Myanmar and Laos have started building Mekong River-Crossing Friendship Bridge with stakes driven at both sides of the construction sites in the weekend, official media reported Tuesday.

The Myanmar-Laos Mekong River-Crossing Friendship Bridge is of steel truss type which links Louangnamtha province of Laos and Kengluk, Tachilek of Myanmar's Shan state.

The bridge will be 691.6 meters long and have 8.5 meters wide two-lane motorway capable of withstanding 75 tons of load per vehicle, said the New Light of Myanmar.

Upon completion of the bridge, the two countries will see smooth and speedy road transportation and the bridge will contribute towards swift flow of commodities and better economic development, the report added.

Myanmar and Laos had sought the possibility of constructing the friendship bridge across the Mekong River in order to facilitate and enhance road connectivity between the two countries on the occasion of a visit to Myanmar of Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong in July 2011.

To promote security in the Mekong River, both sides agreed to enhance cooperation on safeguarding the navigation in the Mekong River, assuring to prevent undesirable incidents from taking place in the future along the Mekong River through timely and effective exchange of information between the security forces of the two countries.