3,000km of highway and orders from the heart

According to Nguyen The Minh, Deputy Director of the Department of Construction Investment Management (Ministry of Transport), the emulation campaign not only encourages cadres, engineers, and workers at the construction site. Moreover, it is also a command from the heart for the subjects to focus their strength and intelligence to bring the project to the finish line as soon as possible, serving the country's economy and people's livelihood.

Mr. Nguyen The Minh.

Many projects shorten progress by 3 - 6 months

After 3 years of acceleration at construction sites, how has the expressway network made a breakthrough so far, sir?

With the strong direction of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Transport in the spirit of "only discuss, no retreat", "overcome the sun, overcome the rain", and work in "3 shifts, 4 teams", the entire transport sector has overcome all difficulties and obstacles to bring projects to the finish line on schedule.

Prime Minister launches emulation campaign at 14 connecting points

On August 18, from the main bridge at the expressway project in Dak Lak province, the Prime Minister's message will spread to 13 provinces and cities - where expressway projects are straining to reach the finish line and where materials for construction sites are being processed every day.

At the connecting points in Tuyen Quang, Quang Binh, Da Nang, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Dong Nai, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Thap, Ca Mau, Soc Trang, An Giang, Tien Giang, Secretaries, Chairmen of provinces and cities and related departments, branches, representatives of project management boards, contractors will watch the launching ceremony of the peak emulation campaign "500 days and nights to complete 3,000km of expressway" as set out in the Resolution of the 13th Party Congress by the Prime Minister.

Up to now, the total length of expressways nationwide has reached 2,021km. In just the past 3 years, 858km have been completed and put into operation, equal to more than 2/3 of the total number of expressway kilometers deployed in the previous nearly 20 years (about 1,163km).

To reach 3,000km of expressway by 2025, in the remaining year, nearly 1,000km must be completed. Which projects will be completed to reach this number, sir?

Right from the beginning of the term, the National Assembly and the Government have allocated large resources for investment, the Ministry of Transport and localities have also prepared well for investment preparation. To date, about 1,700km are under construction, of which 1,104km are planned to be completed in 2025, about 68km are scheduled to be completed in 2026 but can be shortened and completed in 2025.

To ensure the completion of the 3,000km target by 2025, the Ministry of Transport has coordinated with localities to review the implementation status and divide the projects into 3 groups.

Group 1 includes 13 projects with a total length of more than 700km. These are projects with favorable conditions for site clearance, material sources, and obstacles that have been basically resolved, ensuring completion in 2025, such as: North-South Expressway from Bai Vot to Van Ninh and from Quang Ngai to Nha Trang; Lo Te - Rach Soi Expressway, Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway through Ba Ria - Vung Tau province...

To reach 3,000km of expressway by 2025, in the remaining year, the task is to complete approximately 1,000km more. Graphics: Nguyen Tuong - Photo: Ta Hai.

Of which, 10 component projects of the North-South Expressway Phase 2 from Ha Tinh to Khanh Hoa are under construction ahead of schedule and have been registered by the investor and contractor to shorten the implementation time by 3-6 months, to be completed on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the country and the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South and national reunification.

The second group is 10 projects whose progress is closely following the set plan, but there are still some difficulties related to site clearance, relocation of technical infrastructure, material supply... that need to be resolved in August 2024 to be completed in 2025.

This group has projects such as: Can Tho - Hau Giang, Hau Giang - Ca Mau, Hoa Lien - Tuy Loan; Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project through Long An and Ho Chi Minh City; Tuyen Quang - Ha Giang expressway and part of Khanh Hoa - Buon Ma Thuot expressway.

The third group has 4 projects (length 60km) with many difficulties, the subjects must focus on solving and make great efforts to be able to complete in 2025. That is the part through Dong Nai province of Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway and the remaining part of Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project.

Quickly remove difficulties

Can you elaborate on the difficulties of projects in the third group?

This group is facing challenges in terms of both land and filling materials, making it very difficult to achieve the completion target by 2025 without drastic participation from local authorities, investors/managing agencies, and contractors.

For example, in Dong Nai province, there is a component project of Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway and Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3. Although the locality has made great efforts, due to many reasons, the land level has only reached about 40%.

The source of materials for the projects is also facing difficulties. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Transport have coordinated to resolve the issue, and the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister have also paid attention and directed the resolution. Currently, Dong Nai province is urgently completing the procedures for granting mines, expected to be resolved in August 2024.

Scientific construction organization

To maintain construction efficiency at the construction site, what breakthrough solutions are being advised by the Department of Construction Investment Management to the Ministry of Transport to direct investors and contractors to implement?

From the beginning, the Ministry of Transport identified weaknesses in project implementation: coordination between agencies was not smooth and implementation was not good.

Construction of the North-South Expressway, Vung Ang - Bung section. Photo: Ta Hai.

Therefore, the Ministry has advised the Prime Minister to establish a Steering Committee for important national projects and works, key to the transport sector, with the Prime Minister directly as the Head of the Committee to promptly remove difficulties and obstacles, urge and assign tasks to ministries, branches and localities.

The Ministry of Transport has requested investors to send specialized and experienced staff to accompany localities in site clearance and identify priority areas for implementation.

In the Southern region, the main source of filling material is sand with a total demand of about 65 million m3. Although river sand reserves are guaranteed, they are mainly concentrated in some localities such as Dong Thap, An Giang, Vinh Long, Soc Trang, Ben Tre, Tien Giang. However, the procedures for granting mines are still slow, the number of mines and exploitation capacity are limited, not meeting the construction progress.

The Ministry of Transport has coordinated with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to review sand reserves of localities in the region, implementation plans and sand needs of each project to advise the Prime Minister to assign specific targets to localities with sand resources, and flexibly transfer sand resources between projects.

The consistent direction of the Ministry of Transport to investors and contractors is to develop a construction plan that is suitable to the actual site conditions, material mobilization, and weather. It is necessary to take full advantage of favorable conditions, complete each step to complete the project soon.

Don't trade quality for progress

In the context of projects accelerating to finish early, how is the issue of ensuring construction quality controlled, sir?

Despite the shortened schedule, the traffic projects implemented and put into operation all meet the technical standards and regulations of highways.

The Ministry of Transport has directed investors/project management boards to carefully review the actual implementation status of projects, develop implementation plans, mobilize additional human resources and machinery, and apply technical solutions to strive to shorten the implementation time of some projects with favorable conditions.

At the meetings, the Minister and leaders of the Ministry of Transport have always emphasized that quality should not be sacrificed for progress. In particular, investors and supervision consultants are required to promote their roles and responsibilities, strengthen inspection and quality control in all stages; and must always identify quality as a vital factor.

Thank you!

Mr. Tran Van Thi, Director of My Thuan Project Management Board:

Speed ​​up construction when sand source is cleared

The Can Tho - Ca Mau Expressway is over 110km long. After 19 months of construction, the project has now reached 37% of the contract value. With the direction and close attention from the Government leaders, and the drastic participation of the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the sand source has now been basically resolved, so the progress is accelerating. The Board assigned two deputy directors to directly supervise and resolve any problems arising during the construction process, striving to complete by the end of 2025 under the direction of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Transport.

Mr. Le Quoc Dung, Acting Director of Project Management Board 7:

Van Phong - Nha Trang Expressway finishes early

The early handover of the Van Phong - Nha Trang expressway site creates an important premise for the project to accelerate during the peak period of the 500-day-and-night competition.

The progress, organization, and construction solutions of the contractor will be strictly controlled by the Project Management Board, bringing the project to the finish line in April 2025, 6 months early according to the direction of the Prime Minister and Minister of Transport. This is the first expressway among the component projects along the Central region to be completed earliest in 2025.

Mr. Nguyen Vu Quy, Director of Ho Chi Minh Road Project Management Board:

Flexible progress control solutions

At the Van Ninh - Cam Lo expressway project, by the end of August 2024, output will reach about 55 - 56%, closely following the adjusted schedule.

However, by mid-August 2024, there were still about 10 sections with local land acquisition problems, with a total length of 0.7km. The Board proactively coordinated closely with the locality to complete the remaining land acquisition in August 2024. At the same time, flexible solutions were used to control and compensate for progress in case of adverse factors.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoai, Director of Project Management Board 85:

Hope to liberate forest land soon

On the Quy Nhon - Chi Thanh expressway, Binh Dinh and Phu Yen have basically handed over 100% of the land, but there is still more than 1km that cannot be accessed for construction because the land is not continuous. Similarly, on the Hoai Nhon - Quy Nhon expressway, the clearance of natural forest land at the beginning of the route is the biggest obstacle. Currently, we are waiting for the competent authority to handle it so that the construction site can be available soon.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/3000km-cao-toc-va-menh-lenh-tu-trai-tim-192240816005137911.htm