Groundbreaking ceremony for sea sand exploitation to build the Hau Giang highway foundation

On June 29, the contractor organized sand mining and is expected to pilot the construction of the roadbed of the Hau Giang - Ca Mau section of the project by July 1, 2024.

Leaders of Soc Trang province, investors and contractors at the groundbreaking ceremony of the sand mining project to serve the North-South expressway project in the eastern phase 2021-2025, Can Tho - Ca Mau section.

Expanding the pilot use of sea sand for highway projects is of great significance.

At the ceremony, Mr. Tran Van Thi, Director of My Thuan Project Management Board, said that implementing the Resolution of the 13th National Congress of the Party, from the beginning of the term, the National Assembly and the Government have prioritized investment in developing the expressway system with the goal that by 2025, the whole country will basically have about 3,000km of expressways put into operation, including completing the eastern North-South expressway.

"For the Mekong Delta region, the Can Tho - Ca Mau expressway project, the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang project, the An Huu - Cao Lanh project and a number of other key projects are currently being implemented with a total demand for sand filling materials of about 50 million m3," said Mr. Thi.

According to Mr. Thi, although the Government's special mechanism has been applied in providing material mines, the river sand source and exploitation capacity still cannot meet the demand and construction progress. Therefore, the Government and the Prime Minister have directed the Ministry of Transport to coordinate with relevant ministries, branches, experts and scientists to research alternative material solutions.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Transport has organized a pilot project to use sea sand to build roadbeds on the restored DT978 (in Hong Dan district, Bac Lieu province) of the Hau Giang - Ca Mau expressway in a methodical, careful, scientific and objective manner.

The results showed that sea sand meets the standards for roadbed construction materials and performs similarly to river sand. The Ministry of Transport has reported to the Prime Minister and notified localities about the results of the pilot use of sea sand.

The contractor has started exploiting sea sand in area B1 of Soc Trang province to expand the pilot embankment of the Hau Giang - Ca Mau expressway.

Based on the results and relevant instructions of specialized ministries, the Ministry of Transport continues to organize a pilot construction to expand the highway foundation for projects with similar environmental conditions.

To have a source of sea sand for the pilot expansion of the expressway project, the People's Committee of Soc Trang province has issued a "Confirmation" of mineral exploitation as a common construction material and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has issued a decision to assign the right to use the sea area of ​​Soc Trang province to the construction unit for exploitation.

"Therefore, today, June 29, we are present at sub-areas B1.1 and B1.2 to organize the groundbreaking ceremony for the exploitation of sea sand as embankment material and are expected to transport it to the construction site on July 1, 2024 to pilot the construction of the expressway section passing through the provinces of Bac Lieu, Kien Giang and Ca Mau," Mr. Thi added.

To ensure that the construction of sea sand is smooth and does not affect the environment and daily life of people in the area, the Ministry of Transport and the People's Committees of localities where the project passes through will coordinate with the investor in inspecting, supervising and monitoring the process of organizing and implementing the pilot expansion of the project.

"The expansion of the pilot construction on the North-South expressway project in the east is extremely important and is the basis for the Ministry of Transport and localities to evaluate and expand the scope of using sea sand as roadbed material for expressway projects being implemented in the region at present and in the future," Mr. Thi emphasized.

Mr. Tran Van Thi, Director of My Thuan Project Management Board, said that the expansion of the pilot construction on the eastern North-South Expressway project is extremely important.

According to the Ministry of Transport, the selected pilot construction scope for the expansion is: From Km 81+000 to the end of the main route at Km 126+223 (in Hong Dan district, Bac Lieu province; Vinh Thuan district, Kien Giang province; Thoi Binh district, Ca Mau province) and from Km 6+522 to Km 16+510 of the Ca Mau connecting route (in Thoi Binh, Tran Van Thoi and Cai Nuoc districts, Ca Mau province).

Regarding the management of sand exploitation and construction, the Ministry of Transport has directed the My Thuan Project Management Board and the construction contractor to organize management, exploitation and transportation in compliance with the provisions of the "Confirmation" issued by the People's Committee of Soc Trang province, the requirements in Decision No. 1746/QD-BTNMT and related legal regulations throughout the exploitation process.

After completing exploitation activities and ensuring maritime and waterway safety on shipping routes and environmental protection.

The permitted sea area is 99.95ha.

According to Decision No. 1746/QD-BTNMT dated June 28, 2024 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), the right to use the sea area was assigned to VNCN E&C Construction and Engineering Investment Joint Stock Company to exploit minerals as common construction materials (sea sand) to supply for the North-South Expressway Construction Project, Eastern phase 2021 - 2025 (Component project of Can Tho - Hau Giang and Hau Giang - Ca Mau sections).

Location of the sea area in Sub-area B1.1 of area B1 of Soc Trang province's sea. The permitted sea area has an area of ​​99.95 hectares, limited by four corner points with specific coordinates.

The permitted depth is up to 7.5m, the permitted height is up to 5m from sea level, shown in detail on the sea area diagram assigned to VNCN E&C Construction and Engineering Investment Joint Stock Company attached to this decision.

Term of assignment of sea area: from the effective date of the decision to assign this sea area until December 21, 2024.

The sand exploitation area for the pilot expansion of the Can Tho - Ca Mau expressway is located in Sub-areas B1.1 and B1.2 of area B1, Soc Trang province.

Also according to this decision, VNCN E&C Construction and Engineering Investment Joint Stock Company is obliged to perform the obligations prescribed in Decree No. 11/2021/ND-CP dated February 10, 2021 of the Government regulating the assignment of certain sea areas to organizations and individuals for exploitation and use of marine resources and other obligations as prescribed by law.

Mr. Do Minh Chau, representative of VNCN E&C Construction and Engineering Investment Joint Stock Company, committed to using the sea area for the correct purpose, area, scope, boundary, coordinates, depth, and height as prescribed and to report and provide information on the use of the sea area to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and competent state agencies.

"The contractor commits to comply with the requirements of competent state agencies in the process of mineral exploitation and use of sea areas, ensuring requirements of national defense, security, order, safety, maritime, protection of resources, environment, and aquatic resources according to the provisions of law," Mr. Chau emphasized.

According to Mr. Chau, the mining unit must comply with and strictly implement the provisions of the law on resources, protection of the marine and island environment, the law on minerals, the law on fisheries; only carry out mineral exploitation from 7am to 5pm every day (no exploitation at night)...

Mr. Vuong Quoc Nam, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Soc Trang province, requested that the contractor exploiting sea sand must carry out mineral exploitation activities and use means and equipment according to the design.

"At the same time, the exploitation system, exploitation technology, exploitation sequence, and construction organization measures have been assessed, approved, ratified, confirmed, and ensured in accordance with legal regulations," Mr. Nam noted.

Mr. Nam requested that the contractor strictly implement the regulations throughout the exploitation process, ensuring labor safety, maritime safety and protecting the sea area. This pilot sea sand only serves the North-South expressway, the contractor closely coordinates with the province's interdisciplinary working group in supervising and transporting sand, the contractor must strictly comply with the regulations.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the project has completed the report on the assessment results of the sea sand resources in area B1 of Soc Trang province. Specifically, the sea sand mineral body has been demarcated with an area of ​​160.3 km2. The sea sand mineral resources for filling materials reach 680 million m3, distributed in the sea area with a depth of 2-5m, 20km from the shore (Dinh An estuary to the nearest sea), with feasible exploitation conditions. The exploitation depth is from 3-4m.

The results of the assessment of the mineral resources of sea sand in area B1 (in the coastal area of ​​Tran De district, Soc Trang province) also show that the method and equipment for sand exploitation is by using self-propelled blower cutters with a capacity of less than or equal to 100,000 m3/day.

Sand suction depth is less than 10m, sand is sucked up and poured onto barges and transported to shore along Dinh An channel. Then, transported by barges with a capacity of 2,000-3,000m3 to the assembly area.

"The total amount of sand exploited is 100 million m3, with an exploitation capacity of about 30,000-50,000 m3/day. The exploitation period is continuous for 10 days and is most suitable from March to August every year," the report on the assessment results of the mineral resources of sea sand in area B1 stated.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/khoi-cong-khai-thac-cat-bien-dap-nen-duong-cao-toc-hau-giang-ca-mau-192240628211059761.htm