Key projects are sluggish because of power lines.

Electric poles and wires are strung across the roadway but cannot be quickly relocated, causing the implementation of key traffic projects in Ho Chi Minh City to be behind schedule.

Many consequences

For nearly a year, the Tran Quoc Hoan - Cong Hoa connecting road project (Ward 13, Tan Binh District) is still in disarray as the contractor waits to relocate the electric poles.

Medium voltage power poles block the traffic route on both sides of Tham Luong - Ben Cat - Nuoc Len canal.

According to Giao thong Newspaper reporters, on a road section of about 800m belonging to package 13, the contractor has scraped off the entire old road surface. Therefore, the dirt road surface is muddy after every heavy rain. However, the construction speed is very slow because of about 20 electric poles.

"We don't have a construction site, so we have to cut down on workers for secondary projects like sidewalks. Every day that passes, the contractor suffers heavy losses because some construction projects take three times longer than expected," a construction site commander shared.

In addition to affecting residential areas along the route, the slow relocation of electric poles has also caused the entire project to temporarily open to traffic. Specifically, Package 9, the construction of the Phan Thuc Duyen underpass, the starting point of the route, has been open to traffic since August, although it is much more complicated than Package 13.

A representative of the HCM City Traffic Construction Investment Management Board (Traffic Board) said that even package 10 of the project, which is the section located in the military area and leading to Terminal T3 of Tan Son Nhat Airport, has been completed. Meanwhile, package 13 is still waiting for the electricity infrastructure to be resolved.

About 4km from the Tran Quoc Hoan - Cong Hoa connecting road project, the two projects to upgrade and expand Tan Ky Tan Quy road and Tan Ky Tan Quy bridge are also in the situation of "roads waiting for electricity".

Currently, hundreds of medium and low voltage power poles have been blocking the area for the past year, even though residents on both sides have cleared the area and handed over the land to the investor.

Contractors face difficulties due to electric poles blocking the way

The Tham Luong - Ben Cat - Nuoc Len canal renovation project invested by the HCM City Urban Infrastructure Construction Investment Project Management Board is also facing delays due to power poles blocking the roads on both sides of the canal. This is the longest canal in HCM City, passing through 7 districts.

Electric poles on Tran Quoc Hoan - Cong Hoa road waiting to be relocated.

The investor representative said that the project has a total road length of nearly 65km. However, in many locations on the route, high-voltage electric poles are located right in the middle of the road. The contractor was forced to leave these locations, causing the entire route to fall into a "sticky" state.

According to PV's investigation, Ho Chi Minh City Power Corporation is implementing a roadmap for undergrounding the power system with a target of 500km of medium voltage and 800km of low voltage in the period of 2021 - 2025 as planned. From there, traffic infrastructure projects are more or less dependent and need to be compared with the undergrounding roadmap.

If the route is not on the list of underground power systems, the investor must submit a written request for opinions from the Department of Transport, the Department of Industry and Trade, and Ho Chi Minh City Electricity. From there, the specialized management agencies will come up with the most optimal solution. After determining the solution, Ho Chi Minh City Electricity will request the member power company in charge of the area and the power grid to coordinate with the investor and the construction contractor to relocate and re-establish the power system.

During this process, many infrastructure items of the electricity industry are damaged, consumed and need to be calculated for advance payment and compensation costs. These items also need to be appraised and settled in the correct order.

The director of a member power company said: "Relocating power poles to make room for road construction is understandable. But where to relocate them is another matter. More importantly, the timing of relocation and re-establishment of the power system must be coordinated so as not to affect the lives and businesses of people and enterprises."

How to reduce "warping"?

A representative of Ho Chi Minh City Electricity Corporation said that the relocation and re-establishment of the power system is always a priority in the context of expanding and developing the transport infrastructure. To improve efficiency and shorten the relocation time, the technical ground factor is a prerequisite.

Recently, at the traffic project on both sides of Tham Luong - Ben Cat - Nuoc Len canal, there was a situation of overlapping power systems. Ho Chi Minh City Electricity immediately asked member units to coordinate with the investor to come up with a relocation plan.

Regarding the power system at the Tan Ky Tan Quy bridge and road project, the Tran Quoc Hoan – Cong Hoa connecting road project, Ho Chi Minh City Electricity has given feedback to the Traffic Department to speed up the project progress. It is expected that all electric poles will be recovered in October.

Explaining the discrepancy between the transportation project and the electrical system relocation process, an engineer with 15 years of experience supervising construction projects in Ho Chi Minh City said that most projects are always constructed without fully clearing the land.

This leads to the situation where investors, contractors and the electricity industry only really push forward with the relocation of the power system in the final stage of the project. "If the investor of the traffic project receives a 100% clean site from the beginning, the electricity industry will have the basis to relocate the power system right from the beginning of the project," he said.

According to Mr. Ngo Son Hai, Deputy General Director of Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN), EVN and its member units always coordinate to the maximum to support localities in the work of relocating the power system, supporting the acceleration of traffic project progress. In particular, EVN units will directly work and discuss with project management units to proactively grasp difficulties and agree on plans.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/tphcm-du-an-trong-diem-i-ach-vi-duong-cho-dien-192241031231042881.htm