At 5 am, fog still covered Khau Pha Pass. On the winding section of National Highway 32 halfway up the mountain, the sound of excavators mixed with the sound of water flowing from the positive slope down to the road surface. A group of workers in reflective jackets covered in mud are urgently digging drainage culverts before the heavy rain falls.
Mr. Ly Kinh Vuong - a worker at Yen Bai Road Construction Joint Stock Company I, looking towards the water-stained cliff after the previous night's rain, said: "Doing road work in the highlands is most afraid of prolonged rain at night. Some days, brothers who were sleeping had to wake up at 1-2 am because they received news that the embankment had collapsed onto the road. If not handled immediately, there will be traffic jams, passenger cars and trucks will rush in, which is very dangerous.
In recent years, extreme weather has made the work of road patrol forces more stressful. Heavy rain has appeared with a higher frequency, many landslides have occurred unexpectedly, and the volume of soil and rocks pouring onto the road surface is greater than before.
Khau Pha Pass is considered one of the "red coordinates" for landslides on National Highway 32. The steep terrain, weak soil foundation plus sharp curves make this place always potentially unsafe during the rainy and flood season.
Many times, road patrol workers have to strain themselves in the rainy night to clear soil and rocks, regulate traffic. One day, just after handling a landslide point, a few kilometers ahead continued to appear a cracked slope.
It is known that Yen Bai Road Construction Joint Stock Company I currently manages more than 325km of roads, including National Highway 32, National Highway 37 and many important provincial roads. These are all key traffic routes connecting the highlands of Mu Cang Chai, Tram Tau, Van Chan with the provincial center.
According to statistics from the management unit, on National Highway 32, the sections from Km239 - Km243 (3-level slope), Km260 - Km279 (Khau Pha pass) and the section through Khao Mang commune from Km324 - Km332 are areas with very high risk of landslides.
Meanwhile, on provincial roads, the section Km22 - Km31 of the Van Chan - Tram Tau route or Km14 - Km18 of the route to Yen Lap also frequently experiences positive taluy landslides in the rainy season.
Mr. Pham Huu Ha - technical officer of Team 4 - said that experience from many previous rainy seasons shows that the most important factor is to be proactive from the beginning.
If we wait for an incident to happen before mobilizing machinery, it will take a lot of time. Therefore, at high-risk points, we have arranged excavators, bulldozers, trucks along with steel cages, stone boxes and spare fuel to be able to handle it immediately when there is a landslide," Mr. Ha said.
According to Mr. Ha, in many times of prolonged heavy rain, workers have to work shifts overnight. As soon as they detect signs of cracks in the taluy or unusually strong water flow, the force must immediately approach the scene.
Not only focusing on technical solutions, the "4 on-site" motto is also strictly implemented. Road management teams closely coordinate with local authorities, police forces, and traffic police to develop remote traffic diversion plans to support people when incidents occur.
From the beginning of May to the end of the 2026 rainy and flood season, all route management teams maintain a 24/24 hour duty regime. Each maintenance team regularly establishes a shock force of about 20 people, always ready to set off day and night," Mr. Tran Van Trinh - Deputy Director of Yen Bai Road Construction Joint Stock Company I informed.
