According to the Ministry of Transport (MOT), the progress and quality of important national transport projects are still guaranteed despite facing numerous difficulties, with the total length of the nation’s expressway system having reached 2,021 kilometres.

The MOT has asked local authorities and project owners to soon address difficulties to fulfil the goal of completing 3,000 kilometres of expressway by 2025.

A 500-day-and-night race

At a recent meeting, the MOT reported that the total length of expressway projects which are under construction is 1,172 kilometres, including 1,104 kilometres scheduled for completion in 2025, and 68 kilometres in 2026 with progress that can be accelerated for completion in 2025. In addition, Dong Thap Province proposed adding 16 kilometres of the Cao Lanh-An Huu Expressway to the 2025 completion plan.

Le Quyet Tien, director of the MOT’s construction investment management, stated that the 28 projects scheduled for completion are divided into three groups. The first group consists of 13 projects that are on track for completion in 2025. The second group includes 9 projects facing obstacles in site clearance and building materials. And the third group is comprised of six projects which would require enormous efforts to be completed next year.

For the first group, the amount of site clearance is not significant but requires large amounts of earthwork and treatment of weak foundations with a soil settlement waiting time of about 10-12 months, affecting the overall construction progress. In the second group, many projects are facing difficulties in site clearance and sand, whose extraction volume does not meet construction progress.

MOT Minister Nguyen Van Thang frankly admitted that the progress of some transport projects remains slow, with the implementation of the intelligent transport system, electronic toll collection, vehicle weight control, and rest stops failing to meet requirements.

In that spirit, he already directed project owners and project management units to ensure the progress, quality and synchronicity of the projects. The Vietnam Expressway Authority was required to accelerate the construction of rest stops along the eastern north-south expressway.

The minister noted that if the expressways are inaugurated without the relevant systems, heads of departments, bureaus and project management units must take responsibility.

Prompt supply of materials

Minister Thang highly appreciated the efforts of project owners, project management units and localities in addressing site clearance and material issues, but he noted that the progress of some projects is still behind schedule.

He stressed: “This requires project owners, project management units and localities to share responsibility, enhance morale, fully identify and promptly resolve the obstacles under their jurisdiction or report to the agencies in charge to resolve them. For its part, the Ministry of Transport will immediately take action to resolve the obstacles under its jurisdiction as soon as possible.”

For the north-south expressways with plans for completion on April 30, 2025, the minister urged for strict control of progress such that the entire earthwork and construction of tunnels and bridges must be completed by December 31, 2024, thereby allowing the construction of the road surface and traffic safety systems can take place concurrently.

For the remaining projects, the progress of the traffic monitoring and operation system should be accelerated to ensure the intelligent traffic system operates at the same time the expressways are put into service.

For the building materials, the minister stated that it is currently necessary to calculate material resources along with site clearance to avoid the situation where the construction site is ready, but materials are not yet available. Even when considering using stones to replace sand in building foundations, efforts are also needed to increase the output of sand mines and maintain material sources for continuous construction.

The MOT also asked project management units to work with local authorities to finalise procedures to change the forest use purpose and increase construction teams to accelerate the progress of sections passing through forests.