Clearing the land to reopen the Ho Chi Minh Highway soon.

One contractor is 7 months ahead of schedule.

Undertaking the construction of package XL01 of the Ho Chi Minh Highway project, the Chơn Thành – Đức Hòa section, spanning 31.5km from Bàu Bàng district to the Saigon River bordering Tây Ninh province, Đèo Cả Group is achieving positive results after a year of accelerated efforts.

Construction of the Ho Chi Minh Highway section from Chơn Thành to Đức Hòa is underway.

Mr. Pham Van Hung, Deputy General Director of Deo Ca Group, said that to date, the unit's construction output has reached 57% of the contract value, 5% ahead of schedule. Across the entire construction site, approximately 200 personnel and 110 machines and equipment have been mobilized by the contractor, with the goal of completing the assigned work before April 30, 2025, shortening the project timeline by 7 months.

Regarding the bridge category, the contractor will complete 4 out of 6 bridges in 2024. To date, the Suoi Tre bridge has been completed, and the remaining 3 bridges will soon be finished, with 2 bridges, namely the Kenh Phuoc Hoa bridge and the Cay Truong bridge, being completed one month ahead of schedule.

Mr. Hung stated that construction conditions have been challenging, particularly regarding materials. According to survey documents, six quarries were assessed as suitable for exploitation. However, in reality, the mining permits for these quarries had expired during implementation. The supply of materials was difficult and unstable, forcing the contractor to seek additional quarries in more distant locations at higher costs.

In addition, the main section of the route being constructed by the contractor still has about 600m and 6 intersection locations for which the local authorities have not yet handed over the land. The entire contract also has 22 points related to technical infrastructure. "The contractor hopes that these obstacles will be resolved soon," Mr. Hung said.

Still facing land acquisition issues and unfavorable weather conditions.

In contrast to the contractor's results on the Chơn Thành – Đức Hòa project, the construction output on the Ho Chi Minh Highway section from Chợ Chu to Trung Sơn Junction has not met expectations due to land acquisition bottlenecks. More than 50% of the machinery on site is currently idle.

A representative from the XL01 project management board of Son Hai Group stated that, out of a total length of nearly 13 km through Thai Nguyen province, approximately 10 km has been handed over by the local authorities. The remaining 16 km passing through Tuyen Quang province has yet to be handed over.

"Overall, the contractor has only achieved 15% of the contract value in terms of output. If the site conditions are favorable, this figure will not be less than 40%," a representative of the contractor informed.

For nearly a month, while land acquisition difficulties were gradually resolved, the Hoa Lien - Tuy Loan project construction site coincided with the rainy season, halting foundation work.

As one of the three construction units involved in the project, Colonel Nguyen Tuan Anh, Deputy General Director of Truong Son Construction Corporation, stated that in addition to persuading households that have not yet agreed, since December 7, 2024, Hoa Vang district has implemented a plan to protect the construction site so that the contractor can carry out the work that determines the project's progress.

Regarding stone materials, the quarries in Da Nang have reached their capacity. Following requests from investors and contractors, the Da Nang City government has directed the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to resolve the issue. It is expected that the quarry capacity will be increased by approximately twofold by early 2025.

"Due to the rainy season, for more than a month now, the number of days the contractor has been able to work on the site has been very limited. As soon as the weather improves, we will add more construction teams to regain the progress," Mr. Tuan Anh shared.

Stay close to the local community and resolve each issue.

Providing an overview of the construction progress of the four component projects serving to connect the Ho Chi Minh Highway by 2025, Mr. Nguyen Vu Quy, Director of the Ho Chi Minh Highway Project Management Board, said that immediately after the commencement of construction, the investor requested contractors to focus resources, make the most of available land and favorable weather conditions to accelerate progress.

As of the first week of December 2024, the Hoa Lien – Tuy Loan section project reached 35%; the Chon Thanh – Duc Hoa section project reached over 44%; the Rach Soi – Ben Nhat and Go Quao – Vinh Thuan sections projects reached nearly 16%; and the Cho Chu – Trung Son Junction section project reached over 4% of the contract value.

Currently, many components of the projects are not meeting the expected progress due to land issues. According to the project management board, at the Chu Market - Trung Son Junction project, the land clearance work in Tuyen Quang province is very slow.

Local authorities are still facing procedural obstacles regarding the inspection and signing of land acquisition maps before approving compensation plans according to the 2024 Land Law. In reality, only 1.24/16.7km, equivalent to 7.4% of the land area, has been temporarily allocated by the contractor to households to provide them with the necessary land for construction.

For the Hoa Lien – Tuy Loan project, 99% of the land has been handed over, but in reality, 1.5km remains unconstructed due to issues related to households whose assets have not yet been recovered, houses demolished, or who have not yet received compensation.

In the Chơn Thành – Đức Hòa section of the project, the obstacles lie in cases where land acquisition decisions were made previously but compensation has not yet been paid, cases where partial compensation has been paid, and cases where compensation has been paid but additional support and resettlement policies remain outstanding.

Specifically for the Rach Soi – Ben Nhat and Go Quao – Vinh Thuan sections of the project, most of the land was handed over from September to October 2024. Some locations have had their land handed over but are still fragmented and lack access roads.

Local authorities are actively working with residents to resolve each bottleneck. The project management unit will continue to closely monitor local authorities to accelerate land clearance progress and prioritize material sources for the projects.

The Ho Chi Minh Highway project commenced in 2000 and has now completed 2,488 out of 2,744 km (over 90%) and approximately 258 km of branch lines. The remaining 256 km across 5 component projects are currently underway.

Of these, nearly 170km/4 component projects will be completed between now and 2025, including: the Cho Chu - Trung Son Junction section, with a total length of 29km passing through Thai Nguyen and Tuyen Quang provinces, with a scale of 2 lanes and a design speed of 60km/h.

The Hoa Lien – Tuy Loan section, over 11.5km long, passes through Da Nang City. Phase 1 of the project involves the construction of a 4-lane road with a design speed of 80km/h.

The Chơn Thành – Đức Hòa section is nearly 73km long, passing through Bình Phước, Bình Dương, Tây Ninh, and Long An provinces. The initial phase will have 2 lanes.

The Rach Soi – Ben Nhat and Go Quao – Vinh Thuan sections, nearly 52km long, pass through Kien Giang and Bac Lieu provinces, with 4 lanes and a design speed of 80km/h.

Specifically, the Co Tiet – Cho Ben section, spanning 87.5km, has been submitted to the competent authorities for approval of the investment plan.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/go-mat-bang-som-noi-thong-duong-ho-chi-minh-192241223222520028.htm