In the last days of July, on the only road about 35km long leading to Che Tao commune (Lao Cai province), the sound of excavator engines echoed in the mountains and forests.
After the historic flood, hundreds of landslides buried the road surface, many sections were completely swept away, causing the vital traffic route connecting the highland commune with the outside to be paralyzed for many days.
To gradually restore the road, An Phat Trading, Transportation and Construction Co., Ltd. has mobilized many machines, equipment and dozens of workers to stick to the scene for more than 10 days.
From early morning to late at night, construction teams continuously leveled soil and rocks, opened roads, taking advantage of each favorable weather period.
However, construction faced many difficulties when rain still appeared, causing many landslides to continuously recur.
Many locations that had just been cleared had soil and rocks from the positive slope fallen down, forcing workers to stop the machine to ensure safety and then continue to handle it from the beginning.
Mr. Pham Quang Huy - Director of An Phat Trading, Transportation and Construction Co., Ltd. - said that excavators operate from 12-14 hours a day to speed up progress.
The biggest difficulty is that the geological foundation after rain and floods is very weak, as soon as there is rain, soil and rocks continue to collapse. We have to both construct and monitor weather developments to ensure safety for people and vehicles," Mr. Huy said.
Previously, the prolonged heavy rain from July 16 to 17 caused more than 200 landslide points on the road to Che Tao commune.
Many road sections were completely swept away, thousands of people in villages and hamlets fell into isolation, access to food, necessities and rescue and relief work faced many difficulties.
According to local authorities, this is one of the routes with the most complex terrain in the province. The route runs along the mountainside, one side is a high slope, the other side is a deep abyss.
After the rain and flood, many points were not only buried by soil and rocks but also completely lost the roadbed, requiring layers of soil and rock to be treated and temporarily reinforced before traffic can be restored.
Having a house located close to the landslide area, Mr. Sung A Lau is still worried when looking at the large cracks on the mountainside behind.
The whole commune only has one road connecting to the outside. When the road is cut off, people's lives are completely turned upside down.
My family just hopes to be arranged a safe place to live soon to feel secure and stabilize our lives," Mr. Lau shared.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper on July 31, Mr. Giang A Chang - Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Che Tao commune - said that after more than 10 days of efforts to overcome, the road to the commune center has basically been cleared.
Motorbikes can now travel to villages, creating conditions for transporting necessities and serving disaster recovery efforts.
According to Mr. Chang, households located in areas at high risk of landslides have been urgently relocated to community cultural houses and safe locations.
Local authorities are continuing to review land funds to arrange new housing, helping people stabilize their long-term lives.
