Highway 28B upgrade project in disarray, risk of delay

The 68km-long National Highway 28B upgrade project, connecting the center of Lam Dong province with the coastal area, started construction in April 2024, with a total investment of VND1,435 billion.

Photo: LAM DONG NEWSPAPER

The project, starting in Luong Son commune (intersecting with National Highway 1A) and ending in Ninh Gia commune (intersecting with National Highway 20), is divided into two packages. Package XD01 (42km long), from Km0 to Km42, is expected to be completed in May 2026. Package XD02, from Km42 to Km69, is expected to be completed and put into use on October 15, 2025. However, at this package, the construction site remains in disarray, posing a risk of delays.

According to observations at the site, construction work on the Dai Ninh pass, spanning over 10km (between kilometer markers 42 and 69), is progressing very slowly due to the mountainous terrain, deep ravines, and significant slope differences. Here, dozens of workers are focused on constructing a reinforced concrete bridge over 103m long and 11m wide. The bridge piers are basically complete, but only a section of the bridge deck has been constructed, requiring many months to complete. For the remaining sections of the pass, the contractor is carrying out excavation and embankment work to widen the roadbed, construct viaducts, embankments, and drainage culverts. Every time a vehicle passes by, dust billows into the air.

Similarly, construction on the remaining sections of the project through the communes of Ta Hine, Ninh Gia, and Luong Son is progressing slowly. According to Project Management Board 5, Vietnam Road Administration, Ministry of Construction (the project's investor), adjustments to the land clearance staking documents in the construction drawing design phase have led to changes and delays in surveying, mapping, and land ownership verification; the forest status assessment documents have had to be revised and supplemented to obtain approval for changing the land use purpose from forest to other purposes, slowing down the progress of forest land use conversion. Currently, the project still has about 5.9 hectares under the contract package from Km0-Km42 for which land acquisition decisions have not yet been made for 176 households (mainly in Luong Son commune).

DOAN KIEN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/du-an-nang-cap-quoc-lo-28b-ngon-ngang-nguy-co-cham-tien-do-post804648.html