The Progress of the Longest Highway Construction in Vietnam
In the first days of the new year 2024, the Construction Investment Management Agency has reported to the Ministry of Transport on the progress of the construction of the East-West North-South highway project in the 2021-2025 phase (phase 2).
To accelerate the construction progress and help the project reach its goal early, on the construction site of the East-West North-South highway phase 2, the contractors have mobilized a total of 6,480 types of machinery and equipment, 15,209 construction personnel, and 359 consulting and supervising personnel. This is a record-breaking number among the highway transportation projects in Vietnam.
Construction of the Vung Ang – Bung section in Ha Tinh. Photo: Ha Tinh Newspaper
Up to now, a total of 561 construction sites have been mobilized on the entire project. Among them, there are 286 bridge construction teams and 275 road construction teams, residential tunnels, and some other structures along the route.
The total investment capital of the project that has been disbursed in 2023 reached approximately 28.3 trillion dong, which is more than 62%. Specifically, the land acquisition and compensation work has disbursed more than 7.9 trillion dong (achieving more than 52%); consulting, project management, and other costs have disbursed over 1 trillion dong (achieving nearly 78%); the construction work disbursement has reached over 19.3 trillion dong (achieving nearly 67%), according to the Construction Investment Management Agency.
Regarding the progress of the construction of the service roads for construction purposes, according to the Construction Investment Management Agency, by the end of September, more than 400 km of service roads have been completed and under construction, with a completion rate of over 64%.
The project has cleared over 670 km of land and handed it over to the investors, achieving more than 93%. Among them, the contractors and construction units have carried out nearly 646 km of construction groundwork, reaching 89.5%.
76 out of 147 resettlement areas have been completed, including: 3 areas of the Ham Nghi – Vung Ang highway, Vung Ang – Bung section in Ha Tinh; 3 areas of the Bung – Van Ninh highway, Van Ninh – Cam Lo through Quang Binh; 23 areas of the Quang Ngai – Hoai Nhon highway through Quang Ngai; 35 areas of the Quang Ngai – Hoai Nhon, Hoai Nhon – Quy Nhon, Quy Nhon – Chi Thanh through Binh Dinh; 4 areas of the Chi Thanh – Van Phong highway through Phu Yen; 6 areas of the Van Phong – Nha Trang highway through Khanh Hoa; 2 areas of the Can Tho – Hau Giang highway through Hau Giang.
By mid-February 2024, the total work volume has exceeded 21% of the contract value and overall meets the schedule requirements. Component projects such as Vung Ang – Bung, Bung – Van Ninh, Chi Thanh – Van Phong, and Van Phong – Nha Trang have the best construction progress.
One notable project component is the Van Phong – Nha Trang section, which has achieved nearly 40% of the contract value after about 1 year of construction, exceeding the plan by 5%. Currently, 49 construction teams are working in 3 shifts, 4 shifts to achieve the goal of completing the project by June 2025, which is 6 months ahead of the contract period.
In addition, the Ham Nghi – Vung Ang project is also one of the project components on the East-West North-South highway in the 2021 – 2025 phase that aims to finish ahead of schedule by about 5-6 months.
Right after Tet, 52 construction teams across the entire Ham Nghi – Vung Ang project site have been mobilized to accelerate the progress of the items. Up to now, the construction output of the project has reached about 20% of the contract value. Among them, the bridge items (40 bridges) on the route have the highest implementation value, reaching about 55%.
Contractors have maximized the deployment of engineers, workers, and machinery and equipment to construct the Van Phong – Nha Trang highway. Photo: Khanh Hoa Newspaper
Difficulties on the Construction Site of the East-West North-South Highway Phase 2
In 2024, the East-West North-South Highway Phase 2 project was prioritized by the government to expedite construction investment. Mr. Nguyen The Minh, Deputy Director of the Construction Investment Management Agency (Ministry of Transport), said to Giao Thong Hay Newspaper that the budget allocation for the Ministry of Transport of nearly 60 trillion dong in 2024 is entirely feasible.
To ensure that major projects like the East-West North-South Highway phase 2 can reach their goal in 2025, the Construction Investment Management Agency is advising the Ministry of Transport to instruct the investors to require the contractors to review and establish specific construction schedules, determine the necessary capital needs, and compile reports for the government’s consideration and additional resource allocation.
In addition to the favorable conditions, the East-West North-South Highway project is still facing difficulties in land clearance and material supply for contractors on the construction site, especially filling materials.
Regarding land clearance work, in order to ensure the project implementation progress, the Ministry of Transport suggests that localities completely and decisively resolve land clearance work, focusing on building resettlement areas, stabilizing the lives of the people, and coordinating with the Vietnam Electricity Group, the Ministry of Industry and Trade to complete agreements, appraise plans, and organize the relocation of high-voltage power lines.
Regarding material supply work, according to the calculations by the Ministry of Transport representative, the total demand for stone materials for the 10 component projects of the East-West North-South Highway phase 2 from Ha Tinh province to Khanh Hoa province is more than 17 million m3; sand is about 9 million m3; filling soil is about nearly 46 million m3. However, the supply of construction materials for the projects is currently slower than the requirements.
Therefore, the Ministry of Transport recommends that the localities promptly identify sufficient material supply sources, coordinate with the investors, and the contractors to complete the procedures for ordinary mineral exploration, ensuring sufficient reserves and capacities according to the construction progress as a prerequisite for completing the projects on time.
Various units and contractors simultaneously started construction on the Chí Thạnh – Vân Phong section of the North-South Highway on the first day after the Lunar New Year 2024. Photo: Bao Phu Yen
To solve the fundamental issue of the shortage of filling materials in the construction of national key projects, the Ministry of Transport said that it is necessary to study and adjust the Minerals Law and Land Law in a direction that allows direct allocation of mines for exclusive exploitation for the projects. This will simplify the procedures for granting mineral exploitation permits and create conditions for investors and construction units to proactively obtain roadbed filling materials.
The total investment amount of the East-West North-South Highway project is 146,990 billion dong, with 119,666 billion dong arranged in the 2021 – 2025 phase.
The East-West North-South Highway is 2,153 km long, with a scale of 4-10 lanes (currently planned at 2,063 km); the Northern highway system (14 routes) is 2,313 km long, with a scale of 4-6 lanes (currently planned at 2,305 km); the Central Highlands – Central Coast highway system (from 10 to 11 routes) is 1,532 km long, with a scale of 4-6 lanes (currently planned at 1,431 km); the Southern highway system (10 routes) is 1,340 km long, with a scale of 4-10 lanes (currently planned at 1,290 km).
