Cho Moi-Bac Kan Expressway behind schedule, Ministry of Construction deploys a series of solutions

(Chinhphu.vn) - Assessing that the completion progress of the Cho Moi-Bac Kan expressway construction project may be affected if timely solutions to speed up the progress are not implemented, the Ministry of Construction requested Project Management Board 2 to closely coordinate and support localities and relevant agencies after merging provinces and organizing 2-level government, and resolving land clearance problems.

Perspective of an intersection on Cho Moi - Bac Kan highway

The Ministry of Construction has just issued a document directing Project Management Board 2 on the implementation of the Cho Moi - Bac Kan route construction investment project, Bac Kan province (now Thai Nguyen province).

Project progress is slow.

The Cho Moi - Bac Kan project started on March 15 and is expected to be completed in 2026. However, the Ministry of Construction assessed that the project implementation is still slow, and the site clearance, resettlement, and relocation of technical infrastructure have not been completed. To date, the new site has been handed over for nearly 16km, reaching more than 55%, and the power lines have not been relocated or the two resettlement areas have not been built.

Construction units have not yet had their output accepted and paid for.

The project area has complex terrain, difficult construction access roads, the project has only 1 bid package but the joint venture contractor divides the construction site, the volume is disjointed and not continuous, which may cause problems during the implementation process.

Recognizing that the project area is now in the rainy season, the project's completion progress may be affected if appropriate solutions are not promptly implemented to speed up the progress, the Ministry of Construction requested Project Management Board 2 to direct the contractor to continue to closely coordinate, support the locality and relevant agencies after merging the province and organizing the 2-level government, and resolve land acquisition and clearance problems.

Timely implementation of solutions to speed up progress

The request is to hand over the entire cleared site for the project in September 2025. On that basis, the contractor will focus on equipment and human resources to basically complete the foundation items, reinforcement works, bridges, tunnels, etc. to meet the completion schedule before the second quarter of 2026.

Project Management Board 2 also reviewed the capital needs related to site clearance, resettlement, and relocation as a basis for reporting to the Ministry of Construction to have a plan to arrange capital sources to meet the needs, ensuring the disbursement progress of the allocated capital in 2025 and the overall progress of traffic opening in 2026.

The Ministry of Construction also requested investors to direct contractors and related units to coordinate with localities to speed up the licensing process for dumping sites; review the demand for construction materials such as earth, sand, and stone to implement procedures to increase the capacity of operating mines (if necessary) to ensure sufficient demand and compliance with legal regulations.

In order to give specific instructions on the organization, operation and management of the project, Project Management Board 2 was assigned the task of requiring the joint venture contractor to mobilize and arrange a full staff, organize the operation of the joint venture management board, increase machinery and equipment to proactively receive, clear the site, complete procedures, and implement all approved work.

For items that have available land and are less affected by the weather (underpasses, culverts, bored piles, beam casting...), the Ministry of Construction requires units to develop plans to deploy all construction lines before August 30.

A series of other solutions were directed by the specialized management ministry to meet the project's progress, such as: Accelerating the construction of service roads along the route, constructing temporary bridges/culverts to clear the route, creating a basis for equipment and material rotation, and early access to construction at "critical" locations; strengthening the construction of construction camps, beam casting yards, material and equipment storage yards, and waste disposal sites, etc.

Along with that, review and soon reach an agreement with management units on the use of local roads for construction, speed up construction licensing procedures for affected projects (Cau River, Quan Stream, DT259, QL3...); Review the overall construction organization measures of the project, especially the deep excavation and high embankment locations, located between sections of different contractors to have a suitable construction plan.

The Ministry of Construction also specifically noted that investors should strengthen the quality control of construction works of contractors and related tasks, ensuring traffic safety, labor safety and environmental sanitation.

The Cho Moi - Bac Kan road project has a total length of nearly 29km. Of which, the Cho Moi - Bac Kan expressway is about 28.4km long; the connecting section is about 0.4km long.

According to the approved plan, the expressway will have a scale of 4 lanes, a roadbed width of 22m, and a design speed of 80km/h. The connecting route will have a roadbed width of 12m. The total investment of the project is over 5,750 billion VND.

Phan Trang

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/cao-toc-cho-moi-bac-kan-cham-tien-do-bo-xay-dung-trien-khai-hang-loat-giai-phap-102250725174515232.htm