Contractors work hard to overcome the sun and rain to complete the Dong Dang - Tra Linh expressway

More than 3,000 engineers and workers of the Dong Dang – Tra Linh Expressway Project are working on the construction site, “braving the sun and rain”, organizing construction in “3 shifts, 4 teams” to complete phase 1, ready to start phase 2 on August 19.

Taking advantage of the sunny weather after a long period of rain and floods, outdoor construction items were increased by contractors with additional manpower and machinery to make up for the progress.

The Dong Dang - Tra Linh expressway construction investment project with a length of 121 km and a total investment of nearly 23,000 billion VND, passing through Lang Son and Cao Bang provinces, is divided into two investment phases.

Phase 1 of the Dong Dang - Tra Linh Expressway Construction Investment Project is 93.35 km long, including 2 mountain tunnels and 64 overpasses across the Ky Cung and Bang Giang rivers, streams and provincial roads.

Phase 2 of the Project will expand the entire 93.35 km of phase 1, and at the same time invest in constructing an additional 26.47 km of route up to Tra Linh border gate, including building 17 new bridges and 3 tunnels.

The Dong Dang - Tra Linh Expressway construction investment project phase 2 has been approved by competent authorities with a scale of 4 lanes under the PPP method, applying the same mechanism as phase 1; completing investment in intersections and rest stops according to the standards and design standards of the expressway.

In the context of the first phase being prepared for the route, the commencement of the second phase on August 19 is an urgent requirement to complete the Dong Dang - Tra Linh Expressway Construction Investment Project to ensure consistency in quality and progress along the entire route, while also being associated with a series of activities celebrating the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day September 2.

Before the deadline for Phase 1 to be opened in December, the entire Project has completed 14.73/23 million m³ of excavation and 7.62/14.6 million m³ of filling. However, the rainy and flood weather, complex geological structure and the requirement to carry out some works of Phase 2 in parallel have put considerable pressure on the progress of the construction units.

The floods in June in the Northeastern mountainous region washed away many auxiliary construction items, directly affecting the progress and assets of contractors.

The biggest damage is that progress has stalled even though contractors have increased their manpower and machinery by 1.5 to 2 times, in the context of construction time being shortened by 1 year compared to the contract.

At many sections of the route, floods have washed away temporary bridges, causing many areas to become "islands", disrupting the transportation of raw materials.

Taking advantage of the sunny weather after a long period of rain and floods, outdoor construction items, especially river crossings, have had contractors increase manpower and machinery to make up for the progress.

Mr. Pham Duy Hieu - Deputy General Director of Deo Ca Group, concurrently Director of the General Contractor's Executive Board, said that the erratic rainy and flood weather and the amount of work arising to prepare for phase 2 of the Dong Dang - Tra Linh Expressway Construction Investment Project made it urgent to adjust the construction sequence, and it was necessary to establish "critical path" items of the schedule to open more construction points.

"While racing against schedule, construction units must ensure project quality as well as labor safety conditions," Mr. Pham Duy Hieu affirmed.

To handle the huge workload, the Project Enterprise and the General Contractor's Executive Board worked directly with each contractor, signed weekly commitments, and held weekly meetings to closely monitor progress.

Many contractors, despite having enough machinery as committed, still proactively rent additional equipment to take advantage of time and speed up production.

The solution of using viaducts was chosen to protect the natural landscape to the maximum and minimize the impact on agricultural production.

“Full of challenges!”, engineer Vu Dinh Vinh - Director of the EPC Package Management Board, shared when asked about the construction process of the tunnel items of the Dong Dang - Tra Linh Expressway Construction Investment Project.

“The terrain here is extremely rugged with steep slopes, posing many challenges in terms of construction site arrangement, road deployment, and machinery and equipment,” said Mr. Vinh.

According to engineer Vinh, the tunnel items of the project are located on limestone mountain geology, very likely to encounter karst caves. Throughout the implementation of the Project, the engineering team of the contractors always coordinates with the project enterprise, the consulting and supervising unit and experts to solve the geological "problem".

To overcome these difficulties, the engineering team has sought many creative solutions such as improving blasting passports to reduce construction time, while still ensuring efficiency.

In particular, the attention of construction units to maintenance and repair of machinery and reserve of necessary materials also helps to minimize breakdowns and maintain construction pace.

Regarding the applied technology and equipment, the construction unit has applied NATM technology “Deo Ca system” - an advanced and flexible tunneling method, which helps to handle the geological type in the Northeast mountainous region well. The modern equipment system of Deo Ca Group such as self-propelled drilling and spraying machines has also been put into use, ensuring the highest efficiency and safety.

With karst geological structure and fragmented terrain, Minister of Construction Tran Hong Minh commented during an inspection on June 30: "This is one of the most challenging projects at present but also has important political and strategic significance."

According to the report of the Project Enterprise, up to now, contractors have mobilized more than 3,200 personnel and 1,456 machines and equipment, deployed simultaneously at 287 construction sites. The cumulative output of the entire Project has reached 3,980/10,600 billion VND (38% of the contract value), equivalent to 60% of the throughput output in 2025.

Mr. Dang Tien Thang - Director of the Project Enterprise, said that the pressure on the progress of Phase 1 of the Project is increasing because the deadline for opening the route according to the Prime Minister's direction is now only about 5 months left.

However, investors and contractors of the Dong Dang - Tra Linh Expressway Construction Investment Project are committed to working closely with the government and people to resolve each problem related to site clearance, dumping sites, and technical infrastructure as committed, and to focus all resources to complete the goal of opening the route in 2025.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/cac-nha-thau-don-luc-vuot-nang-thang-mua-quyet-thong-tuyen-cao-toc-dong-dang--tra-linh-d361807.html