At the beginning of the year, looking back at the progress of the implementation of two major highways in the Southern region.

The two expressway projects, Ho Chi Minh City - Thu Dau Mot - Chon Thanh and Bien Hoa - Vung Tau, are currently underway and awaiting the resolution of some difficulties and obstacles to accelerate progress.

Some project components have had their timelines shortened by approximately 8 months.

Regarding the progress of the Ho Chi Minh City - Thu Dau Mot - Chon Thanh expressway project, the Ministry of Transport stated that in December 2024, the section through Binh Phuoc province (7km), with a total investment of VND 1,474 billion, commenced construction and is expected to be completed in 2026.

Construction of the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway (Photo: Minh Tue).

The section through Binh Duong (52km) has a total investment of 8,833 billion VND and is expected to start construction in Q1/2025 and be completed in 2027.

The project is invested under the BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) model, with the People's Committee of Binh Duong province as the competent state agency. The investor is a consortium comprising the Industrial Investment and Development Corporation, the Infrastructure Development Corporation, the Deo Ca Group Corporation, and the Deo Ca Transportation Infrastructure Investment Corporation.

"The section passing through Ho Chi Minh City (2km) is currently undergoing final procedures by relevant authorities in preparation for implementation," the Ministry of Transport informed.

Regarding the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway project, the Ministry of Transport stated that the project is divided into three component projects.

Specifically, component project 1 (16km long) commenced in November 2023. To date, output has reached approximately 18% of the contract value, nearly 9% behind schedule.

Component project 2 (over 18km long) commenced in June 2023. To date, construction progress has reached approximately 25% of the contract value, 7.5% behind schedule.

Component project 3 (19.5km) has achieved approximately 63% of the contract value in terms of construction output, ensuring it is on schedule; efforts are being made to complete it by April 30, 2025, shortening the project timeline by about 8 months.

Land availability and materials remain major obstacles.

According to the Ministry of Transport, the reasons why component projects 1 and 2 of the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway have not met the schedule are that land clearance work is still not meeting the requirements. Component project 1 has only handed over 76% of the land area; component project 2 has only handed over nearly 93% of the land area.

"The resettlement areas and relocation of technical infrastructure for the two aforementioned component projects are also progressing slowly."

Specifically, at key locations crucial to the project's progress (locations such as the main bridge at Km5+069, the overpass at Km 6+154, the overpass at Km9+452, the main bridge at Km 12+626… belonging to component project 1; the 22-35kV medium-voltage power line system along Bung Mon road, on the left side of the Ho Chi Minh - Long Thanh - Dau Giay expressway; the 500kV power line crossing Song Vac bridge… belonging to component project 2), if relocation is not completed by February 2025, it will be difficult to ensure the project is completed on schedule," the Ministry of Transport noted.

Regarding materials, calculations show that the total earth fill requirement for the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway project is approximately 7 million ^m³ , including: Component Project 1: over 2 million ^m³ ; Component Project 2: over 3 million ^m³ ; Component Project 3: approximately 1.8 million ^m³ .

For component projects 1 and 2 in Dong Nai province, commercial mines have very low reserves, inconsistent quality, and have only supplied about 0.56 million ^m³ , which does not meet the project's needs.

With the above bottleneck resolved, the local authorities have approved the exploitation of approximately 1.2 million ^{m³ of} earth under a special mechanism, leaving a shortfall of about 3.97 million ^m³ of fill material.

To meet the project's construction material needs, the Ministry of Transport requested the People's Committee of Dong Nai province to continue paying attention and directing relevant departments to provide support and guidance on procedures and to promptly grant mining permits at the approved locations (Xuan Tay commune and Long Giao town, Cam My district; Phuoc Tan ward, Bien Hoa city; total reserves of approximately over 4.6 million m3).

The authorities in Dong Nai province are also requested to consider allowing continued excavation of soil in Phuoc Binh commune to the appropriate ground elevation based on the contractor's survey results to supplement the remaining volume; and to urgently provide official opinions on the plan for using the soil from the T3 terminal planning area of ​​Long Thanh International Airport to serve the project's construction.

The Ho Chi Minh City - Thu Dau Mot - Chon Thanh expressway project has a total length of 69 km, passing through Ho Chi Minh City and two provinces: Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc. In the phased construction, the project is being developed with 4 lanes and a design speed of 100 km/h.

The Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway project has a total length of nearly 54 km, passing through the territories of two provinces: Dong Nai (over 34 km); and Ba Ria - Vung Tau (19.5 km).

In the phased development, the project will be invested in with 4-6 lanes in each section, with a design speed of 100 km/h. The total investment is over 17,800 billion VND.

According to the plan, the project will be substantially completed in 2025 and fully operational in 2026.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/dau-nam-nhin-lai-tien-do-trien-khai-hai-cao-toc-lon-khu-vuc-phia-nam-192250201085503143.htm