PV of Natural Resources and Environment Newspaper had an interview with Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Van Sinh on this issue.
Reporter: Sir, facing difficulties in supplying construction materials for key projects, what solutions does the Ministry of Construction have to resolve this problem?
Deputy Minister Nguyen Van Sinh: To solve this problem, many organizations, individuals and scientists in our country are researching the use of alternative materials. Many countries in the world have exploited and used sea sand for construction works for decades, especially countries with fast infrastructure construction speed and early depletion of river sand resources such as Japan, the US, the UK, Singapore and some Middle Eastern countries.
Through research on resource reserve assessment and quality testing, it has been initially shown that sea sand has potential for use in traffic works, and the physical properties (settlement, horizontal displacement, etc.) when tested all meet the permitted standards. However, the exploitation and use of sea sand in large quantities will require a careful assessment of the environmental impact, marine ecosystem, agricultural crops, and flood risk. Therefore, to replace river sand, it is necessary to continue comparing factors to ensure harmony between economic - technical - environmental factors. In particular, environmental factors need to be fully assessed at both the exploitation and use locations.
PV: According to you, to replace the amount of soil and sand used to build roadbeds, is the solution of using ash and slag from thermal power plants highly effective?
Deputy Minister Nguyen Van Sinh: The supply of ash and slag from thermal power plants in Vietnam is very large, coming from 30 thermal power plants, about 16 million tons per year. The legal and technical corridor for using ash and slag from thermal power plants as raw materials for the production of construction materials and landfill materials has been completed and issued, including Decrees, Circulars and a system of standards, technical instructions, and technical and economic norms.
Thermal power plants are also actively supporting processing and consumption units to offset the cost of transporting ash and slag to traffic construction projects not too far from the emission source to replace river sand as the filling material. Along with reasonable technical solutions, the use of ash and slag as filling material and roadbed in areas near the ash and slag source will bring economic and technical efficiency compared to the use of traditional filling materials that are increasingly scarce.
PV: To achieve breakthrough results in the construction of key projects, in your opinion, is the solution of using overpasses in highway construction a sustainable solution?
Deputy Minister Nguyen Van Sinh: Currently, Vietnam's cement and steel production capacity is very large, the supply is very abundant: with 88 cement production lines with a total design capacity of 95 million tons of clinker/year to produce 112 million tons of cement/year, ranking 3rd in the world in terms of output.
Regarding steel, Vietnam currently ranks 13th in the world in terms of steel output with the ability to produce finished steel products of nearly 29.34 million tons/year. Thus, with the initiative in the ability to supply large volumes of cement and steel domestically, the solution of building elevated roads with reinforced concrete structures instead of embankments will initially have many advantages. Therefore, the construction of overpasses is a solution with many advantages such as minimizing traffic conflicts, no intersections, ensuring high speed; solving the problem of scarcity of land and sand for roadbed filling, ensuring construction progress, saving construction time; minimizing environmental and ecological impacts; suitable for areas with weak terrain such as the Mekong Delta, fragmented terrain such as the Northwest, Northeast or areas with heavy rain and floods such as the Central region.
Although the investment cost is higher than that of embankment roads, with the advancement of concrete technology (in-situ pouring, mass precasting), some solutions can be applied to reduce investment costs of elevated road projects such as: using higher quality concrete to reduce the amount of concrete used, extending the span, reducing the number of pillars, reducing the cost of installing beams...
In particular, the viaduct construction option will be very effective if the cost for the entire life cycle of the project is calculated with economic-social-environmental criteria, including total maintenance costs, according to the time of use.
Reporter: Regarding the recommendations of localities and contractors regarding the current shortage of construction materials, what proposals and recommendations has the Ministry of Construction made to the Government and relevant ministries, sir?
Deputy Minister Nguyen Van Sinh: Regarding the State management of construction materials, the Ministry has issued a document reporting to the Government, proposing that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment review and inspect the implementation of mining licensing procedures applying a specific mechanism according to Resolution No. 60/NQ-CP dated June 16, 2021; Resolution No. 133/NQ-CP dated October 19, 2021 on applying a specific mechanism in licensing the exploitation of minerals for common construction materials to supply to the Investment Project for the construction of a number of expressway sections on the North-South route.
Promptly review shortcomings in procedural regulations to shorten the time for granting mining licenses to contractors and appraising environmental impact assessment reports; study regulations allowing People's Committees of localities in project areas to increase mining capacity at mines to report to competent authorities for consideration and supplementation.
The Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Construction shall consider and study the inclusion of the planning contents of soil, rock and sand mines into the scope of the project from the beginning to appraise and license the project. At the same time, strengthen the inspection and supervision of the project implementation process, clarify and indicate the current status of material sources supplied for each project, the current status of material mines in localities to balance the ability to meet the needs of each project.
PV: Thank you!
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