Projects on Van River create urban architectural landscape highlights

Multi-purpose "century" projects

Van River connects Vac River and Day River, flowing through many scenic spots, historical relics, and public works that are ingrained in the minds of Ninh Binh people, such as Non Nuoc Mountain, Truong Han Sieu Cultural Celebrity Temple, Rong Market, and the Provincial Cultural Center.

Comrade Dinh Van Thu, Chairman of Ninh Binh City People's Committee said: According to the development orientation, Van River is a tourist waterway. As part of the roadmap to gradually build Ninh Binh city into the most attractive tourist city in the country, investing in building a synchronous, modern technical infrastructure system and architectural space, closely linked to the history of the ancient capital is extremely necessary.

Therefore, from 2022 to present, on the Van River, the section from Van Giang Bridge to Lim Bridge, about 1km long, flowing through the center of Ninh Binh city, there are 2 projects being implemented, including: The project to build the Nam Van River irrigation cluster, approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Decision No. 3308/QD-BNN-KH dated July 23, 2021, with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ninh Binh as the investor; The project to invest in building Cha La Bridge, Ninh Binh city was approved by the Provincial People's Council in Resolution No. 12/NQ-HDND dated March 30, 2022, the Provincial People's Committee approved the project in Decision No. 968/QD-UBND dated November 10, 2022, with the Provincial Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board as the investor.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tu, Director of the Project Management of the Nam Song Van Irrigation Cluster (Department of Agriculture and Rural Development) said: The project to build the Nam Song Van Irrigation Cluster is a large project, identified by the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee as a key project that needs to focus on leadership and direction in the period of 2021-2025. This is a multi-purpose irrigation project that not only serves to drain water for about 975 hectares of land in the Southeast of Ninh Binh city, Khanh Phu industrial park and neighboring residential areas; provides irrigation water to replace the water source from Ninh Binh Thermal Power Plant for about 1,970 hectares of cultivated land in the Canh Dieu sub-area; enhances the ability to supply additional water from the Day River to the Vac River (via the Van River) combined with improving the water environment of the Van River; the project is also a traffic route combined with tourism.

According to the design, the project includes 4 components: Dredging, embankment to prevent landslides on both banks of Van River from Van Giang Bridge to Lim Bridge; Nam Thanh City pumping station cluster; Cong Cai pumping station cluster; Khanh An 1 pumping station cluster. The total investment of the project is 600 billion VND; of which, the central budget is 450 billion VND and the provincial budget is 150 billion VND. Up to now, the construction progress of the contractors has ensured the requirements, the total construction value has reached 26.05%; site clearance work for construction has reached 73.5%. In addition, the construction process has been strengthened by the Provincial People's Committee, relevant levels and sectors to have timely adjustments, suitable to the reality and requirements, new development perspectives of Ninh Binh urban area.

Also on this section of the Van River, the Cha La Bridge Construction Project is currently being implemented, with a total investment of 133.57 billion VND from the central and provincial budgets. The project's goal is to serve the travel needs of the people, awaken the potential of large land funds, serve the development of urban tourism; at the same time expand and exploit the land fund in the South of Ninh Binh city, ensure smooth traffic, reduce the load on bridges across the Van River, ensure the landscape of the Van River corridor. The scale of the project includes the construction of a new Cha La Bridge at the current bridge location across the Van River, in Thanh Binh Ward and Van Giang Ward, Ninh Binh City with a length of 46m, a bridge width of 26m; other items include upgrading the roads at both ends of the bridge, intersections on the route, traffic safety system, drainage, lighting system and auxiliary works; undergrounding power lines on Le Dai Hanh Street; arranging a traffic safety system.

The project started in early October 2023, receiving high consensus and approval from the people. Ms. Nguyen Hang Thuy, Party Secretary, Chairman of the People's Council of Van Giang Ward, said: Cha La Bridge is an old bridge, built many years ago. With the current population density and traffic volume, the small, narrow, and degraded bridge can no longer meet the travel needs of the people. The people of Van Giang Ward are very excited to receive State investment in building the new Cha La Bridge. This is a project of great significance to the socio-economic development of the ward and Ninh Binh city, creating traffic connections between the three wards of Thanh Binh, Van Giang, and Phuc Thanh, connecting the main traffic axis when the three wards merge. Along with that, the Cha La Bridge project will be an urban highlight, bringing great benefits to the people when developing the economy from service and trade activities. Recognizing the special importance of the project, when implementing it, the ward did a good job of disseminating information about the meaning and implementation time of the project so that people could agree on the site clearance work and hand over the clean site on schedule to the construction contractor.

Big projects not from capital sources

Thus, when the two projects, the Nam Van River Irrigation Cluster Construction Project and the Cha La Bridge Construction Investment Project, are completed, together with other projects such as the Provincial Cultural Center, they will create an important architectural complex, a highlight for the central area of Ninh Binh city, contributing to the development of tourism in the inner city. With that purpose and requirement, recently, the Ninh Binh City People's Council has also approved the investment policy for the Landscape Renovation and Urban Renovation Project on both banks of the Van River (from Lim Bridge to Van Giang Bridge) with a capital of 710 billion VND. The investment objective is to renovate and urbanize the two banks of the Van River in the core urban area, becoming an ideal outdoor activity spot for people in the area, a tourist attraction, contributing to promoting socio-economic development, bringing a new look to Ninh Binh city.

Comrade Dinh Van Thu, Chairman of Ninh Binh City People's Committee, said: Recently, there have been opinions that on the Van River, the section from Van Giang Bridge to Lim Bridge is more than 1km long but has an investment of more than 1 trillion VND. However, in reality, at the above location, there are 3 projects being implemented, with a total capital of 1,443.57 billion VND. These are projects with large construction volume, requiring very high technical and aesthetic requirements. In addition, the projects are all located in the central wards of the city with high population density and many projects of organizations, so the total capital for site clearance for all 3 projects accounts for more than 36% (522.3 billion VND) of the total investment capital. Specifically, the cost for site clearance for the Cha La Bridge new construction project is more than 22.3 billion VND with the scope of impact on 38 business households and assets of the Rong Market Project Management Board; The cost for site clearance for the Nam Van River Irrigation Complex Construction Project is 150 billion VND, affecting 12 organizations and 18 business households; the cost for site clearance for the Landscape Renovation and Urban Reclamation Project on both banks of the Van River is 350 billion VND.

The Chairman of the City People's Committee also affirmed: The above projects are very large, but not because of the total investment capital but because of the political determination and significance of the project. The project is located in the city center with important historical value as well as the general development orientation of the province. Therefore, when the province planned and organized the implementation of investment projects on the Van River, it set a major goal of creating a highlight in terms of landscape, vivid architecture, and ancient art, becoming the core area of the ancient city of Ninh Binh. During the project implementation process, the investors and Ninh Binh city coordinated with the province's functional agencies to closely monitor and supervise to feel with their own senses, from which they made suggestions and proposed adjustments to suit the overall landscape and scale of the project. The contractors also prioritized the technical, artistic, and quality factors of the project.

Mobilizing diverse resources for Ninh Binh province to invest in building a complex of works on the Van River is of great significance, not only in preserving and promoting the values of historical relics and building local brands, but also in socio-economic development, in order to gradually realize the Ninh Binh Provincial Planning for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050 approved by the Prime Minister; implementing Resolution No. 16, dated August 23, 2023 of the Provincial Party Committee and the plans of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee and the Provincial People's Committee on the arrangement of district-level and commune-level administrative units in Ninh Binh province, period 2023-2030. In which, by 2025, Ninh Binh province will complete the merger of Ninh Binh city and Hoa Lu district with the orientation of "Ancient Capital-Heritage Urban Area", (expected to be named Hoa Lu city) based on the cultural-historical values of Hoa Lu Ancient Capital and the outstanding global values of Trang An Heritage. At the same time, complete the criteria for recognizing the new administrative unit after the merger as a type I urban area under the province, with the position of a regional and national tourism center, with global value, as a political, administrative, cultural, economic, educational-training, scientific-technological, high-quality service center, and international cooperation hub of Ninh Binh province.

Article and photos: Phuc Nguyen

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