Many items accelerate towards the finish line
On June 8, reporters' records at Provincial Road 156 showed that many items under the Border Bridge Project across the Red River and connecting infrastructure are being focused on construction.
This is a key project of Lao Cai province with a total investment of 1,490 billion VND. In which, component 1 includes building a border bridge across the Red River, upgrading Provincial Road 156, Kim Thanh - Ngoi Phat section, 3km long, and renovating the Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway intersection (IC18).
Component 2 is to upgrade 8km of Provincial Road 156 from Quang Kim bridge to BV32, BV28 intersection combined with leveling the ground on both sides of the route. Component 3 is to upgrade and renovate IC19 intersection.
The project is allocated 950 billion VND from the central budget and 540 billion VND from the local budget, expected to create momentum for border gate economic development and strengthen border trade connections.
According to the Lao Cai Provincial Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board, the construction package of the border bridge across the Red River currently has a realized value of over 105 billion VND. The contractor has completed the M2 abutment, piers T8, T9 and is deploying the main span construction.
Despite facing many difficulties due to complex geology, especially at pier T8 located completely under the Red River and frequently affected by floods, the project is still basically closely following the set schedule.
It is expected that the main span will be closed by the end of September 2026 and the entire bridge will be completed by the end of this year.
Meanwhile, Provincial Road 156, 3.2km long and BV21 road, 250m long, have been basically completed with a construction volume of about 96%. The contractor is completing acceptance procedures to hand over and put them into use.
The BV20 route, 3.6km long, which is an important connecting route to the Ban Vuoc border gate area, has now been handed over about 2.2km of site. On this area, many items of foundation, foundation and asphalt concrete paving have been completed, with a construction value of about 81%.
According to the plan, the route section that has land will be completed and put into operation before September 30, 2026.
Focus on removing the final bottlenecks
Although most of the project volume is being accelerated, site clearance is still the biggest obstacle for tuyến BV20.
According to the investor, about 1.3km of road from Km0+300 to Km1+600 is overlapping with the 28 apatite ore mining site, an area of about 7.9ha. Because the mineral exploitation project in this area has not completed the procedures according to regulations, it is not possible to hand over the site for construction.
In addition, about 100m at the end of the route is still entangled with the relocation of the pumping station of Ban Qua Copper smelting plant under TKV Mineral Corporation. Currently, relevant units are coordinating to complete planning and land procedures to build a new pumping station and hand over the site to the project.
Another obstacle is related to the Phu Hung tunnel brick factory in Hai Khe village, Bat Xat commune, located within the planning scope of BV20 route.
Mr. Bui Dinh Thuan - representative of Phu Hung Import-Export Production Joint Stock Company said that the enterprise has coordinated with functional agencies to count assets, machinery, and factories for many years. However, so far there has been no official announcement about the relocation time as well as specific support plans.
Businesses wish to be informed soon about the implementation roadmap, compensation plans and support policies to proactively plan production and stabilize jobs for workers.
Mr. Ha Duc Thuan - Deputy Head of the Economic Zone Management Board of Lao Cai province said that the Phu Hung brick factory area is located in the planning of Ban Vuoc Border Gate and BV20 route.
Currently, because the related area is overlapping with mining site 28, the handling must wait for decisions from competent authorities on mineral exploration and exploitation.
According to Mr. Thuan, in the immediate future, businesses can still be assured to maintain production activities. When the procedures related to khai truong 28 are completed, departments and branches will advise on handling and relocation plans in accordance with regulations.
To ensure the overall progress of the project, the Lao Cai Provincial Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board proposed to soon remove obstacles related to minerals, land and project relocation.
Thereby creating conditions for the traffic route connecting Ban Vuoc Border Gate to be completed soon, promoting economic development in the border area.
