Efforts to clear landslide area

Overcoming landslides at Km 372+900 Ho Chi Minh road through A Luoi commune 4

Racing against the rain on a remote mountain road

The heavy rain in the late afternoon in the mountainous region seemed to make the Ho Chi Minh road through the A Roang, Lam Dot, Dong Son areas (now A Luoi 4 commune) more deserted, just like the names of these areas. Receiving the forecast from the City Hydrometeorological Station that there would be continued heavy rain in the coming days, the army of "road patching and stone clearing" workers of the A Roang Road Management Department ( Hue City Road Construction and Management Joint Stock Company) seemed to be more hurried in the afternoon rain.

Taking advantage of the rain break between the forest canopy along the trail, the workers prepared their hoes and shovels to clear each flowing ditch, clear the rocks and soil that had spilled onto the road, and clear the fallen trees on the roadside to create a clear view for vehicles. At the beginning of the route, where the rocks and soil had collapsed at Km 366+ 150 of the Ho Chi Minh road at the A5 slope (A Chi village, A Luoi 4 commune), the sound of excavators roaring echoed in a corner of the forest as they were clearing and pushing thousands of cubic meters of soil off the road. It is estimated that thousands of cubic meters of soil and rocks have been scraped and leveled over the past few days to reveal the trail.

Present at the scene, Mr. Hoang Le Anh Dung, Head of the A Roang Road Management Unit, said through the heavy rain: "Let's take advantage of today (November 1), tomorrow the main rain will start, it is necessary to clear one lane for vehicles to pass. If we let our brothers work in the heavy rain, above the hill like a "mud bag" soaked with water hanging over our heads, we will not be at ease because it is very dangerous." For decades working at the A Roang Road Management Unit, Mr. Dung has known the Ho Chi Minh road through the A Luoi area like the back of his hand. There were times when heavy rains caused landslides to separate the road for many days, and communication was unstable, Mr. Dung and his team had to walk dozens of kilometers along the trail to grasp each landslide point, volume, and location to report to the company to come up with a solution.

Workers of Hue City Road Management and Construction Joint Stock Company cleared rocks and soil spilled onto the road surface.

The story of occupational accidents of workers repairing the road after the flood in Dong Giang area (old Quang Nam ) just this morning continued to reverberate but still did not discourage the "road patching and stone clearing" team in A Roang. Also on this route, an excavator clearing landslides on the Ho Chi Minh road through Dong Giang area was almost buried by a landslide on the hillside, fortunately there were no casualties. Upon receiving the news, Mr. Le Anh Dung immediately instructed his colleagues to grasp and specifically assess the situation at each location to have appropriate solutions to quickly clear the road sections, while ensuring the safety of the workers participating in the work.

K restored dozens of landslides

Mr. Ho Dung, Chairman of the People's Committee of A Luoi 4 commune, said that the road management company and local authorities are making efforts to restore traffic and rebuild infrastructure at dozens of landslides on the Ho Chi Minh road and inter-commune and village roads through A Luoi 4 commune. However, the incessant heavy rain has made the restoration work difficult, prolonged and dangerous for the task force. During the recent rainy and flood days, there were up to 20 landslides in the commune, occurring on the Ho Chi Minh road and inter-commune and residential roads. Of these, there were 10 landslides on the Ho Chi Minh road with the largest causing traffic congestion at km 366+150 A5 slope in A Chi village and 1 point in Aka village, A Roang commune (old) with a total volume of nearly 6,000m3 of rock and soil sliding down from the hill onto the road. Immediately after the landslide, the Commune Police force blocked traffic, warning people and passing vehicles. Currently, the A Roang Road Management Department has coordinated with the forces of A Luoi 4 Commune to arrange vehicles and personnel to level, unload the soil and clear the road again.

According to Hue City Road Management and Construction Joint Stock Company, at present, on the Ho Chi Minh road through the communes of A Luoi area, there is very heavy rain. According to the forecast from the meteorological agency, there will be another heavy rain in the Hue area. The landslides are still continuing to collapse, posing a risk to the safety of the task force. At the same time, this road is a single road, so it is not possible to arrange people to go deep inside to survey and count the damage.

Immediately after receiving information about landslides on the Ho Chi Minh road, Hue City Road Management and Construction Joint Stock Company divided into groups and arranged workers and a traffic safety barrier system at locations where flooding and landslides frequently occur. Mobilized a force of 100 workers along with vehicles and machinery to gather at key locations to be ready to participate in overcoming the consequences of floods. Especially at locations on the Ho Chi Minh road (West branch) at Km346+700, Km355+800, Km366+150, Km385+00, they have been and are being repaired. However, due to the heavy rain, deep flooding, and a number of landslides continuously occurring, it is currently not possible to deploy the route and clear rocks and soil to ensure temporary traffic.

Ho Chi Minh Road through A Luoi area is having heavy rain, risk of landslides is very high

Mr. Nguyen Van Ny, Deputy General Director of Hue City Road Management and Construction Joint Stock Company, said that all key locations were flooded and landslides caused traffic jams. The company has arranged people to ensure traffic, traffic flow and warning barrier systems. However, there are still some difficulties due to prolonged heavy rain, deep flooding in many locations, causing traffic disruption, and motor vehicles cannot access the scene. Many landslides on the positive slopes, large volumes of earth and rock spilled onto the road surface, covering the entire road surface, causing traffic jams on some sections, mainly on Ho Chi Minh road, estimated at more than 50 locations with a volume of more than 150,000 m3.

The terrain of the area is fragmented, the ground is weak, there is a potential risk of further landslides, making it unsafe for people and equipment. Large water flow and strong currents cause erosion, washing away rocks and soil, causing landslides at many points, hindering reinforcement and temporary repair work. Bad weather affects visibility and machine operating conditions, leading to risks of labor safety. Some areas have power outages and local communication loss, causing disruption to on-site command. Therefore, Hue City Road Management and Construction Joint Stock Company limits traffic on the Ho Chi Minh route during heavy rains like now.

It is forecasted that from the evening of October 31 to the evening of November 2, heavy rain will return to Hue city, with total rainfall in the plains generally being 150-300mm, in some places over 400mm; in the mountainous areas generally being 200-400mm, in some places over 500mm. With the forecast of continued heavy rain in the mountainous areas, the risk of further landslides is very high on traffic routes when the soil is saturated with water. Localities are planning to evacuate people from key landslide locations to ensure safety.