost was about A$42 million, funded by the Australian government as development aid for Laos. The bridge was designed and built by Australian companies as a demonstration of their ability to complete major infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia. The concept design of a balanced cantilever bridge was proposed by Bruce Ramsay of VSL with the final design carried out by Maunsell consulting engineers. The official name of the bridge was changed by the addition of "First" after the Second Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge further south at Savannakhet opened in January 2007. Road traffic. Traffic on the bridge drives  on the left, as in Thailand, while traffic in Laos drives on the right. The changeover at the Lao end, just before the border post, is controlled by traffic lights. A shuttle bus service operates across the bridge, between the Lao and Thai border posts. Bicycles and tricycles can travel on either the road or the footpath, while pedestrians can walk directly on the footpath. The bridge is part of AH12 of the Asian Highway Network. Railway. A meter gauge rail track from Nong Khai station runs along the midpoint of the bridge. Road traffic is stopped when a train  is crossing. On 20 March 2004, an agreement between the Thai and Lao governments was signed to extend the railway to Thanaleng Railway Station in Laos, about 3.5 km (2.2 mi) from the bridge. This will be the first railway link to Laos (but not the first railway, as a short portage line once existed). The Thai government agreed to finance the line through a combination of grant and loan. Construction formally began on 19 January 2007. Test trains began running on 4 July 2008. Formal inauguration occurred on 5 March 2009. On 22 February 2006, approval of funding for  the rail line from Thanaleng Railway Station to Vientiane, about 9 km, was announced by the French Development Agency. In November 2010 plans to extend the service from Thanaleng to Vientiane were abandoned. A hypothetical high-speed rail link from China to Thailand through Laos would make the extension redundant, but would also necessitate the construction of a new bridge near to the current First Friendship Bridge. In 2011, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's revised plan prioritized domestic rail expansion over the ambitious regional connectivity plan spearheaded by China. China is looking to build a high-speed line from Kunming  to Singapore, passing through Laos, Thailand, and Malaysia, a project that would increase China's GDP and those of the involved nations by US$375 billion, according to China Railway Corp. Since February 2010 the Eastern and Oriental Express crosses the Mekong via the bridge into Laos.