History[edit]
Opened on April 8, 1994, it was the first bridge across the lower Mekong, and the second on the full course of the Mekong.[citation needed]
The cost was about £19 million,[citation needed] funded by the Australian government as development aid for Laos.[1]
The bridge was designed & built by Australian companies as a demonstration of their ability to complete major infrastructural 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.