Seawalls are damaged when the design is not suitable for reality.

In the past 5 years, Nghe An province has invested hundreds of billions of dong to build and repair the sea dike system in Cua Lo. However, after each big storm or high tide, the dike lines are damaged. Most recently, after storm No. 10 made landfall, the sea dike line worth hundreds of billions of dong, which had just been completed and put into use for less than a year, was again devastated by waves. This situation makes the public wonder about the effectiveness of the project.

The "spoiled" refrain

The embankment, which cost more than 160 billion VND, was devastated after storm No. 10 (September 2025).

At the end of September, storm No. 10 swept through Nghe An, causing heavy damage to many coastal localities. In Cua Lo ward - the coastal tourism center of the North Central region, a 4km-long embankment worth more than 123 billion VND, which had been put into use for less than a year, was severely damaged. Many sections of the embankment collapsed completely, the foot of the embankment eroded, creating dangerous deep holes. The lighting system along the embankment broke down, bricks and stones were broken, and the coastal square became desolate. A scene that made people and tourists feel heartbroken.

Mr. Hoang Van Tien, a tourist from Hanoi , could not hide his regret when witnessing the scene of the Cua Lo sea dike devastated after storm No. 10. He shared: “I have been to Cua Lo several times, very impressed with the landscape here, blue sea, long sandy beach, open space. Now coming back, seeing such heavy damage is really heartbreaking. It is a familiar destination for many tourists from the North. If the infrastructure is not guaranteed, the landscape is affected, it will certainly affect the number of visitors and the image of local tourism.”

Not only the sections of the Cua Lo Sea Embankment Project were damaged, but some sections of the urgent repair project of 4 embankment sections from Lan Chau Island to Cua Hoi junction with a total investment of more than 42 billion VND approved by the People's Committee of Nghe An province in 2021 were also severely damaged. According to statistics from the People's Committee of Cua Lo Ward, the damage this time at the embankment and Binh Minh Square is estimated at more than 40 billion VND. The local government has mobilized forces to temporarily repair, but due to limited budget, comprehensive repairs have not yet been implemented.

Binh Minh Square area (Nghe An) was seriously damaged.

Being a coastal area, Cua Lo area often suffers from storms of level 11, 12, or even stronger. Not only storms, high tides combined with strong winds make the destruction even more severe. However, Cua Lo sea dikes are designed to withstand only level 10 storms. As a result, it is not surprising that in just 5 years from 2020 to 2025, this dike line is heavily damaged after each storm.

Correct procedure but wrong reality

The promenade, a part of the seawall project, was damaged.

It is known that the Cua Lo sea dyke construction project with a total length of more than 4.3km, total investment of more than 123 billion VND, was started in 2023. The project is invested by Nghe An Department of Tourism, using a loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) of nearly 112 billion VND and counterpart capital of more than 11 billion VND. The dyke is designed to withstand level 10 storms and rising sea levels, to protect the coastal area of ​​Cua Lo, where the beach is more than 10km long, and at the same time create an infrastructure highlight for the tourist season. The project was only handed over in early 2025, but at the end of September 2025, after storm No. 10, many sections of the dyke collapsed, seriously eroded, causing great damage.

Mr. Hoang Van Duong, a resident of Nghi Huong block, Cua Lo ward, said that the reason for the rapid deterioration of the embankment was due to the design and construction not ensuring the load-bearing structure. According to him, instead of pouring concrete from the foundation up, the construction unit only used pipes longer than 1 meter placed on the sand, then filled the soil and covered with a thin layer of concrete on top. This method caused the foot of the embankment to not have a solid connection, while the top layer was too thin to withstand large waves.

“When the tide rises, the waves hit the shore hard, washing away the entire layer of sand underneath, leaving the internal structure hollow. It looks solid from the outside, but is actually very weak on the inside,” Mr. Duong analyzed.

The entire route has about 600m of damaged embankment.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, Vice Chairman of Cua Lo Ward People's Committee, said that in addition to the main cause of damage to the embankments being caused by the impact of a strong storm combined with high tides, some design shortcomings also contributed to the increased level of damage. Specifically, the arrangement of tree planting holes on the embankment surface is unreasonable, because when the tide rises, waves hit directly at these locations, causing the embankment to become hollow, leading to serious damage in many sections. In addition, the load-bearing capacity of the current project is limited, only meeting the needs of low-level storms. Therefore, future projects need to be designed with higher standards, able to withstand storms of level 12 or higher.

To clarify why a sea dike in an area frequently affected by storms, with high intensity, is only designed to withstand level 10 storms, we worked with the project investor. Mr. Huynh Le Anh, an officer of the planning department, Department of Sports, Culture and Tourism of Nghe An province (Former Director of the Project Management Board, Department of Tourism of Nghe An province) said that this dike is synchronous with the scale and design of the dike line of Cua Lo ward People's Committee made in 2021.

Accordingly, the embankment line was constructed according to the design as a level 4 embankment, resistant to level 10 storms. The project was completed in April 2024 and was handed over to the People's Committee of Cua Lo Ward from January 2025. The basis of the design is based on the irrigation planning of the coastal island area of ​​Nghe An and this design has been appraised by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (now the Department of Agriculture and Environment), and approved by the People's Committee of Nghe An province. The embankment line aims to prevent coastal erosion, ensuring tourism development. If the embankment is designed too high, it will be difficult for tourists to access the beach, and the cost will also be very high.

Many sections of the embankment have been severely eroded, with the underlying foundation completely washed away, causing the upper structure to become unstable and at risk of collapse.

In the context of increasingly extreme weather due to climate change, the construction of disaster prevention works needs to be recalculated. In the near future, Nghe An province will have to spend billions of dong to fix the problem, but that is only a temporary solution. If the standards are not upgraded or the design is not changed, level 4 embankments like those in Cua Lo will continue to be destroyed, and people will continue to be the most disadvantaged.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/xa-hoi/ke-bien-hu-hong-khi-thiet-ke-khong-phu-hop-thuc-te-20251107173730679.htm