Why does the Coconut A culvert need to be protected?

Drain — Coconut A culvert was built 63 years ago.

Severe degradation

Coconut A culvert at km 43 + 743 on the right bank of Thai Binh river, in Chi Minh commune (Tu Ky) was built in 1962, regulating irrigation water for more than 3,000 hectares of the basin of many communes and towns of Tu Ky district. The culvert structure is 4 m wide, 3.44 m high, and the culvert body is 13 m long. The upper culvert body is short, and the upper and lower reaches of the culvert are eroded.

In 1998, the Dua A culvert was overhauled, lengthened, and repaired. The length of the culvert after extension was 26 m. The culvert wall was made of bricks, and the culvert wings were made of steel, consisting of 6 panels.

Since 1998, the sluice has not been repaired. In recent years, the downstream part of the Dua A sluice inside the dike has been seriously eroded, the erosion arc is 30 - 40 m long, 5 - 7 m deep into the bank, there are many cracks and the possibility of further erosion.

The rack and pinion gate opener is outdated, there is no replacement opener, it often has to be repaired individually, lacks uniformity, and is seriously degraded.

Mr. Trinh Dinh Quyen, an official of the Dike Management Department of Tu Ky district, said: "Every time the drainage sluice is opened, two strong people must take turns manually turning the machine and must borrow the pulling force from two concrete weights weighing hundreds of kilograms hanging on both sides to lift the sluice gate."

The downstream part of the Coconut A culvert inside the dike has been seriously eroded.

In 2022, the dike section from km 42 + 370 to km 44 + 700 was repaired and upgraded. The stone embankment on the field side of the Dua A culvert was removed and filled with soil, and a brick retaining wall 18 m long and 1.85 m high was built along the dike, the top of the retaining wall is 0.35 m wide, the foundation is 1 m wide. The upstream dike slope of the culvert is adjacent to the head wall and the steep wing wall.

Coconut A culvert is located in the downstream area, often affected by tides. In the event of a major flood like in 2024, the risk of dangerous incidents in this area is not small, such as landslides in the culvert area, water leakage in the culvert, etc. If not handled promptly, it can cause the culvert to break, causing many natural areas of Tu Ky and Ninh Giang districts to be flooded, threatening the safety of people's lives and property.

According to the reporter's investigation, on March 7, 2024, the Prime Minister approved the Project "Integrated flood risk management adapting to climate change, component of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, borrowing capital from the Asian Development Bank", including investment in the construction of the new Dua A sluice, with implementation period from 2024 to 2028. Therefore, the province did not include the repair and upgrade of this project in other investment plans.

3 handling situations

The soil removal site to handle possible incidents is about 150 m from the Dua A culvert area.

While waiting for the above project to be implemented, the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Hai Duong has developed a plan to protect the key Dua A sluice during this year's flood season according to 3 specific scenarios, to be ready to handle any incidents that may occur.

The hypothetical situations are when the flood is high and prolonged, the upstream dike area and the dike that has been soaked in water for a long time are saturated with water, causing the roof to collapse, the sluice gate to get stuck and cannot go down, and some leaks appear in the fields downstream of the river...

Responding to each situation, the Department of Agriculture and Environment has developed a treatment plan, treatment time, and prepared adequate materials, equipment, and human resources... according to the "4 on-site" motto, implementing it urgently, promptly, and effectively.

According to the protection plan, the Construction Site Command Board to handle possible incidents at Dua A culvert during this year's flood season includes all relevant forces, including Comrade Bui Van Thang, Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, as Head of the Construction Site Command Board.

The map of materials to protect Dua A culvert has been built very specifically and in detail.

Chairman of the People's Committee of Chi Minh Commune, Nguyen Tuan Anh, said that in order to carry out the assigned tasks, the locality has proactively signed contracts with individuals to fully prepare materials and means such as bamboo, sacks, soil, generators, cars, excavators, ropes, etc. so that they can be mobilized immediately when needed.

"We have arranged a site for taking soil to handle the incident about 150 meters from the Dua A culvert area, convenient for transportation by car. When ordered, the Commune People's Committee will mobilize all local shock forces, and if necessary, all people and vehicles will participate in handling the incident," Mr. Tuan Anh emphasized.

Currently, the Dike Management Department of Tu Ky district has assigned officials to regularly be on duty and inspect the Dua A sluice point. When there is a flood, high tide and information about a storm, the dike guard force will be on duty 24/7, monitor, accurately and promptly report incidents to superiors and participate in handling when requested from the first hour.

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/vi-sao-cong-dua-a-can-duoc-bao-ve-413793.html