Land for railway overpass on Highway 14E: Not yet cleared

3(3).jpg — Only one abutment and one pier of the overpass have been constructed so far. Photo: CONG TU

The possibility of interruption.

As of noon on July 4th, the drilling of the three bored piles at the M2 abutment of the railway overpass on National Highway 14E (in the former Binh Quy commune, Thang Binh district) to the new Thang Binh commune has been completed. Engineer Cuong, the project manager of Project Management Board 4 (the representative unit of the investor, the Vietnam Road Administration), shared that out of a total of four bored piles for pier T4, the third pile has been drilled. The contractor will complete the drilling of the last pile for this pier before July 10th. In reality, the construction site is still in disarray due to a lack of available space for further construction.

1(3).jpg — Construction of 3 bored piles for abutment M2 has been completed. Photo: CONG TU

“We expect to have to stop the pile foundation construction on July 10, 2025, due to the lack of available land,” said engineer Cuong. According to the investor's representative, the railway overpass construction area affects 64 plots of land (59 households). The local authorities have approved the compensation and land clearance plan for 59 plots, but only 54 have received compensation, while 5 have not yet agreed to receive it (2 plots have already begun construction). The remaining 5 plots have not yet had their compensation plans approved.

4(2).jpg — The area where girders are cast for the overpass. Photo: CONG TU

Notably, 54 plots (48 households) have received compensation and committed to handing over the land, but only 26 plots have been allowed to proceed with construction. Of these 26 plots where residents have allowed construction, the contractor has only completed the road width to ensure traffic flow on 21 plots, while only partial construction has been allowed on 5 plots. For example, Mr. Nguyen Duc Lai's household allowed construction on the front yard area without demolishing the house to hand over the land. Therefore, the road width only meets the requirements for traffic flow at 3.5m, which is insufficient for traffic.

5(1).jpg — Ensuring smooth traffic flow is difficult because many households have not yet handed over their land, or have only partially handed it over. Photo: CONG TU

Despite having removed the corrugated iron roof and cut down the trees, Dang Quang Vinh's household has not yet demolished the wall and roof of their beverage stall. This household is located very close to the railway, at a crucial turning point for traffic flow, but only about 4.5 meters of the road has been constructed, which is insufficient for the turning radius for longer vehicles. Dang Van Hung's land still has bamboo groves and trees within the road's traffic flow, about 1 meter from the outer edge. This is the construction site for abutment M2 of the overpass, so the current road width will cause traffic congestion when it opens…

Joining forces after the new commune begins operations.

Engineer Cuong stated that after the new Thang Binh commune (formed after the merger of Binh Phuc, Binh Nguyen, Binh Quy communes and the old Ha Lam town) officially went into stable operation, on the morning of July 4th, the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the commune's People's Committee directly went to the construction site to assess the land clearance issues for the project to renovate and upgrade National Highway 14E through Binh Quy (old) in general, and the railway overpass in particular. The railway overpass is the bottleneck of the entire project, and according to the schedule, it needs at least 6 months to complete construction.

2(3).jpg — Construction of the overpass may be interrupted due to a lack of available land. Photo: CONG TU

Meanwhile, the project's investment funding is included in the medium-term public investment plan for the period 2021-2025. If the overpass is not completed by 2025, it is highly likely that this item will have to be halted. Therefore, the investor requests the Da Nang City People's Committee to direct relevant parties to promptly complete the procedures for approving the compensation and land clearance plan for the remaining 5 households. They also request notification and a plan to protect the construction site where households have received compensation but have not handed over the land, including the 5 plots that have only been partially handed over.

The investor also requested the local authorities to complete the procedures to proceed with the forced demolition of structures within the land clearance area of the overpass project where compensation has not been received. They also requested expedited procedures to complete land clearance up to the 15.7m mark, providing a basis for encouraging residents to hand over the land as soon as possible. The city directed and urged Thang Binh Power Company to relocate the remaining electrical infrastructure out of the construction area; including the medium-voltage power lines for the railway overpass and the low-voltage power lines and lighting outside the railway overpass area.

7(1).jpg — The construction site is in disarray due to land acquisition issues. Photo: CONG TU

As reported by Da Nang Newspaper and Radio & Television, the railway overpass at kilometer marker 15+615.32 on National Highway 14E is a Class III road bridge, the same class as the road section from km15+270 to km16+054. Therefore, according to Clauses 2 and 3 of Article 17 of the Railway Law No. 06/2017/QH14, railway crossings with roads must have grade-separated interchanges in the following cases: railways with a design speed of 100 km/h or more crossing roads; railway crossings with roads of Class III or higher; railway crossings with urban roads; urban railway crossings with roads, except for tram tracks.

According to the Railway Law, the investor constructing a new railway line is responsible for building grade-separated interchanges as stipulated in Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 17; the investor constructing a new road line is responsible for building grade-separated interchanges as stipulated in Clause 2 of this article. Therefore, the construction of railway overpasses is mandatory when upgrading and renovating National Highway 14E.

[ VIDEO ] - Railway overpasses play a crucial role in ensuring traffic safety:

Furthermore, railway overpasses will replace level crossings. This will avoid intersections between roads and railways, preventing traffic safety hazards, and improving the efficiency of train speeds and road traffic. It will facilitate the transportation of goods by both road and rail, contributing to socio -economic development and ensuring national security and defense.

The project to renovate and upgrade National Highway 14E has a roadbed width of 9m. The section passing through the North-South railway intersection at km15+270-km16+054 (Thang Binh) has a roadbed width of 12m. The project is funded by the State budget, with a total investment of VND 1,848.239 billion; the implementation schedule is from 2021 to 2025.

Source: https://baodanang.vn/mat-bang-lam-cau-vuot-duong-sat-บน-quoc-lo-14e-chua-the-hanh-thong-3265106.html