National Route 9 ( vi, Quốc lộ 9 (or abbrv. QL9) or Đường 9, links=no) runs across Vietnam roughly in line with the 17th Parallel. The route includes two segments. The segment called National Route 9A begins at

Đông Hà Đông Hà () is the capital of Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam. Đông Hà is situated at the crossroads of National Highway 1A and Route 9, part of the East–West Economic Corridor (EWEC). It lies on the North–South Railway (Reunificatio ...

and ends at

Lao Bảo Lao Bảo is a small town in Hướng Hóa District of Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam, located in the North Central Coast region, near the border with Laos. Its population is approximately 30,000. As Lao Bảo is located in an advantaged are ...

on the Vietnam-

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

border and is entirely within Quảng Trị Province. The 8 km-long segment called National Route 9B begins at Dong Ha and runs eastward to Cửa Việt Port.

Road layout

Route 9 runs through the following towns and cities of Quảng Trị Province: *

, where it connects with Route 1 *

Cam Lộ Cam Lộ is a township () and capital of Cam Lộ District, Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the easter ...

* Ca Lu * Tân Hợp, where it connects to the

Ho Chi Minh Highway Ho Chi Minh Road or Ho Chi Minh Highway ( vi, Đường Hồ Chí Minh, links=no) is a highway in Vietnam. It runs from the north to the south of Vietnam, west of National Route 1. The highway was named after Hồ Chí Minh. History The route ro ...

Khe Sanh Khe Sanh is the district capital of Hướng Hoá District, Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam, located 63 km west of Đông Hà. During the Vietnam War, the Khe Sanh Combat Base was located to the north of the city. The Battle of Khe San ...

Lang Vei The Battle of Lang Vei (Vietnamese: ''Trận Làng Vây'') began on the evening of 6 February 1968 and concluded during the early hours of 7 February, in Quảng Trị Province, South Vietnam. Towards the end of 1967, the 198th Tank Battalion o ...

where it connects to Route 9E in Laos which runs through

Xépôn Xépôn (also known as ''Tchepone'' and ''Sepon''), is a village in the Seponh District of Savannakhet Province, Laos. It was approximately east of the intersection of the Sepon River and the Banghiang River. It was the target of Operation Lam ...

and Seno to

Savannakhet Savannakhet (ສະຫວັນນະເຂດ), officially named Kaysone Phomvihane ( lo, ໄກສອນ ພົມວິຫານ; th, ไกสอน พมวิหาน) since 2005 and previously known as ''Khanthaboury'' (ຄັນທະ ...

Specifications

*Total length: 82 km *Road width: 10 m *Road surface: paved with

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

History

Route Coloniale 9 or RC9 was constructed by the French in the early 20th century. With the partition of Vietnam following the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

, Route 9 was the northernmost West-East road in

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

and ran roughly parallel to the

Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone The Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone was a demilitarized zone established as a dividing line between North and South Vietnam from July 1954 to 1976 as a result of the First Indochina War. During the Vietnam War (1955-1975) it became important as t ...

. In the early 1960s as the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

began to increase in intensity, the

Army of the Republic of Vietnam The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; french: Armée de la république du Viêt Nam) composed the ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon in April ...

(ARVN) and

US Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army. The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal mis ...

began to build a chain of bases south of the DMZ to interdict the flow of men and materiel from

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

. These bases included: *

Dong Ha Dong or DONG may refer to: Places * Dong Lake, or East Lake, a lake in China * Dong, Arunachal Pradesh, a village in India * Dong (administrative division) (동 or 洞), a neighborhood division in Korea Persons *Queen Dong (1623–1681), prince ...

Con Thien Con Thien (Vietnamese: Cồn Tiên, meaning the "Hill of Angels") was a military base that started out as a U.S. Army Special Forces camp before transitioning to a United States Marine Corps combat base. It was located near the Vietnamese Demi ...

* Camp Carroll *

The Rockpile The Rockpile (also known as Elliot Combat Base) and known in Vietnamese as Thon Khe Tri, is a solitary karst rock outcropping north of Route 9 and south of the former Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Its relatively inaccessible location, re ...

Vandegrift Combat Base Vandegrift Combat Base (also known as FSB Vandegrift and LZ Stud) is a former U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base north of Ca Lu in Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam. History 1968 LZ Stud was originally ...

* Ca Lu *

Route 9 became a vital supply artery to these bases and the

North Vietnamese Army The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the armed win ...

(NVA) were frequently able to cut or ambush Route 9 during the "Border Battles" period from 1967 to 1969. Route 9 was the access road used in

Operation Pegasus Operation Pegasus was a military operation carried out on the Lower Rhine near the village of Renkum, close to Arnhem in the Netherlands. Overnight on 22–23 October 1944, the Allied military forces, MI9, the British intelligence organizatio ...

and

Operation Lam Son 719 Operation Lam Son 719 or 9th Route – Southern Laos Campaign ( vi, Chiến dịch Lam Sơn 719 or Chiến dịch đường 9 – Nam Lào) was a limited-objective offensive campaign conducted in the southeastern portion of the Kingdom of Laos ...

. In recent years with the implementation of Vietnam's Doi Moi reforms there has been an increase in cross-border trade with Laos and Route 9 has been progressively upgraded. With the completion of the

, Route 9 has become an important link between the Ho Chi Minh Highway and Route 1.

References

*Vietnam Road Map Book (''Tập Bản đồ Giao thông Đường bộ Việt Nam'') revision 2004 by Vietnam Map Publishing House. {{Highways in Vietnam 9 Vietnam War sites