Ministry of Transport announces results of pilot using sea sand as road foundation

The Ministry of Transport has recently sent a document to the People’s Committees of provinces and cities, informing them of some results and main contents of the pilot use of sea sand as road pavement.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Transport stated that it has coordinated with other ministries and agencies to complete the pilot use of sea sand as road pavement material and has established a Ministry-level evaluation board to evaluate the implementation results.

The Ministry of Transport evaluates that sea sand used for the pilot section meets the physical requirements for road pavement materials according to TCVN 9436:2012. Photo: CHÂU ANH

Based on the results of the pilot use of sea sand as road pavement material in the return section of DT.978 of the Hau Giang – Ca Mau component project (part of the East North – South Expressway project from 2021-2025, Can Tho – Ca Mau section), the Ministry of Transport evaluated that “Sea sand used for the pilot section meets the physical requirements for road pavement materials according to TCVN 9436:2012”.

However, the ministry believes that because the pilot has only been carried out on a small scale with lower design requirements than the expressway, and the quality of sea sand has only been studied for one area which is the sea sand mine in Tra Vinh province, the technical standards and requirements for salt tolerance for crops and livestock are not fully met.

“Therefore, the use of sea sand as a general material for road construction needs to continue to be pilot expanded in projects with higher scale and design requirements, as well as pilot in different natural conditions, environmental conditions, and different sea sand sources to have a comprehensive evaluation” – stated in the Ministry of Transport’s document.

In the document, the Ministry of Transport also mentioned that the Ministry-level council has agreed on the conditions for using sea sand as road pavement material for high-speed roads. Specifically, sea sand that meets the material standards according to TCVN 9436:2012 should only be used for pavement with a compactness of K ≤ 95 in areas with similar environmental conditions to the pilot area.

The Ministry of Transport proposes that the People’s Committees of provinces and cities should consider the natural and environmental conditions similar to the pilot project when expanding the pilot use of sea sand as road pavement material for infrastructure projects. Photo: CHÂU ANH

Accordingly, in the immediate future, it is necessary to consider using sea sand for the underground area and pavement with a compactness of K95, the pavement area below the area affected by loading. In addition, it is necessary to deploy environmental monitoring solutions to monitor the impact during the implementation process.

Based on the evaluation results, the Ministry of Transport proposes that the People’s Committees of provinces and cities rely on the needs and actual conditions to implement local projects. From there, organize the pilot expansion of using sea sand as road pavement material for infrastructure projects with natural and environmental conditions similar to the pilot project.

The Ministry of Transport also proposes that during the implementation process, agencies should study the recommendations of the Ministry-level scientific council. At the same time, there should be environmental monitoring solutions, monitoring, and evaluating the impact during the implementation process. In addition, it is necessary to ensure compliance with investment regulations, construction regulations, and related legal regulations, and to synthesize data to submit to the Ministry of Transport.

CHAU ANH