In the last days of March, at the construction site of the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project, workers, engineers, and machinery were busy building the various contract packages.

Observations show that contractors are mobilizing maximum manpower and machinery to accelerate the construction progress of bridge structural components such as bored piles and pier foundations. Meanwhile, the road section has not yet been implemented or is being implemented at a slow pace due to difficulties in supplying embankment sand (filling sand).

Construction site of the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project, section passing through Cu Chi district. Photo: TK

Mr. Luong Minh Phuc, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Investment and Construction Project Management Board for Transportation Works (Transportation Board), stated that the entire Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project requires 9.3 million cubic meters of sand. In 2024, the project will need approximately 7 million cubic meters, with Ho Chi Minh City alone requiring about 4.7 million cubic meters, primarily during the second, third, and fourth quarters.

According to Mr. Phuc, Ho Chi Minh City has proactively established a task force to work with provinces in the Mekong Delta region to find sand sources for the Ring Road 3 project. To date, three localities – Vinh Long, Ben Tre, and Tien Giang – have reported that 60 mines in their areas have passed quality checks and have been included in a specific list ready to supply sand for key projects.

Specifically, sand mines in Tien Giang province can supply approximately 2 million cubic meters, while the amount of sand in the Ba Lai River ( Ben Tre province ) available for extraction exceeds 10 million cubic meters. The provinces also have a plan to use this sand for the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project.

However, the biggest challenge now is finalizing the procedures, specifying details for each quarry, and outlining a detailed schedule to deliver the sand to the contractors as soon as possible.

Workers brave the scorching sun to construct the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project. Photo: TK

The Head of the Transportation Department acknowledged that difficulties in sourcing sand for leveling have affected construction items and the overall progress of the project.

While awaiting a potentially abundant supply of sand in the second quarter, the investor has been working with contractors to expedite the completion of items that do not require sand, such as drilling, piling, and bridge structure construction.

"Regarding the parallel road sections, we will continue to proactively work with the contractor to resolve difficulties, come up with temporary solutions, and carry out construction in a phased manner," Mr. Phuc informed.

Ho Chi Minh City wants six provinces to share sand for the Ring Road 3 project.

In relation to this matter, the Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, Bui Xuan Cuong, has recently submitted a document to the Government leadership requesting the removal of difficulties regarding sand for leveling purposes in the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project.

Accordingly, the leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee proposed that Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha chair a working session with the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and local authorities to coordinate the supply of sand for road embankment to serve the project.

Construction site of the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project, section passing through Thu Duc City. Photo: AT.

The People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City also requested the People's Committees of six provinces, including Vinh Long, Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Dong Thap, and An Giang, to agree on the principle of allocating a portion of their sand reserves from provincial sand mines for road embankment construction to supply the Ring Road 3 project.

At the same time, the provinces are also supporting the acceleration of procedures for renewing and granting mining licenses, as well as procedures for auctioning mining rights, in order to promptly supply the project in the second quarter of 2024.

Regarding the supply of sand for road embankment, which localities have committed to providing for other expressway projects (North-South Expressway, Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang Expressway, etc.), the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City requests the Ministry of Transport to support and review the allocation of a portion of the material to the Ring Road 3 project. The priority should be given to projects with urgent progress and higher needs. This is to ensure the synchronized implementation of expressway projects in each phase.

Overall view of the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project. Photo: Nguyen Hue

The Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3, which commenced construction in June 2023, is 76km long and runs through Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Long An provinces. In its first phase, the project is being developed with a scale of 4 lanes of expressway and parallel roads, with a total investment of nearly 75,400 billion VND.

The project is divided into eight sub-projects, with each locality implementing two projects, including land clearance and construction.

As of February this year, the progress of the Ring Road 3 project through Ho Chi Minh City reached over 11%, through Binh Duong province reached 18%, and through Long An province reached 25%. The project through Dong Nai province, however, has only reached 2% completion.

According to the plan, the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project will be substantially completed, with traffic opening by the end of 2025 and the entire route operational in 2026.

Three specific mechanisms help accelerate the progress of the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project . Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan stated that the progress of the Ring Road 3 project has been accelerated thanks to three specific mechanisms outlined in Resolution 57 of the National Assembly.