Speeding up to bring the 500kV Lao Cai-Vinh Yen transmission line project to the finish line on schedule

(Chinhphu.vn) - Despite many difficulties such as complex mountainous terrain, combined with erratic weather affecting progress, with a spirit of effort and determination, the construction forces of the Lao Cai-Vinh Yen 500kV transmission line project have promoted the spirit of "overcoming the sun and overcoming the rain" to bring the project to the finish line on time.

Construction workers at location 88 (Bao Yen district - Lao Cai ) of package 2HH of the project - Photo: Le Tien

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has just signed Official Dispatch No. 81, directing the investor of the 500kV Lao Cai - Vinh Yen transmission line project and a number of other key energy projects to focus on accelerating progress for inauguration on August 19, 2025.

Following the Prime Minister 's direction, construction forces have simultaneously accelerated, overcoming all difficulties to complete the project.

Lesson 1: Through rain and shine, stick to the construction site

The spirit of urgent and drastic construction received positive response from the project's contractors, ensuring the project was completed on schedule.

Mr. Le Van Du, engineer of Power Project Management Board 1, currently an executive specialist of the Executive Board of Packages 3 and 4 of the project, said that immediately after receiving the Prime Minister's telegram, the leaders of Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) and the investor issued a document directing the Project Management Board and contractors to closely coordinate, review and implement solutions to ensure the completion of the energization progress according to the Prime Minister's requirements.

Regarding the coordination between the investor and the contractor, Mr. Du said that throughout the construction process, the investor always closely followed, regularly urged and coordinated with the contractors to coordinate smoothly between the foundation construction and the supply of columns, avoiding the situation of out of phase such as having a foundation but no columns, or vice versa. When the foundation positions are nearly completed, the investor will notify the contractor early to promptly supply columns, helping the erection process to take place smoothly, saving time. At the same time, the supervision consultant is also encouraged to increase inspection and urge the contractors to continuously work "3 shifts" regardless of harsh weather conditions such as intense heat or prolonged rain like the past few days. This spirit of urgent and drastic construction has received positive responses from the contractors, in order to ensure the project is on schedule.

In construction areas such as Lao Cai and Yen Bai with rugged mountainous terrain, steep slopes and lots of hard rocks, the investor and the contractor have flexibly adjusted the route to best suit, and at the same time coordinated with the design consultant to change the foundation solution. In cases where the rocks are too hard and difficult to construct, the anchor drilling or concrete pouring method is applied, then the load is filled to ensure stability and prevent column deflection. In particular, the investor has increased the mobilization of construction machinery at many foundation locations at the same time, for example, using 4 excavators to construct 4 foundation pits at the same time, thereby speeding up the progress.

Workers hang high to install poles - Photo: Le Tien

Regarding quality control, Mr. Du affirmed that the contractor's technical team has invested in a strict input material inspection system. All materials such as cement, sand, and stone are carefully assessed by the supervising consultant and the investor based on test results, COCQ certificates, and accompanying quality assessment documents. The process of reinforced concrete construction, foundation pit filling, and column quality control are all self-controlled by the contractors before being inspected by the supervising consultant for the second round of acceptance. The investor also directly inspects important or suspicious locations to ensure that the project quality is strictly controlled and consistent.

In addition, the project is also expected to face a shortage of materials due to the simultaneous implementation of many key projects. However, the contractor has proactively ordered materials from the beginning of the contract, ensuring a continuous and stable supply for the entire construction process. Up to now, materials at the construction site have been fully maintained without interruption.

Mr. Du emphasized that the experience from the 500kV line 3 project was also applied in opening construction routes for locations with steep terrain and large pole volumes to maximize the use of machinery, commercial concrete and cranes, contributing to increasing the speed of pole erection and completing the project on schedule.

Efforts to overcome difficulties

At location 88 (Bao Yen district - Lao Cai) of package No. 2HH constructed by Power Construction Company Limited 4 (PCC4), it has been raining for the past few days, making the slope leading up to here slippery. However, the workers are still present at the construction site, preparing materials, assembling the brackets and performing the pole erection work.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Hung, technical officer of package 2, Power Construction Investment Company Limited 4, who participated in the construction of package 62 of the 500kV line project, circuit 3, Nam Dinh - Pho Noi section, said: "Up to now, the contractor has completed the foundation construction at 35 out of 47 locations. The remaining locations are expected to be completed by June 20 at the latest. Regarding the poles, we have completed 7 locations and are constructing 10 more locations."

Location 88 (Bao Yen district - Lao Cai) belongs to package No. 2HH - Photo: Le Tien

According to the contract, the progress of package 2 lasts from April 1 to August 31, 2025. With the goal of ensuring progress, the contractor plans to increase manpower to complete the pipe column and anchor column sections before the end of July, in parallel with the wire pulling and berm pulling work to ensure the completion of all items on time.

The rainy weather conditions and slippery terrain at the construction site posed a major challenge. To ensure both progress and safety, the contractor took advantage of favorable weather conditions to work overtime. Areas at risk of landslides on the slopes were strictly protected by barriers. "The contractor arranged for multiple teams to work at the same time to shorten the time and avoid delays," said Mr. Hung.

Transporting materials to the construction site is also ensured smoothly by using specialized vehicles such as three-axle trucks and chain trucks. When the road is muddy, the construction unit proactively spreads rocks to facilitate the movement of vehicles.

In particular, the foundation locations that encountered difficulties due to rocks such as locations 79, 67, 68 and 78, although affecting the progress, have now been almost completed. Mr. Hung said that experience from the previous 500kV line 3 project has helped the contractor effectively apply appropriate construction methods. For the construction of pipe columns, the contractor applied the technique of mounting the columns underground before pulling them up, shortening the time to erect the columns from nearly a month to 5-7 days per location. This contributed to significantly speeding up the progress compared to the traditional method.

Along with the construction speed, the contractor always puts quality and labor safety first. All technical processes are strictly followed. Each construction site is internally inspected under the close supervision of technical staff and management before inviting the consulting unit and investor for official inspection.

Anh Tho

>> Part 2: Fueling the 'spirit of circuit 3' at the construction site of the 500kV Lao Cai-Vinh Yen transmission line

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/tang-toc-dua-du-an-duong-day-500kv-lao-cai-vinh-yen-ve-dich-dung-hen-10225060709053824.htm