The above proposal was made by Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc at the working session of Deputy Prime Minister Mai Van Chinh with relevant localities on the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project on the afternoon of March 11.
During the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc expressed his gratitude to the Mekong Delta provinces such as Tien Giang, Ben Tre, and Vinh Long for their efforts in providing sand for important infrastructure projects, including Ring Road 3.
However, despite the licensed exploitation, the actual sand supply is still much lower than demand, forcing Ho Chi Minh City to buy more than 1 million m3 of sand from domestic commercial mines and import sand from Cambodia.
With a commitment to completing the Ring Road 3 project on schedule, Ho Chi Minh City and the provinces are making efforts to mobilize enough materials.
However, in the context of increasingly scarce sand, continuing the traditional construction method using leveling can significantly increase costs, while negatively affecting the environment.
Faced with the above challenges, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc proposed applying new technology to build overpasses for weak areas, including part of Dong Nai, Ho Chi Minh City and the entire Mekong Delta region.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc, this technology has been successfully applied by China, helping to reduce the need for sand and shorten construction time.
To effectively implement, the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee recommended that the Government and the Ministry of Construction quickly study and issue regulations on the design and construction of overpasses using new technology. This will help provinces and cities have a legal basis to apply in practice.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc, overall, building a overpass can bring more benefits than traditional construction methods. If all factors such as environmental costs, waiting time for subsidence, and maintenance are fully calculated, the overpass can be a more economical and effective solution.
Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc also emphasized that if construction continues using the traditional filling method, costs will increase due to an exhausted supply of sand. Meanwhile, excessive sand mining also seriously affects the environment and ecosystem.
At the meeting, Mr. Luong Minh Phuc - Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board said that in 2025, some sections of the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project will be technically opened to traffic.
According to the plan, by December 31, 2025, about 21.27 km will be technically opened to traffic, including 14.73 km in Thu Duc City and 6.54 km in Long An.
Then, by April 30, 2026, an additional 55.07 km will be technically open to traffic, of which 32.38 km will be in Ho Chi Minh City, 11.43 km will be in Binh Duong and 11.26 km will be in Dong Nai.
The entire 76.34 km Ring Road 3 will be put into operation on June 30, 2026.
However, the project is still lacking up to 6.3 million m3 of sand for embankment.
Faced with this situation, Ho Chi Minh City and the provinces of Dong Nai, Binh Duong and Long An have requested contractors to proactively seek supply from domestic commercial mines, and at the same time consider the option of importing sand from Cambodia to ensure construction progress.
Ho Chi Minh City and localities also recommended that the Government direct localities with sand mines such as Vinh Long, Tien Giang, and Ben Tre to increase exploitation capacity to meet construction progress.
