Muong Xen - Ta Do - Khe Kien route will be handed over before Lunar New Year

Urgent construction

In the last days of the year, taking advantage of the dry weather, the contractor is focusing the highest human resources and means to complete the remaining 200m of the package from Km8+800 to Km 12+300 of the key traffic route Muong Xen - Ta Do - Khe Kien, the border district of Ky Son.

Units mobilized human resources and vehicles to urgently carry out construction. Photo: Thanh Le

Present at the construction site to direct the work, engineer Nguyen Huu Vi - Giang Son Construction Joint Stock Company said: "The work of the package still has 200m of asphalt paving and traffic safety system. The contractor is focusing on mobilizing all human resources, machinery, and materials to implement the construction, prepare asphalt concrete, speed up the progress, and try to complete everything before December 31st this year."

Sanitation workers, completing the paved sections. Photo: Thanh Le

Started in 2016, phase 1 of the Muong Xen - Ta Do - Khe Kien route was completed in 2021. At the end of February 2022, phase 2 of the Muong Xen - Ta Do - Khe Kien route continued to be invested in construction, focusing on completing from Km8 to Km26 to connect with previously completed segments.

Construction of drainage ditches on the route. Photo: Thanh Le

Engineer Nguyen Xuan Ta - Supervision Consultant of Muong Xen - Ta Do - Khe Kien road informed: Up to this point, the road is basically completed, the road surface is 97% completed, the safety system and construction ditches are completing the final stages. The investor requested the units to speed up the construction and hand over the project soon. The entire route is expected to be completed by the end of December 2022.

The Muong Xen - Ta Do - Khe Kien road project has a length of 58 km, a total investment of 589.5 billion VND, located in the border district of Ky Son (Nghe An), designed according to the standards of level IV traffic roads by the Nghe An Department of Transport as the investor.

During the construction of the project, many difficulties were encountered due to the complex terrain and steep slopes. Therefore, along with speeding up the progress, the construction units focused on solutions to handle landslides and reinforce the positive slopes. Photo: Thanh Le

Many times directly following the engineers and workers constructing the road in this remote border area, we have seen all the difficulties and hardships. The road is perched on the mountainside, with a deep abyss on one side, and the construction must ensure absolute safety.

During the project construction process, the supervision consultant is always present at the construction site to monitor and urge to ensure progress and quality. Photo: Thanh Le

Meanwhile, this is a single route, the construction site is narrow, and it is both under construction and being exploited. The construction site is far from the district center, construction materials are scarce and difficult to transport, combined with the increasing prices of raw materials and fuel, the construction project had to be temporarily suspended due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, etc., which greatly affects the productivity and psychology of engineers and workers.

"During the project construction process, overcoming difficulties, engineers and workers on the construction site always strive to speed up progress, ensure quality so that the project can be completed soon, serving the travel and trade needs and economic development of local people.

"The current priority is to speed up the entire traffic safety section to be handed over before Tet and put into use to serve the travel needs of the people," said engineer Nguyen Sy Nam - an officer of the Project Management Board of Nghe An Department of Transport.

Now, goods and agricultural products of people in difficult areas along the Muong Xen - Ta Do - Khe Kien route are purchased by private traders. Photo: Thanh Le

Changes in the frontier

Located close to the Vietnam - Laos border, the key traffic route Muong Xen - Ta Do - Khe Kien is determined to play a very important role in connecting and breaking the monopoly from the communes of Na Ngoi, Muong Ai, Muong Tip to the district center. And this is a favorable stepping stone in economic development and trade, gradually eliminating villages without electricity and phone signal in remote and border areas.

The completion of the Muong Xen - Ta Do - Khe Kien route has created favorable conditions for people in the mountainous border commune of Na Ngoi (Ky Son) to develop their economy. Photo: Thanh Le

Comrade Tho Ba Re - Vice Chairman of Ky Son District People's Committee said: The West of Nghe An, especially the area bordering Vietnam and Laos, plays a particularly important role and position in ensuring national defense and security. The completion of the Muong Xen - Ta Do - Khe Kien route will facilitate trade for local people, at the same time, creating favorable conditions and a stepping stone to awaken the potential of forest land in the border area.

"This will be a great motivation for people to promote their potential and advantages, develop production, trade goods, accelerate the work of hunger eradication, poverty reduction and become well-off and rich in their homeland" - Vice Chairman of Ky Son District People's Committee shared.

As the most remote areas of the border district of Ky Son, and also the two communes with no car access to the center, Muong Ai and Muong Tip communes now have many advantages thanks to the newly built road. Photo: Thanh Le

Welcoming this Year of the Cat, ethnic people in the mountainous border district of Ky Son are even happier and more excited because the completion of the Muong Xen - Ta Do - Khe Kien road has helped facilitate travel and trade.

When the new route is put into use, it will contribute to connecting remote communes of Ky Son district, creating favorable conditions for development, actively contributing to economic development, and ensuring national defense and security in border areas.

In recent years, the provincial Department of Transport has made efforts to mobilize investment capital to invest in building mountainous transport infrastructure. Photo: Thanh Le