Urgently clear Lach Con and Lach Thoi

(Baonghean) - At this time, construction units are speeding up the progress of the Lach Con dredging project (Quynh Phuong ward, Hoang Mai town) and the Lach Thoi dredging project (in Son Hai and Quynh Tho communes of Quynh Luu district). It is expected that by the end of May, the above two projects will be put into use to ensure safe navigation and anchoring of ships.

In 2011, the State invested in the project of dredging and building the Lach Con storm shelter area with a total investment of 118.9 billion VND. The project is divided into 2 phases, phase 1 is 62.7 billion VND, phase 2 is 56.2 billion VND, meeting the needs of 600 ships with capacity from 33 CV to 200 CV to enter and exit and anchor safely to avoid storms. Phase I dredging with a length of nearly 5 km (from Quynh Phuong bridge to the estuary), stone embankment of the fishing port area. Due to difficulties in funding, the People's Committee of Hoang Mai Town has proposed the Provincial People's Committee to extend the contract of phase I to September 30, 2015, but the construction unit is determined to complete it in May 2015.

Dredging vessel operating in Lach Thoi – Quynh Tho (Quynh Luu)

Mr. Tran Luong - Commander of the construction unit of the project to dredge and build a storm shelter area in Lach Con said: The company has mobilized 3 ships, including 2 dredgers, 1 ship using a pump to push mud to the disposal area with a capacity of over 200m3 of mud/hour. Up to this point, 85% of the work has been completed, specifically, over 400m of the canal bank has been stone-reinforced, about 60,000m3 of mud and soil have been dredged, reaching 4.2km/5km with a width of 50m, the bottom of the channel - 3.23m. The construction unit is continuing to use ferries to install mooring posts for boats with a volume of over 50 mooring posts, each post is 50m apart.

Mud and sand from the dredger are pushed straight to the dump.

Mr. Nguyen Van Chau - Chairman of Quynh Phuong Ward People's Committee shared: Phase I of the project has completed the dredging part, however, it only meets the requirements for entering and exiting the channel for ships from 33 CV-200 CV, while ships with capacity from 300 - 400 CV and above still have to wait for the tide to rise before entering and exiting. To solve this problem, in 2016, the State will continue to invest in upgrading Lach Con Fishing Port with a total investment of over 70 billion VND to dredge the channel to expand by 50 - 70m, dredging depth from -3.23/4.2m, helping large capacity ships over 400 CV to enter and exit conveniently.

At the Lach Thoi dredging site in Quynh Tho and Son Hai communes (Quynh Luu), dredgers are working at full capacity. Nguyen Quoc Dat, a dredger driver, said: The ship has 12 workers taking turns working 3 shifts a day. The current difficulty is that dredging at the end of the estuary often encounters strong winds and big waves. After dredging down 1.5m of mud and sand, they encounter hard clay. The dredgers must "connect" buckets to scoop up the soil and "mash" it before the mud can be sucked up to the ship's lock.

Mr. Bui Van Hao - Director of Quynh Luu District Construction Project Management Board said: The project to dredge storm shelters for boats in Lach Thoi worth over 120 billion VND, invested by Quynh Luu District People's Committee, started in 2013. The total length of dredging is over 4.3 km, width from 30 - 45m, channel bottom depth from 3.5 - 4m. Immediately after the groundbreaking, the Project Management Board continuously followed the construction site, urging the construction unit to ensure progress. All 3 dredgers have a capacity of over 1000 m3 of mud/hour, mud and sand sucked from the ship are pushed straight by plastic pipes with a length of over 300m to the disposal site. Despite difficulties in capital sources, only over 20 billion VND has been disbursed, but up to now, 3.4/4.3 km of the channel has been constructed, the volume of mud has been sucked over 680,000 m3, and the embankment of 2 routes is nearly 1,000 m. To ensure the circulation of boats entering and exiting the channel, we have first dredged mud at key sedimentation locations. It is estimated that by the end of May 2015, the construction unit will complete the progress, ensuring the circulation of boats, anchoring to avoid storms.

Thanks to dredging at key sedimentation locations, fishermen's boats can now run straight from the estuary to Lach Thoi, no longer having to find a detour to avoid the alluvial flats as before, reducing the cost of "avoiding" by 1-1.5 million VND/trip. It is known that Quynh Tho commune currently has 17 boats, mainly boats with a capacity of 200 CV-400 CV, but for 400 CV boats, it is very difficult to enter and exit the canal, they have to wait for high tide to enter. The completed Lach Thoi upgrading investment project will ensure storm shelter for over 300 boats from Son Hai and Quynh Tho communes, including over 100 boats with a capacity of 90 CV-400 CV, opening up opportunities for sustainable marine economic development.

Van Truong