Highway projects in the Western region scheduled to open on December 19, 2025: Some completed on time, others not.

According to the Prime Minister's directive, the Can Tho - Ca Mau, Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang, and Cao Lanh - An Huu expressways must be open to traffic by December 19, 2025. With less than a week remaining, many component projects of these three expressways are still in disarray, with a huge amount of work still to be done. It is highly likely they will not be completed on time, despite contractors mobilizing maximum manpower and resources to work around the clock and through holidays.

Báo Sài Gòn Giải phóng•15/12/2025

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From mid-November 2025 to the present, CIENCO 4 Group Joint Stock Company (the contractor for the Can Tho - Ca Mau Expressway Project) has reinforced its workforce with over 100 engineers and workers across various contract packages. However, many aspects of this project on the Hau Giang - Ca Mau section remain unfinished, with some sections lacking crushed stone base, asphalt paving, and dozens of bridges on the main route without expansion joints…

According to observations by reporters from SGGP newspaper over the past few days at the construction site in Vinh Thuan Dong commune, Can Tho city, dozens of trucks continuously transported crushed stone and dumped it along the construction site. Immediately afterwards, bulldozers arrived to spread it onto the road surface, and rollers moved back and forth to compact it.

After the crushed stone base layer is laid, workers proceed with asphalt paving and watering to cool the road surface. The construction atmosphere is bustling and lively, with the constant noise of various machines and the cheerful chatter of workers lasting from early morning until late at night. In package XL03, the section passing through Ca Mau province, the road surface has been paved with asphalt, and construction teams are now urgently installing median strips, fences, guardrails, anti-glare nets, etc.

Construction of the road shoulders on the Can Tho - Ca Mau expressway. Photo: Tam Chi

According to Mr. Pham Xuan Nam, Deputy General Director of CIENCO4, the crushed stone base layer has been completed for the main section of the Can Tho - Ca Mau Expressway Project (Hau Giang - Ca Mau section) to date.

The contractor is urgently working on the asphalt concrete paving, expected to be completed no later than December 15th, and the traffic safety system and road markings will be finalized by December 18th. “We are mobilizing maximum human and material resources to carry out the construction, striving to bring the project to completion on schedule as directed by the Prime Minister.”

"While working quickly, the contractor always emphasizes to workers and engineers the importance of ensuring quality and absolutely avoiding shortcuts. All stages, from laying crushed stone, compacting the base, paving with asphalt to installing anti-glare netting, are meticulously supervised to prevent any technical errors according to regulations," Mr. Pham Xuan Nam affirmed.

At the Cao Lanh - An Huu Expressway Project (Component 1), construction activities intensified towards the end of December 2025. According to the Dong Thap Provincial Civil and Industrial Construction Investment Project Management Board (the project's investor), there are currently more than 300 engineers and workers on the construction site, working continuously in shifts day and night.

"Although the deadline for opening the road is fast approaching and there is a large amount of work remaining, the contractor is committed to completing the project on schedule, meeting quality standards, ensuring aesthetics, and preventing any violations or irregularities," pledged Mr. Nguyen Xuan Truong, the project's supervisory consultant for the Cao Lanh - An Huu expressway project.

Mr. Truong said that sections involving laying crushed stone, leveling, and compacting can be done at night; however, asphalt paving must be done during the day to promptly detect and correct any faulty sections.

According to Nguyen Phi Da, Chief of the Office of the People's Committee of Dong Thap province, the progress of the Cao Lan - An Huu expressway project (component 1) is being accelerated, but a large amount of work remains (approximately 30% of the plan). The reason is the shortage of construction stone (approximately 300,000 m3).

Given the situation, Dong Thap province has worked urgently with An Giang province and has now found a source of additional stone. Furthermore, Dong Thap province has disbursed 100% of the project's investment capital. Despite numerous difficulties, Dong Thap province is committed to completing and opening the Cao Lan - An Huu Expressway Project (Component 1) to traffic on December 19th.

Many places are struggling to meet deadlines.

According to the An Giang Provincial Project Management Board, the construction output of Component 1 of the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang Expressway (Phase 1) has reached 67.20%, corresponding to an estimated value of approximately 5,638 billion VND. Currently, contractors are urgently carrying out embankment construction, compaction of the main roadbed, and slope construction, committing to completion by December 19th.

However, according to observations by a reporter from SGGP newspaper during a visit with the An Giang provincial delegation to inspect the project's progress on December 3rd, we found that the project is unlikely to be completed on schedule, as a significant amount of work remains. Many sections have not yet been paved with crushed stone, and machinery is left scattered around, untouched. "The road cannot be completed and opened to traffic in this condition," An Giang Provincial People's Committee Chairman Ho Van Mung expressed his concern during the site inspection.

Explaining the delay in the progress of Component Project 1 of the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway, Mr. Dinh Van To, Director of the An Giang Provincial Project Management Board, acknowledged that, in addition to objective factors (material shortages, unfavorable weather...), there was also negligence and irresponsibility on the part of the construction contractor. The biggest difficulty currently facing the project is the shortage of construction sand (approximately 1.4 million m3).

In light of this situation, the An Giang Provincial Project Management Board has requested the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment to promptly advise the Provincial People's Committee to adjust the Confirmation of Additional Sand Volume for the mining area of the Tan My mine. At the same time, it has requested the Provincial People's Committee to direct relevant units to support Truong Son Construction Corporation in exploiting sand from the Cai Dau mine, in order to ensure the sand supply for the project during the final stages.

For component projects 2, 3, and 4 of the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway, progress is even slower than component project 1, with the current output value only reaching 50% of the plan. The Ministry of Construction has just reported to the Prime Minister that it is impossible to substantially complete the project by December 19, 2025, and it must be postponed to April 2026, with the plan to complete the entire project by the end of 2026 adjusted. The reason for the delay in component projects 2, 3, and 4 of the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway is a shortage of more than 11 million cubic meters of sand.

Observations by a reporter from SGGP newspaper on the afternoon of December 10th at several sections of component project 4 (the section through the former Soc Trang province) showed that although the contractor had removed the organic soil layer, built embankments, and constructed service roads, the construction site was still extensively waterlogged because they had to… wait for sand.

Mr. Loc, Manager of Package No. 10 (Component Project 4), said: “To date, we have only completed the roadbed load testing for about 1.2km out of a total of 13km. Due to a shortage of sand and intermittent construction time, the unit has had to redistribute workers and equipment to other packages to avoid wasting resources.”

Sand reserves are decreasing, and the quality is poor.

Most ongoing highway projects in the Mekong Delta are facing construction difficulties due to a shortage of building materials. According to surveys and assessments by the environmental sector, the reserves and quality of sand mines in the region have decreased sharply compared to before, especially in downstream localities of the Tien and Hau rivers such as Vinh Long and Can Tho.

To date, many localities in the Mekong Delta have not yet supplied enough sand for the construction of expressways in the region as per the government's assigned targets. For example, Vinh Long province was assigned to supply nearly 3 million cubic meters of sand to support the construction of component projects 2, 3, and 4 of the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway, but currently, only about 700,000 cubic meters have been extracted.

In Can Tho City, Mr. Ngo Thai Chan, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Can Tho City, said that the progress of sand mining in the area is currently very slow compared to the set target. Specifically, there are 9 licensed river sand mines in the area, with a total reserve of nearly 9 million m3, an average permitted mining capacity of more than 25,400 m3/day, but in reality only about 10,000 m3/day is being mined, equivalent to about 40% of the capacity.

According to Tran Van Lau, Secretary of the Vinh Long Provincial Party Committee, some sand mines initially had fairly good reserves, but during extraction, the sand was fine and mixed with a lot of mud, requiring many processing steps (washing, screening, etc.) before meeting the standards for highway construction. Therefore, it takes a lot of time, and the extraction costs increase significantly – in some places, it doubles compared to sand extraction in the upstream areas of An Giang and Dong Thap provinces.

Representatives from the MS01 river sand mining unit (Hau River, Can Tho City) stated that sand production at this mine has been steadily decreasing, from 3,000-4,000 m3/day last year to only about 1,000 m3/day now. The reason is that the extracted sand contains too much mud and impurities; for every cubic meter extracted, only 6 parts sand can be obtained after processing, while 4 parts mud and impurities remain.

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