The "battle general" of the Song Da River recounts his adventures trekking through forests and crossing rivers for the sake of the nation's electricity supply.

The river is wide, the pole is tall, but "he" will climb it too...

The name Song Da 11 appears almost everywhere on the construction site of the 500kV circuit 3 power line from Quang Trach ( Quang Binh ) to Pho Noi (Hung Yen). I say everywhere because this contractor is responsible for the construction and supply of steel poles across 24 packages of contracts spanning more than 500 kilometers.

The large volume of work and construction value (over 1,600 billion VND), coupled with a very short completion time, puts considerable pressure on companies like Song Da 11, forcing contractors to "find the right people and choose the right leaders" to handle the tasks on the construction site.

In the context of everything being done at a rapid pace, engineer Nguyen Van Dung - Deputy General Director of Song Da 11 Joint Stock Company, who has experience in many power construction sites, was assigned the task of permanently supervising the contract packages along the entire 500kV circuit 3 transmission line.

Deputy General Director of Song Da 11, Nguyen Van Dung (wearing a striped shirt), reports on the progress of the 500kV circuit 3 power line construction to the leaders of EVN/EVNNPT.

- You've been involved in many power generation and transmission projects, so when you joined the 500kV Quang Trach - Pho Noi circuit 3 transmission line project, did you feel overwhelmed by a seemingly difficult "assignment" from the investor, with only 6 months to complete a transmission project worth nearly 1 billion USD?

I'm an engineer, I've been to many construction sites in both the North and South of Vietnam, but honestly, when I got involved in the 500kV Quang Trach - Pho Noi circuit 3 power line project, I felt a lot of pressure! When I first received the project, everyone in the electrical construction industry said it was difficult. How could we complete 1,177 pole foundations for hanging insulators and pulling wires in just over 180 days? How could we "overcome the sun and rain" in places with harsh weather, terrain, and geological conditions like the North Central region?

At that time, the entire Song Da 11 team – from top to bottom – shared a spirit and determination: "It's difficult, but we must test ourselves to see our limits."

We approached the project with that principle in mind, so the "bottlenecks" on the construction site, which at times seemed insurmountable, were gradually overcome. Solving one difficulty after another meant that, considering it a complex "problem," the entire work of Song Da 11 on this project was completed by us in just over 6 months.

A 400-ton wheeled crane with a reach of nearly 160 meters was used for the installation of the bridge pier across the Luoc River.

- Along the entire route, which is over 500 kilometers long, Song Da 11 has won bids for 4 out of 7 of the most challenging tower foundation locations, with a height of 145 meters, and requiring the cables to be pulled across the Red River and Luoc River… How can they overcome such high towers, deep rivers, and harsh weather conditions?

The Song Da 11 project has erected a total of 192 pillars with a total weight of 22,000 tons of steel, including 2 foundation locations and pillars crossing the Red River in Nam Dinh and Thai Binh provinces (locations 119 and 120) and 2 locations crossing the Luoc River in Thai Binh and Hai Duong provinces (locations 214 and 215), with each pillar weighing 426 tons.

“Constructing the 500kV circuit 3 power line – a challenge that, when first tackled, everyone said was difficult. How could we complete 1,177 pole foundations for hanging insulators and laying wires in just over 180 days? How could we overcome the sun and rain?” said Nguyen Van Dung, Deputy General Director of Song Da 11.

We can imagine a tower like that as tall as a 40-story building that we often see in big cities. But in reality, our towers were constructed in the middle of vast fields, under intense sunlight and strong winds, with expansive rivers below... The Chairman of Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) personally visited these locations many times to supervise the construction.

This area is muddy and the soil is very weak, so the contractor had to drive tens of thousands of meters of piles into the ground. The construction process required large cranes (400 tons) with a reach of nearly 160 meters to conquer the 145-meter height crossing the river. The mobilization of equipment for erecting the poles here is unprecedented in the history of power line construction in Vietnam.

In fact, without mechanization and bringing in oversized and heavy equipment, working manually with a small 200-ton crane would have taken 2.5 months to complete, whereas we finished it in 40 days. This increased construction costs, but ensured the project met the investor's requirements.

To climb to the top of the 145-meter-high pole, pole climbers need to be healthy, experienced, and it takes them 50-90 minutes to reach the top beam.

- Besides the appropriate equipment and construction methods, the experience and expertise of the Song Da construction workers certainly played a crucial role in conquering the high points of this extraordinary project, sir?

Climbing such difficult poles requires workers with nerves of steel to be able to sit and work at their top. I estimate that the entire electrical construction industry currently has about 500 workers who are capable and healthy enough to climb tall poles. It takes 50-90 minutes to climb from the bottom to the top, depending on the experience and endurance of each worker, and not everyone can do this job. If you're not a professional, you can only climb about ten meters before feeling dizzy and nauseous in strong winds and intense sunlight.

The entire Song Da 11 project has over 80 workers capable of climbing poles, all mobilized for this crucial project. They worked in the harsh, hot weather of Northern Vietnam at high altitudes, while below, in some sections, our workers had to swim or wade underwater to pull cables across the Red River. During peak construction periods, they also had to carefully monitor the schedule to avoid collisions with watercraft on the river while tensioning the cables on the poles.

To construct the pylons crossing the Red River, the construction unit must coordinate with the Waterway Traffic Police to regulate traffic and ensure construction safety both in the air and on the water.

"He breaks rocks with his hands, she digs gravel with hers" is a saying in Central Vietnam.

- I know there were times when the engineers and workers of Song Da 11 faced very challenging situations, just like the lyrics of the song say, "Your hands break rocks, my hands dig gravel," on the sections passing through the Central region, sir?

When you mention Central Vietnam, everyone knows how harsh the conditions are! Here, we have 6 construction packages managed by the Central Vietnam Power Projects Management Board, and the most challenging location is Package 38 (Dien Chau section, Nghe An ). It's difficult because the road to the construction site requires arduous excavation and embankment of earth and rocks, and the slopes are steep. As for Package 37 (Nghi Loc section, Nghe An), it literally involves hitting rocks, requiring days of drilling and chipping, and even going through the procedures to blast the rocks before pouring concrete.

“Every day, the team starts work at 5:30 a.m. and finishes at 10 p.m. In my unit, there's a man who's been working for over seven months and only gone home to visit his family… twice. That shows how much the team has sacrificed their personal lives and shown great determination for the common good,” said Nguyen Van Dung, Deputy General Director of Song Da 11.

In the summer, the sun here is terrible! Sometimes, unexpectedly touching the outdoor steel pole feels like your hand is burning. The wind is just as strong. I remember one day, while I was pulling the wire, the wind was so strong it blew the wire away; we had to wait for the storm to pass before we could continue.

Furthermore, this section has pole locations situated right in the middle of protected forests, primary forests, and production forests, requiring the demarcation of protected areas where no damage to the forest is permitted. While in the North it's difficult to pull cables across wide rivers, here, the team has to use aerial equipment to pull cables across the forest canopy, as they are not allowed to cut down trees or break branches.

General Director of Song Da 11, Le Anh Trinh, was present to encourage Song Da 11 workers constructing at a particularly difficult location in Central Vietnam (Package 37, the section through Nghe An).

- The 500kV Quang Trach - Pho Noi transmission line project was completed in just over 6 months, considered by many to be a "miracle in the power industry". As one of the units that contributed to this "miracle," what is it that the "soldiers and generals" of Song Da 11 haven't told about their days of hard work on the construction site?

Now that everything is complete and electricity is flowing smoothly from Central to Northern Vietnam, looking back, I realize how immense the hard work and political determination of all levels and sectors have been!

In summary, Song Da 11 contributed to over 10% of the total project value. The allocation of human and material resources to work intensely to meet the project's progress and quality requirements is a matter of course – every contractor has to do this.

We participated in this project with the spirit of "surpassing ourselves," not shying away from difficult tasks, and doing our best for the Song Da 11 brand. Even though some items would have resulted in losses from a business's economic perspective, we persevered.

Personally, I'm the permanent supervisor on the construction site, working alongside the workers, only returning to the unit once a month to handle work. On the construction site, the workers start work at 5:30 AM and finish at 10:00 PM every day.

In my unit, there's a guy who, for over seven months, only managed to go home to visit his family, wife, and children... twice. That's when I realized how much he sacrificed his personal life and how determined he was for the common good.

My superiors would change into their uniforms every Saturday and Sunday, get in their cars, and go down to the construction site to inspect, supervise, and check on the workers. The work was hard, sometimes even dangerous, but with timely encouragement, both mentally and materially, the team felt very secure.

Not only the leaders of my company, but also the leaders of EVN, the National Power Transmission Corporation (EVNNPT), etc., are frequently present on-site to observe. They immediately correct any shortcomings and reward those who perform well with immediate bonuses.

I think all those factors motivated us to complete the project on schedule, as required by the Prime Minister.

Thank you very much, sir!

Projects of similar scale typically take 2-3 years.

The 500kV circuit 3 transmission line project is 519 km long, with 1,177 tower locations, passing through 211 communes/wards in 43 districts across 9 provinces, with a total investment of over 22,300 billion VND. These are particularly important power transmission projects to improve the stability reserve on the North-Central interface, supplement power from the North Central region to the Northern region, and reduce the load on existing 500kV lines.

Under the decisive direction of the Government and the Prime Minister, and with the support of ministries, localities, and the people, EVN/EVNNPT has strived to complete and energize the project in just over 6 months. This is a record short construction time, as projects of similar scale usually take 2-3 years.

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/tuong-tran-song-da-ke-chuyen-bang-rung-vuot-song-vi-dong-dien-dat-nuoc-post529066.html