In the scorching sun of mid-April, at the Km150 - Ngoi Buc bridge construction site, groups of workers are still diligently clinging to the concrete blocks and steel beams that are gradually taking shape.
There is no room for delay, they are "racing" with the weather, with the approaching rainy season to bring the first bridge spans of the expanded Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway to stretch across the stream.
Mr. Vu Van Tuan - Construction Team Leader, while quickly wiping his sweat, said: "To keep up with the progress before the rainy season, the brothers work from early morning until late at night, sometimes overtime until 10:30 pm. The sun is really tiring, but everyone determines that this is an important project, so they try their best.
In hot weather, workers' lunches often take place quickly right next to the construction site. Some people take the opportunity to lie down under the temporary shade of scaffolding, while others continue to check equipment to be on time for the next shift.
According to the Northern Expressway Project Management Board (Vietnam Expressway Development Investment Corporation), Ngoi Buc bridge is nearly 200m long, including 6 spans.
This is the first bridge among the 4 bridges on the route that has taken shape, expected to be assembled on April 15.
Engineer Tran Ngoc Duong said that the contractor is implementing the "rolling" plan, completing the lower pillar to stabilize before the rainy season, then proceeding to install girders and construct the bridge deck in the middle spans.
The biggest difficulty currently is the weather and progress pressure. If we don't take advantage of sunny weather to complete the pillar part, when it rains, rising water will directly affect construction," engineer Duong shared.
Along with Ngoi Buc bridge, Ngoi Thia bridge (Km145+434) with a length of more than 307m is also being accelerated in construction. Currently, the contractor is arranging human resources to work continuously in 3 shifts to soon complete the bridge piers before the rainy and flood season.
After more than 5 months of implementation, many sections of the roadbed belonging to the Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway expansion project have been asphalted; bridge, culvert, and taluy items are gradually being completed, and the project will be completed by the end of 2026.
The expressway expansion project in the Yen Bai - Lao Cai section has a total length of more than 121km. The total investment of the project is nearly 7,700 billion VND, including state budget capital and VEC mobilized capital.
The investment scope of the project will expand the road surface from a scale of 2 lanes to 4 lanes, a roadbed width of 24m, with a median strip synchronously with the sections that have been expanded in phase 1.
The old road surface will be designed to be reinforced or renovated, ensuring synchronization and safe exploitation.
