With roads, the future will be different: Highlanders expect new connecting routes

The completion of the Northern mountainous provinces traffic connection project connecting Lao Cai and Lai Chau provinces will ensure traffic safety for people and promote local socio -economic development.

**Contractors speed up construction of the Northern mountainous provinces traffic connection project to complete before the Lunar New Year 2026. (Photo: Khanh Hung/Vietnam+)**

The road was full of rocks and dirt, the slope gradually increased with slippery mud, making the 4-wheel drive car have to work hard to get over. From Mo Vang commune to Nghia Lo, the distance of more than 34km is a challenge for many drivers with many dangerous roads, close to cliffs and negative slopes.

Not far away, trucks carrying soil and rock breakers are busily working on the roadbed of the Northern mountainous provinces traffic connection project connecting Lao Cai - Lai Chau to be completed before the Lunar New Year 2026 , helping people travel safely and conveniently.

The row of houses is close to the edge of the hill, the livelihood is cinnamon trees, a product that brings income and covers daily living expenses, Mr. Nong Van Hoa, Khe Trau village, Mo Vang commune ( Lao Cai province) still remembers the times he had to drive a motorbike with a chain to be able to move through the muddy road when entering Nghia Lo.

“In the past, it took all day to get to Nghia Lo. The road was bumpy, slippery in the rain and dusty in the sun. Now that there is a new road, it is convenient for children to go to school, work or go to the doctor. With the road, the future of the village and commune will be different. Not only is transportation convenient, but it also promotes socio-economic development and people's lives...,” Mr. Hoa said with a smile.

Pointing to the hill that was cleared to make way for the road, Mr. Hoa shared that when the Northern Mountainous Transport Project was launched, his family and other households in the village agreed to hand over the land to the contractor with the hope that the road would be built as quickly as possible.

In Van Ban commune (Lao Cai province), each field, tea hill, and cinnamon hill is giving way to construction machinery. When the site is available, the contractor quickly mobilizes equipment and machinery to speed up the progress.

At the construction site of the Km0+00-Km63+446 section in Van Ban commune, according to the representative of Project Management Board 2 (project investor), contractors are simultaneously constructing 3/3 packages, currently the output value has reached about 80% of the construction and installation value, and will be completed and opened to traffic before Lunar New Year 2025.

As the contractor in charge of the construction of Package XL1, Mr. Luu Bich Ngoc, commander of the construction team from Km2+700-Km4+430 of Dong Duong Construction Group Joint Stock Company, said that the remaining 300m of the route is still blocked by landslides due to floods and storm Yagi, so a stone gabion wall is added. This month, the contractor has increased the mobilization of machinery and workers, working until 9:00 p.m. with the goal of completing the asphalt concrete and drainage system to ensure completion before December 31.

Taking on the responsibility of a joint venture contractor to construct up to 18km of Package XL1, according to Mr. Luong Viet Son, technical officer of Dat Phuong Joint Stock Company, the contractor is constructing culverts and drainage ditches along the route. Due to the rainy and flooded terrain, the route has many trucks traveling, so instead of asphalt, some sections will be paved with a concrete layer to ensure the stiffness of the roadbed structure and avoid the surface layer from peeling off.

The Northern mountainous transport project passes through rugged terrain with hilly and mountainous roads, making construction very difficult and arduous. (Photo: Khanh Hung/Vietnam+)

However, with Package XL-10 (Km20+000-Km36+900) with a contract completion date of September 30, 2025, Mr. Le Nhat Cuong, Head of Project Operation Department 1 (Project Management Board 2) admitted that due to site clearance problems and the impact of storms and landslides, the progress reached 88.9% of the construction value of the contract. Currently, the main route is still entangled with some households and hinders construction.

“In addition, the site is still intermittent (about 2.5km) so the contractor has not been able to fully utilize the capacity of the equipment and machinery, affecting traffic safety on the route. The investor and contractor recommend that the locality hand over the site soon to speed up construction and complete the project soon,” said Mr. Cuong.

Transfer and replace weak contractors

According to the leaders of the Project Management Board of the 2 project investors, by the end of November 2025, the project had been implemented in 9/11 bid packages, with the total cumulative construction output reaching about 3,000 billion VND, equivalent to 80% of the construction value according to the contracts (3,765 billion VND).

Currently, the project is resolving site clearance issues, especially the section passing through Mo Vang, Son Luong, and Lien Son communes (Lao Cai province). The contractor is also focusing on human resources and machinery to deploy sections with clean ground to ensure technical traffic opening before December 31, 2025 and before the Lunar New Year of Binh Ngo 2026, the construction packages will be completed, meeting the travel needs of people in the northern mountainous provinces.

For some packages that still have many potential risks of not ensuring the required progress (XL01, XL03, XL04, XL07, XL10, XL11), the Ministry of Construction assigned Project Management Board 2 to closely monitor and control the progress and weekly and monthly construction volume of each package, each contractor, and each construction site, and require contractors to immediately correct any delays in the following week.

"The investor shall consider transferring the volume within the consortium or replacing or adding contractors... if necessary; resolutely handle contractors that do not meet the requirements on quality and progress according to the signed contract," the leader of the Ministry of Construction directed.

The contractor is actively completing the railings and bridge deck of the An Luong Bridge project to complete it before the Lunar New Year. (Photo: Khanh Hung/Vietnam+)

To ensure safety during construction, the Ministry of Construction also assigned the investor to direct consultants and contractors to fully arrange barriers and traffic safety systems during construction, and to organize the construction of traffic safety systems (guardrails, corrugated iron) immediately after asphalt concrete has been laid.

At the deep excavation and embankment locations in the XL-01, XL-02, XL-04, XL-10, XL-11 packages, the contractor must arrange enough traffic controllers during the entire construction period, limiting the impact on the travel and daily life of people in the project area./.

The project to connect traffic in the northern mountainous provinces, funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Australian Government, was approved by the Prime Minister in principle for project investment and started construction in December 2021, with a total investment of more than VND 6,000 billion.

The project consists of two routes with a total length of about 200km. Of which, the route connecting Lai Chau with Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway is about 147km long; the route connecting Nghia Lo with Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway is about 53km long.

Transfer and replace weak contractors

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