Project to renovate and upgrade National Highway 14B: Removing obstacles, speeding up construction progress

The project to renovate and upgrade National Highway 14B through Da Nang city is facing many difficulties and obstacles, directly affecting the construction progress and the goal of completing it on time.

Construction of the project to renovate and upgrade National Highway 14B. Photo: THANH LAN

Many obstacles

Site clearance and material supply remain bottlenecks on National Highway 14B, which acts as a vital artery connecting Da Nang City with the Central Highlands provinces. The section from Tuy Loan intersection to Dai Loc commune is being upgraded and renovated. Although the project started construction at the end of 2023, the site handover is still facing many difficulties, affecting the implementation of the construction.

According to the Department of Construction (project investor), regarding the site clearance dossier, the approved compensation value has been applied to 1,063/1,080 dossiers. Of which, 837 dossiers received compensation. The construction unit approached the site for 748 dossiers. The remaining part of the site clearance council is completing the dossiers according to the results of the public reception to invite households to receive compensation.

Regarding the construction handover, about 5.2km/7.58km (68.60%) on the right side of the route and 4.8km/7.58km (63.33%) on the left side of the route have been handed over.

New contractors have been approached to construct about 3.40/7.58km (44.85%) on the left side of the route and 4.20/7.58km (55.40%) on the right side of the route. The remaining locations have not been received continuously so they have not been fully implemented. The remaining areas have not been handed over so they are urgently implementing the work of inventory, evaluating functions, pricing, receiving and mobilizing people and completing payment procedures.

Regarding the relocation of technical infrastructure, for technical infrastructure not under state management, the managing units are implementing according to the site clearance progress; the site is cleared and the relocation is carried out as soon as the site clearance is completed because it is necessary to ensure communication, electricity and water sources to serve production and the lives of people and businesses within the project area; at the same time, it does not affect the construction progress of the contractor. For Da Nang Electricity, 94/149 low-voltage poles have been relocated and 4/149 poles are being relocated.

Currently, the contractor has completed the relocation of trees in front of the old Hoa Vang District People's Committee Administrative Center, is relocating the fence and An Phuoc relic stele, and the communication cable system.

In addition to site clearance issues, the supply of construction materials, especially roadbed soil, is a pressing issue. Because the quarries in Da Nang are in the process of being licensed or have limited reserves, contractors must transport soil from neighboring localities, increasing costs and extending transportation time.

In addition to earth, construction materials such as crushed stone and sand are also in short supply locally due to increased demand from many other projects in the area. Some mines have tightened environmental control procedures, causing unstable supply.

Specifically, since the project started, the local material supply situation has encountered many difficulties because the material mines in the area are prioritized for the Hoa Lien - Tuy Loan expressway project, Lien Chieu port and a number of other key projects being implemented simultaneously in the city. The Department of Construction of Da Nang City regularly reports to the City People's Committee to focus on directing the removal of obstacles related to licensing procedures and extensions for material mines in the city according to regulations to ensure the supply of materials for the project.

According to the Department of Construction, the project is in the stage of concentrating on filling the soil based on coordination from the logistics soil mine, however, the reserves at this mine are almost exhausted, the remaining soil volume does not meet the technical requirements for filling the roadbed. The Department of Construction has reported to the City People's Committee to request the policy of coordinating excess soil from other projects, however, the projects are also in a similar state of scarcity. The Department of Construction continues to coordinate with relevant units to find sources of soil for the project.

Remove obstacles, speed up progress

Starting from July, the Central region entered the unseasonal rainy season and alternating intense heat, making construction at the site difficult. Contractors said that just a few hours of heavy rain could cause the roadbed to be flooded and eroded, forcing construction to stop, causing prolonged interruptions. In particular, organizing construction at night to avoid the heat was also limited due to poor lighting, affecting labor safety. Units had to ensure progress while working hard to overcome the impact of the weather so as not to be late with the investor.

Faced with these difficulties, the project management board and local authorities are working closely to resolve each problem. In particular, accelerating site clearance is considered a key task.

According to Deputy Head of Construction Quality Management Department, Vu Ngoc Trung, the project is mobilizing 17 construction teams with nearly a hundred engineers and workers; in addition, there are dozens of equipment such as wheel excavators, bulldozers, rollers, transport trucks, rammers, excavators, excavators, cranes and other machinery and equipment to focus on construction.

Recently, the Ministry of Construction issued a document approving the contract extension until December 31, 2025. The Department of Construction directed the contractor to increase construction teams, machinery, equipment, human resources, and materials to implement, make up for the delayed progress, and meet the set plan.

In particular, the investor requested the Son Dong contractor and the CIENCO 4 contractor to have a construction plan suitable for the narrow site conditions. At the same time, the construction must be organized appropriately for the terrain conditions, and equipment and personnel must be mobilized and divided into many construction teams to speed up the implementation progress.

It is known that the project is mainly implemented on agricultural land and residential land on both sides of the route, so it faces many difficulties due to its dependence on compensation and site clearance. In general, the site clearance work is still behind schedule due to many objective and subjective reasons.

The main reasons are the large volume of land clearance, complicated legal nature, limited staff, and the need to focus on clearing the Hoa Lien - Tuy Loan expressway. In addition, the Hoa Vang District Land Clearance Board (old) has been transferred to operate at the Land Fund Development Center under the Department of Agriculture and Environment, so the stable arrangement of the apparatus greatly affects the progress of land clearance...

However, to complete the project of upgrading and renovating National Highway 14B on time as committed, close direction from all levels and synchronous coordination between people, authorities and investors are needed.

Source: https://baodanang.vn/du-an-cai-tao-nang-cap-quoc-lo-14b-go-vuong-mac-day-nhanh-tien-do-thi-cong-3265215.html