More than 1,000 days of overcoming difficulties
The Quang Ngai - Hoai Nhon Expressway is 88km long, the longest section, the largest in scale and the most complex technical requirements of the 12 component projects of the North - South Expressway. There are three tunnels across the mountain with a total length of more than 4.5km. Of which, Binh De tunnel (tunnel No. 3) is 3.2km long and is the largest expressway tunnel in the country; with a system of 77 overpasses, 586 culverts and 81 underpasses for people.
The project was started by the Prime Minister on January 1, 2023. According to the signed contract, the project will be completed in September 2026. However, during the trip to check the progress and encourage workers to work through the Lunar New Year, the Prime Minister assigned the task of striving to complete the project by the end of 2025.
After more than a year and a half since the groundbreaking date, the site on the main route and the new material mines have basically been handed over enough for contractors to organize construction in large numbers. In nearly 3 years of implementation, the project has had to go through three rainy seasons lasting nearly 8 months, seriously affecting the roadbed construction work, especially during the final water level.
Many times the project encounters construction obstruction, local authorities have to resolutely intervene, persistently propagate, mobilize people and support contractors.
In the condition that the actual construction time limit is only more than half of the plan, the contractor still has to mobilize more than 12.6 million m3 of fill soil and 1.3 million m3 of sand. Moreover, in tunnel No. 3, the actual geology was different from the initial survey records. Peach blossoms from the tunnel cannot be used, and nearly 1 million m3 of commercial stone must be added to compensate.
At the same time, the local material supply was interrupted many times due to internal disputes at the quarry. There are days when machinery is still, the construction site is waiting for each block of stone for construction. Challenges piled up, the finishing time is getting shorter, the pressure of progress is on the shoulders of investors and contractors.
Despite many difficulties ahead, when receiving instructions from the Prime Minister, we understood that this was not only a construction task, but a national mission, a heavy responsibility but also a great source of pride. Therefore, thousands of people at the construction site have joined together in the same will, working together with "command from the heart", determined to bring the project to the finish line ahead of schedule", Mr. Ngo Truong Nam - General Director of Deo Ca Group, shared.
arriving 8 months early
For contractors who do not meet the required construction speed, Deo Ca Group, as the joint venture leader, has resolutely moved or reduced the volume to avoid creating bottlenecks, while adding dozens of construction teams, mobilizing additional grinding station, unloading station, mixing station systems, and supporting local quarries to ensure continuous supply.
Tens of billions of VND have been spent by the contractor to convert from regular asphalt concrete to polymeal with superior properties, improving the quality of the road surface. The contractor also advance compensation and deposit costs with the locality to create trust for the people and keep the construction pace for the entire project.
Many technical improvements have been applied to the project, especially the tunnel construction item. With the experience of completing many large road tunnel projects across the country, the contractor has improved the traditional method, created the tunnel digging method "NATM system Deo Ca" and applied construction in all three tunnels of the project with progress twice as fast as the traditional method.
At tunnel No. 3, at peak times, the contractor had to mobilize 10 sets of formwork boards to make concrete for the tunnel lining at the same time, double the requirements. Each step of moving the formwork and pouring concrete is scientifically and strictly calculated to speed up the progress and ensure absolute safety in the limited space in the tunnel.
Thanks to that, the construction time of tunnel No. 3 was reduced from 1,260 days to about 990 days. Completion 270 days ahead of schedule, creating an important premise for speeding up the progress of the entire route.
Recalling the peak construction days, Mr. Nguyen Nang Mao - Head of the mine team, shared: "Answered time, tunnel construction is a work that cannot be allowed to go wrong. Just a little neglect will cost a lot, even with your life. For us, the greatest joy is to witness each section of the peach tunnel safely opening, each meter of road gradually taking shape in the middle of the mountains and forests, to make people travel more conveniently".
After nearly three years of tireless work at the construction site, thousands of workers have temporarily put their personal joy at the family side to bring the Quang Ngai - Hoai Nhon project to the finish line ahead of schedule, contributing to the completion of the goal of having more than 3,000km of expressway nationwide in 2025.
Evaluating this result, Mr. Le Thang - Director of Project Management Board 2 (Ministry of Construction - project investor), said that Project Management Board 2 acknowledged and highly appreciated the efforts of construction contractors such as Deo Ca Group, Truong Long... who have made the highest determination, to inaugurate the project on December 19.
This is not only the result of perseverance, but also an important piece in the great goal of the country, Mr. Le Thang emphasized.
