The dike surface to prevent saltwater intrusion in Hoang Mai town was destroyed.

One day at the end of November, at the dike line to prevent saltwater intrusion through Quynh Di ward (Hoang Mai town), we recorded many large trucks carrying construction materials running through here.

According to regulations, when traveling on the dike, vehicles are only allowed to carry a load of less than 12 tons. However, according to people's feedback, there are many trucks carrying large loads, exceeding the regulations. However, the authorities rarely handle violations.

Due to the long time the dike has been in use, combined with heavy trucks traveling by, the river dike has seriously degraded. The surface of the dike has many sections with peeling rocks, large cracks, and roughness; especially many sections have sunk deeply, with "death holes" appearing.

The sea dike section through Quynh Di commune (Hoang Mai town) has peeling rocks and is rough; many sections have sunk deeply and are seriously damaged. Photo: Viet Hung

Mr. Nguyen Van Manh - a resident of Quynh Di ward said: "This dike has been degraded for a long time, all the heavy trucks carrying rocks take a shortcut on the dike to get to the provincial road. If there are no measures to prevent and ban heavy trucks, the infrastructure of the dike will soon be damaged, affecting irrigation works and natural disaster prevention".

In addition to its main function of preventing saltwater intrusion into production areas, this dike is also a residential road connecting Quynh Di and Quynh Loc localities. Every day, hundreds of local vehicles pass through here.

People along the dike are very upset because it is difficult to travel, on sunny days it is dusty, on rainy days it is sinking, in addition, when traveling next to heavy trucks there is also a very high risk of accidents.

According to research, since 2003, after the river dike invested by Nghe An Department of Agriculture and Rural Development was completed, it was handed over to the wards and communes of Quynh Di, Quynh Loc... to self-manage and protect with a total length of nearly 8 km.

Since around 2015, many large construction projects have been concentrated in Quynh Di ward, so every day trucks carrying construction materials pass through the area.

The dike system to prevent saltwater intrusion in Hoang Mai is seriously degraded, the road surface is eroded and rough. Photo: PV

According to local residents, most of the vehicles were transporting materials from a local mining company’s quarry to the construction site. However, to reduce travel time, many trucks took a shortcut through the river dyke instead of going the right way.

According to local authorities, controlling heavy vehicles that damage the dike is still difficult. Heavy vehicles run day and night to avoid inspection by authorities.

Mr. Van Huy Thang - Chairman of Quynh Di Ward (Hoang Mai Town) said: "Recently, the locality has also assigned forces to manage and protect the dike, but due to insufficient conditions to stop vehicles and check the weight of vehicles passing through the dike. To control and prevent overloaded vehicles from damaging the dike, the government has requested the town police force to intervene and strictly handle violations."

Heavy traffic of trucks carrying materials is one of the reasons for the deterioration of the dike. Photo: PV

Due to the narrow road surface, the State has planned to upgrade this dike into a road connecting National Highway 1 to Den Con Bridge, about 5 km long. This is a climate change response project, both to prevent salinity and to serve as a traffic route for people. While waiting for the upgrade and repair, localities with the dike running through them need to increase coordination with functional forces to limit the circulation of heavy vehicles, which will affect the structure and durability of this dike.

Mr. Hoang Ngoc Thuy - Head of Economic Department of Hoang Mai town