Speed ​​up sand mining progress for highway project

Can Tho City currently has 9 river sand mines and 1 sea sand mine that have been certified and extended for exploitation and supply to component project 4 of the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway construction investment project, phase 1. However, in the past, the mines have been operating below their permitted capacity or have not yet been exploited. The city has directed relevant units to urgently and resolutely speed up the progress of sand exploitation and supply, ensuring the progress of project construction.

Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway project, section passing through Can Tho city.

Only reached more than 40% of the allowed capacity

According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Can Tho City, the city has issued 7 mining confirmations and extended 2 licenses with a total reserve of nearly 9 million m³ of river sand, exploiting and supplying for component project 4. However, contractors and sand mining enterprises at sand mines MS 03, MS 04, MS 12, MR 12, MS 06 have not yet reached the licensed capacity. Sand mine MS 05 was granted to the Traffic Construction Corporation 5 - JSC, with a reserve of 650,000 m3, an average exploitation capacity of 3,000 m3/day. The Corporation started exploitation from July 4 to August 6, 2025, reaching 1,459 m3 and has temporarily stopped exploitation from August 7, 2025 to present. MS 02 sand mine is licensed for exploitation by My Da Construction Company Limited, with a reserve of 63,000m3 and an average exploitation capacity of 426m3/day. The contractor has registered the vehicle and completed the procedures, but as of early September 2025, exploitation has not yet started.

According to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tuan, representative of Truong Son Construction Corporation, as of September 2, 2025, the Company has exploited more than 386,000m3 of MS 12 mine, reaching 61.47% of the licensed reserves. However, the sand at this mine contains many impurities, the sand layer is thin, so exploitation is difficult, leading to not reaching capacity...

In addition, according to relevant units, sand mining at mines still faces difficulties in mobilizing equipment and mining vehicles that meet the requirements of the locality; vehicle registration and inspection still face many obstacles. Some contractors and mining units are not proactive in mining, and do not ensure commitments on output and progress of material supply. Contractors and enterprises do not arrange means and equipment for mining and transportation; there are also cases where equipment is frequently damaged but has not been repaired or replaced in time. Sand mining and transportation work is not coordinated and ineffective. Sand transportation to construction sites is difficult because large ships, after receiving sand, cannot enter small river mouths due to the salinity prevention sluice system, and must pump sand to small ships inside the sluice, causing transportation to slow down.

Mr. Ngo Thai Chan, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Can Tho City, said: As of September 2, 2025, from 9 exploited sand mines, the project component 4 supplied about 2.2 million m3. According to 7 confirmations and 2 mineral exploitation licenses, the total permitted exploitation capacity is about 25,433 m3/day on average. However, the current exploitation capacity is only from 10,000-11,000 m3/day, reaching about 40-43% of the total permitted capacity. If at the current rate, by the end of December 2025, the total river sand reserves at 9 sand mines that can be mobilized to supply the project component 4 will be a maximum of about 3.28 million m3.

Regarding the sea sand mine, the People's Committee of Soc Trang province (old) has licensed 1 mine in Sub-area B1.4, with a reserve of 2 million m3 for Construction Corporation No. 1 to exploit and supply for component project 4, but so far the contractor has not yet implemented it. According to Mr. Nguyen Danh Tuan, representative of Construction Corporation No. 1 - JSC, the company has basically completed the procedures and will soon put it into operation.

Urgently speed up progress

The Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang Expressway Project is a national key project and must be completed in 2026 as required by the Prime Minister. Component 4 currently only reaches over 40% of the contract value, mainly due to the slow collection of sand materials at the construction site.

According to Mr. Ngo Thai Chan, the current sand volume depends largely on the mining capacity of the units assigned to the mine. Through calculations, if the mining units ensure the permitted capacity of about 25,433m3/day, by December 31, 2025, the output will reach about 5.1 million m3. To ensure the sand source for the Component 4 project, the Department of Agriculture and Environment recommends that contractors and enterprises promote the exploitation of licensed sand mines such as MS 03, MS 04, MS 12, MR 12, MS 06; and soon start exploitation at mines MS 05 and MS 02. At the same time, during the implementation process, contractors increase the mining capacity to ensure progress. Construction Corporation No. 1 - JSC urgently puts the B1.4 sea sand mine into operation. The City People's Committee should soon issue sand prices at the mine so that contractors can feel secure in the exploitation.

In addition, for the B1.1 and B1.2 sea sand mines supplying the North-South expressway in the East, the remaining reserves are about 2.5 million m3. Currently, the demand for the Can Tho - Ca Mau expressway project is not much. The Government is drafting a Resolution on promulgating specific mechanisms and policies. When the Resolution is issued, the contractor assigned to the sand mine is allowed to supply the project. Therefore, it is possible to transfer this sand source to serve the Component 4 project. The City People's Committee has worked with and Vinh Long province has approved support from 2 sand mines with a volume of about 750,000 m3. Truong Son Construction Corporation is proposing to transfer sand from Dong Thap province at 2 mines with a reserve of about 500,000 m3. Thus, with the above volume of sand, it is basically guaranteed to serve the project.

At a recent meeting on the situation of sand mining in the city serving the Component 4 project of the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang Expressway Construction Investment Project, Phase 1, Mr. Tran Van Lau, Chairman of Can Tho City People's Committee, requested: Relevant departments, branches, and investors must adhere to the daily and weekly progress, proactively remove obstacles, and speed up the progress of sand mining at sand mines that have been certified for exploitation contractors. Investors must grasp the situation of contractors performing sand mining, report to the City People's Committee to handle contractors who are behind schedule and have poor capacity, affecting the overall progress. The Department of Agriculture and Environment should consider and boldly increase capacity according to regulations for mines that are assessed to have good sand quality and large reserves. For sea sand mines, contractors need to promptly complete procedures, prepare exploitation means, and monitor salinity to ensure safety and not affect production and people's lives. In addition, detailed records should be prepared, implemented publicly and transparently, and some sections can be piloted to evaluate effectiveness before expansion.

Article and photos: T. TRINH

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/day-nhanh-tien-do-khai-thac-cat-phuc-vu-du-an-cao-toc-a190875.html