Total demand for sand for highway projects in the Mekong Delta region in the period 2021-2025 is about 53.69 million cu.m. — VNA/VNS Photo

MEKONG DELTA — The Ministry of Transport is calculating the demand for sand embankment materials to ensure progress for much-needed highway projects in the Mekong (Cửu Long) Delta region in the 2021-25 period.

Regarding concerns that exploiting sand on the Tiền and Hậu rivers for the Cần Thơ-Cà Mau Expressway project will aggravate landslide and subsidence problems in the delta region, the transport ministry has given specific answers and evaluations on this issue.

According to sand mine planning data from the localities, the total reserve of mines (river sand) is about 215.58 million cu.m, of which An Giang Province has 13 mines with about 54.54 million cu.m, Đồng Tháp Province has 10 mines with about 33.57 million cu.m, Vĩnh Long Province has 10 mines and about 42.3 million cu.m, and Sóc Trăng Province has seven mines and about 85 million cu.m.

The ministry estimates that demand for sand embankment materials for the Cần Thơ-Cà Mau Expressway project is 18.07 million cu.m and for all highway projects in the region is about 53.69 million cu.m, equivalent to about 35 per cent of the reserves of planned mines.

In order to ensure sufficient sand materials for the Cần Thơ-Cà Mau Expressway, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and his deputy Trần Hồng Hà have directly inspected and directed the related provinces to prioritise the arrangement of sufficient sources of materials, as well as assign the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) to review and regulate in accordance with the construction progress of the projects.

The provinces of An Giang, Đồng Tháp and Vĩnh Long were asked to supply sand of 7 million cu.m, 7 million cu.m and 5 million cu.m for the projects, respectively.

The exploitation of sand materials was assessed for environmental impact with the establishment of a system of monitoring the impact of riverbed and riverbank erosion in accordance with regulations to ensure safety and environmental protection and not cause landslides in riverbeds and banks, said the transport ministry.

In order to take the initiative in replacing river sand in the long term, the Prime Minister has directed the MoNRE to implement a project on assessing mineral resources for sea sand exploitation that meet the needs for highways, infrastructure transport and urban development projects in the delta region.

On the other hand, the transport ministry piloted a project to use sea sand for road embankment for a road section of Hậu Giang-Cà Mau Express. So far, the road has been completed and put into operation and monitored.

According to the test results of samples taken in Trà Vinh and Sóc Trăng provinces, sea sand has basic physical and chemical criteria that meet the requirements of road embankments.

The transport ministry is continuing to monitor and evaluate environmental indicators and expects to release the results on the use of sea sand for projects in the delta region.

Regarding sea sand reserves in the Mekong Delta, if the pilot and evaluation meet the requirements, this will be a huge source of materials for the region, said the transport ministry.

With the direction of the Government, the transport ministry, environment ministry, and localities, up to now, the sand material arranged for the Cần Thơ-Hậu Giang Expressway project and Hậu Giang-Cà Mau Express were 1.47 million cu.m.

About 2.7 million cu.m more will be supplied from existing mines in An Giang and Đồng Tháp provinces.

By October this year, when new mines in Vĩnh Long and Đồng Tháp provinces are granted exploitation licences, they will ensure supply of 9.1 million cu.m this year for the projects.

The Cần Thơ-Cà Mau Expressway in the North-South Express Project in 2021-2025 period has a length of more than 110km with a total investment of over VNĐ25 trillion (US$1.1 billion) by the Mỹ Thuận Project Management Board.

This expressway is divided into two component projects including the Cần Thơ-Hậu Giang section with a length of more than 37km with an investment of more than VNĐ10.4 trillion ($472.2 million) and the Hậu Giang-Cà Mau section of more than 73km and an investment of more than VNĐ17.2 trillion ($722.8 million).

The project was started early this year and is scheduled to be completed in 2025 and put into operation from 2026. — VNS