In mid-September, rain continuously covered the Yen Bai - Lao Cai route. At the expressway expansion construction site, hundreds of engineers and workers are still clinging to, taking advantage of each favorable weather period to maintain the construction pace.
Along the route of more than 121km, the sound of construction machines still echoes amidst the rain.
Dozens of construction teams were deployed simultaneously, workers worked in shifts day and night, focusing on roadbed items, bridges, culverts, underpasses and drainage systems.
At Ngoi Hut bridge, important items are being continued. Mr. Nguyen Cong Truong - Commander of bridge construction - said that the entire girder installation work was completed in August, and is currently moving to the construction of the bridge deck.
The current progress is closely following the general plan, and may even reach the finish line sooner if the material source is fully supplied," Mr. Truong said.
The construction atmosphere is also urgent inside the mountain tunnel. More than 110 workers are divided into 3 shifts, working day and night to install steel reinforcement, molds, and prepare to pour concrete into the tunnel shell.
Mr. Pham Minh Duy, from Thanh Hoa, has worked at the construction site for more than 2 months. According to Mr. Duy, after completing the installation of the formwork system, the construction team will start pouring concrete for the first tunnel sections.
The tunnel consists of 55 segments, constructed with 2 parallel formworks. If the weather is favorable, at the end of October, the tunnel shell concrete will be basically completed to move to the completion and installation of technical systems.
Heavy rain has caused construction to encounter many obstacles. Contractors must proactively increase machinery and equipment, organize overtime when the weather allows, and take advantage of each sunny period to compensate for progress.
At the Km190 - Km209 section of package XL2-NBLC, Corporation 319 (Ministry of National Defense) mobilized hundreds of officials, engineers, workers and many equipment for continuous construction.
This is a section with complex terrain, simultaneously deploying the expansion of the roadbed, building bridges, underpasses and drainage systems.
According to engineer Ngo Tuan Nghia - Site Commander, the route section has 8 bridges and 18 underpasses, all of which are items requiring high technical standards.
Many items have now been completed beyond the plan, creating conditions for deploying the next tasks.
Talking to Lao Dong on September 16, Mr. Tran Ngoc Hai - Deputy Director of the Northern Expressway Project Management Board (VEC) - said that the weather in recent days has been harsh, with continuous heavy rain affecting the construction progress.
During the rainy season, workers take advantage of performing appropriate tasks such as cleaning the construction site, transporting materials, cleaning the road surface, and preparing for asphalt concrete paving.
The production plan is also flexibly adjusted according to weather forecasts, maximizing dry periods to accelerate.
Along with maintaining construction, units strengthen measures to ensure traffic safety. The corrugated iron fence system is replaced by a concrete median strip combined with reflective posts and warning lights, creating construction space but still ensuring safety for vehicles.
It is expected that before the Lunar New Year Dinh Mui 2027, the entire Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway expansion project will be put into operation and use" - Mr. Tran Ngoc Hai informed.
