Cho Mai - Tan My road project is still in disarray after many years of construction.

The Cho Mai - Tan My road project was approved by the Provincial People's Committee in Decision No. 2495/QD-UBND dated October 19, 2016, the starting point intersects with National Highway 49 at Km10+217 (Pham Van Dong Street), the end point intersects with National Highway 49 and the road to Tam Giang Bridge at Km5+00. The total length of the route is nearly 5km, the cross-section of the route is completed according to the planning with a 36m roadbed.

The investment goal of the road construction is to contribute to completing the road according to the planning, creating momentum to speed up the implementation of the planning of Thuan An ward ( Hue city), meeting the transportation needs of the area, a premise for attracting investors and building infrastructure.

The project has a total investment of nearly 195 billion VND, of which the construction value is about 123 billion VND, site clearance (GPMB) is 35 billion VND, started in August 2018 with an initial expected completion time of 3 years. However, up to now, after many extensions of the contract progress and penalties for contractors, the Cho Mai - Tan My road is still under construction and then stopped completely.

According to the Provincial Urban Development and Construction Investment Project Management Board - the investor, the project has 3 construction packages including packages 11, 14 and 19. The total value of the construction packages is more than 152 billion VND (including contingency costs for the packages). The total disbursement value of the construction packages up to December 31, 2023 is more than 129.7 billion VND.

For package No. 11, including the entire construction and installation section Km0+00 - Km2+204.07 (the length of the section in the package is more than 2.2km), Dong Tam Construction Co., Ltd. won the bid to construct with a contract value of more than 58 billion VND. By December 31, 2023, the disbursement value for construction and installation reached 52.8 billion VND. According to the investor's assessment, the package has been basically completed, with only the asphalt concrete pavement item at the Km0 intersection at the beginning of the route (intersection with National Highway 49) and the median strip intersections remaining to be implemented.

Package No. 14 includes the entire construction and installation part from Km2+204.07 - Km4+78.41 (excluding G2 intersection), the length of the route in the package is more than 1.8km. The contract value is more than 65 billion VND. The disbursement value for construction and installation up to December 31, 2023 is more than 51 billion VND.

In which, Minh Dat Construction Company Limited performed the construction with a construction value in the contract of more than 43.5 billion VND, disbursed 35.3 billion VND, the length of implementation is more than 1.37km. Currently, as of December 31, 2023, this unit has carried out the construction of crushed stone layers, reaching 77.23% of the volume.

However, for Thien Phat Thinh Construction Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company, construction has been suspended for a long time. The construction value in the contract of this unit is more than 18.7 billion VND, 15.8 billion VND has been disbursed, the length of implementation is more than 0.5 km. Currently, the unit has basically completed the crushed stone layer (CPDD), the remaining part is mainly asphalt pavement.

Faced with the situation of contractors neglecting the construction site and stopping construction for a long time, from the end of 2023, the Project Management Board signed a contract addendum to transfer a part of the volume including asphalt irrigation and asphalt concrete paving to a special subcontractor, Thua Thien Hue Road Management and Construction Joint Stock Company, for implementation.

Package No. 19 includes construction and installation of additional items: curbs, curb ditches, tree planting, longitudinal drainage system, lighting system on the entire route with a contract value of more than 29.5 billion VND, the disbursement value of construction and installation up to December 31, 2023 is more than 25.6 billion VND, reaching about 90.08% of the construction and installation value (all advances have been recovered).

Of which, Construction Service and Trade Joint Stock Company 68 has a contract value of more than 18.5 billion VND, disbursed 16.4 billion VND. Currently, the green tree item has been completed, the vertical drainage system and drainage manholes have been basically completed; the remaining items of manhole water intake, installation of curbs and curbs on the route section within the scope of package No. 14 (from Km2+204.07 - Km4+78.41) will be completed by the end of 2023 due to lack of construction site.

According to the reporter's observations at the current construction site, in addition to some sections that have been paved with asphalt and gravel, the road surface is still in disarray, with trees growing wildly on the median strip. In particular, the tree planting has been completed on the route, but recently, many trees on both sides of the road and in the median strip have died, and the contractor has yet to fix them.

Previously, the Provincial Urban Development and Construction Investment Project Management Board held a meeting with the construction contractor to request additional data and provide settlement monitoring data so that the design consultant can re-evaluate this route. In addition, the investor has submitted a report to the Provincial People's Committee proposing that an independent monitoring unit monitor settlement. Based on the data provided by the contractor, a comparison will be made to propose a suitable treatment plan.

According to the Provincial Urban Development and Construction Investment Project Management Board, the investor is currently sending a document to the Provincial People's Committee requesting additional capital allocation and requesting the construction units to return to complete the project. The reason is that the contractor has repeatedly delayed the progress compared to the contract, the investor has not disbursed all the allocated funds, so the project's capital has been recovered.

Article and photos: HA NGUYEN