The project to connect the northern mountainous provinces with the Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway is funded by the Asian Development Bank and the Australian Government.
The project consists of two connecting routes, of which route 1 is 147 km long, connecting Lai Chau with the Hanoi - Lao Cai expressway; starting point at IC16 intersection, ending point at the Lai Chau city hospital intersection. Route 2 is about 53 km long, connecting Nghia Lo town (Yen Bai) with the Hanoi - Lao Cai expressway with the starting point at IC14 intersection, ending point at National Highway 32 (Nghia Lo town).
This is an important project, making travel from Lao Cai, Lai Chau and Yen Bai to the highway more convenient. The project implementation period is from 2021-2024.
In Lao Cai, the route runs mainly through Van Ban district with a length of about 60km, mainly on National Highway 279.
At the end of November, in Khanh Yen town, Hoa Mac commune, Lang Giang village... of Van Ban district, according to the reporter of Lao Dong Newspaper, despite the hot weather, a series of workers, machines and equipment were working diligently.
Observing at the construction site, workers are rolling the ground, making positive slopes, some machines are scooping soil onto trucks to transport away for dumping.
Mr. Hoang Van Duong (residing in Hoa Mac commune, Van Ban district) said: “We pass by here every day. It is dusty every time a large vehicle moves. Watering only partially reduces the dust. Therefore, people hope that the investor and contractor will speed up the construction progress so that the road will be completed soon and travel will be more convenient.”
Through research, this project is invested by the Ministry of Transport, represented by Project Management Board 2. The total investment is currently 6,018.1 billion VND (equivalent to 265.23 million USD), an increase of nearly 700 billion VND compared to the initial approved level of 5,339.59 billion VND (235.328 million USD).
Of which, compensation, support and resettlement costs are 1,019.4 billion VND; construction costs are 4,155.3 billion VND; construction investment consulting costs are 325.8 billion VND; contingency costs are 417 billion VND...
According to the design, route XL01 is invested with a speed of 60 km/h, the scale of a grade III mountainous road, the road surface width is 6 m. At some sections, the road surface width is 9 m, the roadbed width is 10 m.
In Lao Cai, the contractor for package XL01 (Km00+000-Km18+500) is the joint venture of Dat Phuong Group Joint Stock Company, Phuong Thanh Transport Construction Investment Joint Stock Company and 168 Construction Group Joint Stock Company; package XL02 (Km18+500-Km40+00) is the joint venture of 656 Company and Tu Lap, and the remaining package XL03 (Km40+00-Km63+446) is the joint venture of 703 Construction Investment Joint Stock Company and Manh Cuong Company Limited.
On November 29, speaking with Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Vu Khanh - representative of Project Management Board 2 (Ministry of Transport) - said: "Many packages on the route are stuck with site clearance, so construction is delayed. The section through Hoa Mac commune has 5 km of new site clearance handed over since September, currently the contractor is mobilizing about 30 workers and machinery to focus on construction.
In addition, the impact of the recent storm No. 3 has affected the traffic infrastructure, causing landslides in many areas. The unit is requesting an extension of the completion time. The construction progress is currently about 40% of the volume.
According to Mr. Khanh, both the investor and the contractor are coordinating to resolve difficulties and obstacles in the implementation of the project. It is expected that the entire route will be completed by June 30, 2025 if weather conditions are favorable.
