Proposal for 1,300 billion VND to expand Cu Mong tunnel

(Chinhphu.vn) - Project Management Board 85 has just submitted a report to the Ministry of Construction proposing the investment policy for the Cu Mong tunnel construction investment project and the access roads at both ends of the tunnel on the North-South expressway, Eastern section.

The Cu Mong tunnel project has its starting point adjacent to package 11-XL of the Quy Nhon-Chi Thanh section component project at Km19+800. The end point adjacent to package 12-XL of the Quy Nhon-Chi Thanh section component project at Km24+900 - Photo: Deo Ca

The North-South Expressway project in the East, Quy Nhon-Chi Thanh section, has a route going through Cu Mong tunnel. According to the plan, the route will be completed and put into operation on the entire route with a scale of 4 lanes in the phased phase, the width of the roadbed is 17.5m; the route of the Quy Nhon-Chi Thanh project is intermittent, connecting directly with Cu Mong tunnel (from Km19+800 to Km24+900), in which Cu Mong tunnel is 2.6km long and is currently being exploited with a scale of 2 lanes.

Cu Mong Tunnel is the bottleneck of the entire highway.

Project Management Board 85 assessed that the location of the expressway section through Cu Mong tunnel is one of the bottlenecks of the entire expressway, affecting the exploitation capacity, operational capacity and efficiency of the Eastern expressway.

According to survey data of the Consultant for the Quy Nhon-Chi Thanh section project, the traffic volume on National Highway 1 (including the expressway) is forecasted to be around 25,000-27,000 vehicles/day and night by 2025. This traffic volume will lead to the possibility of overloading the 2-lane scale through the Cu Mong tunnel area.

The Cu Mong tunnel project has its starting point adjacent to package 11-XL of the Quy Nhon-Chi Thanh section component project at Km19+800. The end point adjacent to package 12-XL of the Quy Nhon-Chi Thanh section component project at Km24+900.

Referring to the investment plan for Cu Mong tunnel in the current phase, Project Management Board 85 said that Cu Mong tunnel is currently operating in 2 directions on the western tunnel with a speed limit of 60km/h; the left tunnel with a length of 2,572.4m from the route Km2+002.81-Km4+575.18 (Cu Mong tunnel project route), tunnel width 9.75m, currently under construction but not yet completed (without cement concrete road surface and electrical equipment, lighting, ventilation, etc.) will continue to be invested in completing the second tunnel, which is to build the remaining tunnel shell (currently 194m of tunnel shell has been built), the road surface inside and outside the tunnel, the equipment system serving the operation of ventilation, lighting, fire prevention and fighting, etc.

Build more tunnel on the left

During the completion phase according to the planning scale of the North-South Expressway in the East, Project Management Board 85 proposed a design solution for Cu Mong tunnel according to the plan of building an additional tunnel to the left of the 2 existing tunnels, exploiting the new tunnel with a scale of 3 lanes with each lane width of 3.5m at a design speed of 80km/h. With 2 existing tunnels, exploit each tunnel with 2 lanes. This plan has the advantage of low construction costs, limiting expansion and occupying land.

Project Management Board 85 has reviewed and preliminarily estimated the total investment cost of Cu Mong tunnel and the access roads at both ends of the tunnel at 1,299.7 billion VND using public investment capital to implement the project.

Project Management Board 85 also plans to submit and approve the project investment policy to be completed in April 2025; prepare, appraise and approve the investment project to be completed in the third quarter of 2025; prepare, appraise and approve the construction protection design, select the construction contractor to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2025; and construct the project and put it into operation in the first quarter of 2027.

The expansion of Cu Mong tunnel will help maximize the efficiency of the regional transportation system, reduce the load on National Highway 1, enhance connectivity between economic zones, industrial parks and seaports, thereby promoting socio-economic development for Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and neighboring areas.

Phan Trang

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/de-xuat-1300-ty-dong-mo-rong-ham-cu-mong-102250328141748277.htm