Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh: Determined not to let shortage of construction materials for North-South Expressway project

On the afternoon of February 18, under the chairmanship of Comrade Le Van Thanh - Deputy Prime Minister, the Government held an online conference to review the implementation of component projects on the Eastern North-South Expressway.

Comrade Le Hong Vinh - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired at Nghe An bridge; also attending were representatives of leaders of departments, branches, sectors and localities in the province. Photo: Thanh Le

DIFFICULTIES IN CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

At the conference, the Ministry of Transport reported quickly on the progress of the North-South expressway project.

According to the Ministry of Transport, there are 4 projects that must be completed in 2022, including: Cam Lo - La Son project, with more than 25% of the remaining construction volume, is being vigorously directed to complete on schedule. Mai Son - National Highway 45 project has now completed 45% of the volume and will be completed on schedule this year. For Vinh Thao - Phan Thiet project, the project is seriously lacking in embankment materials, currently the construction progress is about 24%. Phan Thiet - Dau Day project has so far achieved 30% progress.

The Ministry of Transport said that the biggest difficulty at present is the lack of construction materials, which affects the project's construction progress. Accordingly, the project's remaining demand is 50 million cubic meters of soil, of which 35 million cubic meters were resolved in January 2022, leaving a shortage of 15 million cubic meters. Currently, localities are focusing on meeting the demand for materials for project construction.

Delegates attending the conference at Nghe An bridge. Photo: Thanh Le

Road projectNorth-South ExpresswayThe section passing through Nghe An province is about 87.84km long, belonging to 2 sub-projects Nghi Son - Dien Chau section and Dien Chau - Bai Vot sub-project, passing through Hoang Mai town and 5 districts: Quynh Luu, Yen Thanh, Dien Chau, Nghi Loc and Hung Nguyen. Up to now, about 87.54/87.84km have been cleared, reaching 99.66%.

Regarding the earth fill material mine: The demand for the North-South Expressway project, the section passing through Nghe An province is 13.5 million m3. Currently, in Nghe An province, there are 47 mines that have been licensed for mineral operations, of which 23 licenses have a total mine reserve of about 35.95 million m3; there are 18 exploration licenses that have approved mineral reserves; there are 6 exploration licenses for earth fill, which are being explored. The total approved reserves are 41.7 million m3, which will be licensed for exploitation in the near future.

Regarding stone materials: The demand for the North-South expressway project, the section passing through Nghe An province is 3.026 million m3. Currently, Nghe An province has 75 construction stone quarries, with a reserve of about 93.313 million m3 and an exploitation capacity of 7.98 million m3/year.

Sand and gravel materials: The demand for the North-South expressway project, the section passing through Nghe An province is 3,026 million m3. Currently, in Nghe An province, there are 61 construction sand and gravel mines, with a reserve of about 21,165 m3. Therefore, the demand for materials for the construction of the project section passing through Nghe An province meets the requirements and is guaranteed to be timely.

Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh spoke at the conference. Photo: Thanh Le

Speaking at the conference, Permanent Vice Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh affirmed: North - South Expressway is a national key project, of great significance to the socio-economic development of the province, so the project implementation process. Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, People's CommitteeNghe An provincehas focused on directing relevant units to overcome all difficulties, promptly clear the site and ensure the quality of project items.

For material mines that units request to increase capacity or exploit new ones, the province requires units to quickly complete procedural documents, and at the same time directs relevant departments and branches to promptly appraise the documents upon receiving them to promptly approve and grant mining licenses to ensure materials for project construction.

Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh pledged that Nghe An province will closely monitor the construction process of the North-South Expressway component projects in the East through the province to ensure the overall progress of the entire route.

Delegates attending the conference. Photo: Thanh Le

Concluding the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh emphasized the importance of the North-South Expressway project: The North-South Expressway project was approved by the Politburo and the National Assembly in a Resolution to allocate resources to develop transport infrastructure to create momentum for the country's socio-economic development.

Appreciating the localities for doing a good job in site clearance and materials collection, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that the project is very meaningful and requires high progress and quality.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh informed that the Prime Minister has signed a decision to establish a Steering Committee for the North-South Expressway and Long Thanh Airport, with Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh as Head and the Minister as Deputy Head, to work with ministries and local branches to "put their shoulders together" to resolve difficulties and obstacles.

Emphasizing the goal of completing 654 km of the North-South Expressway by 2025 for which funding has been allocated, the Deputy Prime Minister requested that in order to ensure materials, local leaders must ensure that by March 15, they must resolve the commitment to provide construction materials and resolutely not let there be a shortage of construction materials. If not completed, the Government will issue a document reminding localities.

Construction of the North-South Expressway through Nghe An province. Photo: PV

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the time is very urgent but the workload is still very large. If there is no innovation in equipment, additional staff, and timely removal of supplies and materials, it will be very difficult to complete the project on schedule. Therefore, project management boards, supervision consultants, contractors must manage construction quality, manage progress, make detailed progress and control progress and must have timely solutions, and contractors must not be allowed to delay the project.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested that the Ministry of Transport should inspect and determine whether there is any competition for mines between localities and monitor fraud occurring during the construction process.

Regarding ministries and branches, the Deputy Prime Minister suggested actively coordinating with localities to remove difficulties for the project as well as having solutions to manage the progress and quality of the project.