While the whole country joyfully welcomed the grand festival on April 30, the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification, there were people who were still in the middle of mountains and forests, under streams, tirelessly listening to the sound of drilling machines and excavators from early morning to late afternoon.
They are workers and engineers on the project belonging to the group of national key projects on transport infrastructure - the Dong Dang - Tra Linh expressway construction project.
On April 30, at the Dong Dang - Tra Linh Expressway construction site through Cao Bang province, more than 1,000 workers and hundreds of machines are being mobilized into dozens of construction teams.
Right before the holiday, Deo Ca Group (the leading investor of the consortium) proactively supported the advance payment of an additional 10% of the cost for contractors to add 79 construction teams, 212 equipment and 617 workers.
According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Tuan - Deputy General Director of Dong Dang - Tra Linh Expressway Joint Stock Company, to date, the project's construction output has reached VND 2,409/10,438 billion (equivalent to 23% of the contract value). The goal is to open phase 1 of the project in December 2025 and be ready to start phase 2 of the project on September 2.
"The project has encountered some difficulties in terms of technology, construction conditions... However, this is a long-standing desire of the people and local authorities. Therefore, the collective of cadres, engineers and workers always take advantage of every precious day and hour to bring the project to the finish line soon. During holidays, the brothers are divided into groups to be on duty for construction, not afraid of difficulties and hardships to speed up" - Mr. Tuan said.
As of April 20, Cao Bang province has handed over 93.14/93.35km of route length, equivalent to 99.8%, and 757.4/820.9ha of site area, reaching 92% of the approved technical design. Compensation, support and resettlement in districts where the project passes through are being implemented synchronously.
Key resettlement areas, such as in Dong Khe town (Thach An district), have completed construction, 45 households have drawn lots to receive new residential land.
Determining the Dong Dang - Tra Linh Expressway as a key project, investors and contractors are focusing all resources, opening more construction teams during the ceremony to open the project route in 2025.
At the Dong Khe tunnel project - the highlight of the project, after completing the digging and lowering of the foundation, workers are focusing on installing formwork to pour concrete for the tunnel lining, constructing drainage ditches and electrical systems.
"We are focusing on the construction of the tunnel lining on the right side. With the current progress of machinery and human resources, it will exceed the progress on April 30", said Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh - leader of the Dong Khe tunnel project.
"Although the whole country is on holiday, we still maintain an urgent working rhythm because the workload is still very large, the holiday is still constructed as usual, in terms of the regime, we, the workers are entitled to it according to regulations" - Mr. Thanh shared more.
However, a major challenge at present is the arrangement of landfills. The total demand for dumping on the entire route in Cao Bang is about 7.3 million m3, but in 2024, only 34 dumping locations with a capacity of about 5.3 million m3 have been arranged, lacking nearly 2 million m3.
The failure to complete the approval and hand over all waste dumps poses a risk of slowing down the construction progress if not resolved promptly.
In general, Cao Bang province is determined to work with investors and related units to ensure the technical traffic of the Dong Dang - Tra Linh route by the end of 2025, aiming to soon put this strategic expressway into operation in 2026.
