A section of the North-South Expressway under construction. VNA.VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI – Many national key transportation projects are experiencing delays due to a shortage of sand for road embankments.

This shortage, coupled with extraction capacity issues, is expected to significantly impact the completion timelines of these projects, if not addressed promptly.

According to the Construction Investment Management Department (Ministry of Transport), the North-South Expressway projects have been handed over 717.47 km of land (equal to 99.5 per cent) but the projects’ progress had not completed by June 20, due to delays in relocating high-voltage power lines in some localities and in supplying of imported electrical equipment and high-voltage line accessories.

The construction value for the North-South Expressway projects has reached approximately VNĐ40.62 trillion (US$1.6 billion) equal to 41.3 per cent of the contract value.

Some component projects are on track, with more than 45 per cent completion, including Bãi Vọt-Hàm Nghi, Bùng-Vạn Ninh, Vạn Ninh-Cam Lộ, Chí Thạnh-Vân Phong, Vũng Áng-Bùng, and Vân Phong-Nha Trang.

However, several component projects such as Quảng Ngãi-Hoài Nhơn, Cần Thơ-Hậu Giang and Hậu Giang-Cà Mau are at risk of missing deadlines. The delays have been put down to the slow approval of construction material mines, inadequate sand extraction capacity and contractors not meeting construction requirements.

For the sections from Cần Thơ to Cà Mau provinces, local authorities have approved 16 out of 19 million cu.m of sand needed for the project, leaving a shortage of 3 million cu.m. Currently, only 14.9 million cu.m is being mined.

To date, 5.93 million cu.m of sand has been delivered to construction sites, whereas the required volume to complete embankment work is 10.8 million cu.m.

The average exploitation rate is 27,000 cu.m per day, which falls short of the 70,000-90,000 cu.m per day needed.

Trần Văn Thi, director of the Mỹ Thuận Project Management Board, said that the project's progress is at 34 per cent compared to the plan, lagging by 14 per cent due to the sand shortage.

"To complete the project by 2025, we need approximately 9.6 million cu.m of sand by 31 October," said Thi.

“We request Đồng Tháp, An Giang, Vĩnh Long, Tiền Giang, Bến Tre and Sóc Trăng provinces to support the project by increasing the exploitation capacity of river and sea sand mines."

To ensure the sand exploitation capacity meets the construction progress of the Cần Thơ-Cà Mau Expressway Project, the Ministry of Transport has requested Bến Tre and Tiền Giang provinces to provide 2 million cu.m of sand for the project in July.

Additionally, the ministry has asked An Giang Province to allocate 2.43 million cu.m of sand from the Châu Đốc-Cần Thơ-Sóc Trăng Expressway Project to the Cần Thơ-Hậu Giang and Hậu Giang-Cà Mau sections, as directed by Deputy Prime Minister Trần Hồng Hà.

To resolve the sand supply issues, the ministry has urged provinces with sand resources, including An Giang, Đồng Tháp, Tiền Giang, Sóc Trăng, Trà Vinh and Bến Tre to co-ordinate closely with the inter-agency task force led by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

The review is to adjust the allocation of materials, ensuring the supply meets project requirements, especially for those scheduled to be completed by the end of 2025.

An Giang, Vĩnh Long, and Đồng Tháp provinces are requested to allow contractors to maximise the exploitation capacity at existing mines, based on strict monitoring of erosion levels.

They are also encouraged to approve new mines and prioritise commercial sand purchases to meet project timelines.

During an inspection of the Cần Thơ-Cà Mau Expressway Project earlier this week, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính directed local authorities to resolve all remaining land clearance issues and hand over the land to contractors by July.

To meet the project deadlines, the Prime Minister also asked local authorities to allocate mines, adjust extraction capacities, and coordinate sand supply for the project.

Sea sand, once treated and delivered to the site, has a lower salinity than required, even lower than river sand and should be used for the project's embankments. Constructors should also explore the use of fly ash for filling. VNS