Ring Road 3 needs an additional 6.3 million cubic meters of sand
The Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project has a total length of 76.34km, passing through 4 localities including Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Binh Duong and Long An, with a total investment of up to VND 75,378 billion. Of which, the construction cost is 33,788 billion VND and the site clearance cost is 41,590 billion VND.
According to Mr. Luong Minh Phuc - Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board, construction is currently taking place in localities with many packages being simultaneously deployed. The 47.5km section through Ho Chi Minh City has completed 31.1% of the work.
In Dong Nai, with a length of 11.2km, the progress reached 24.6%. Binh Duong with 10.7km of road has completed 23.7%, while Long An with 6.8km is the locality with the fastest construction speed, reaching 62%.
According to the plan, the project will be put into use in each phase. By December 31, 2025, about 21.27km will be technically open to traffic, including 14.73km in Thu Duc City and 6.54km in Long An. Then, on April 30, 2026, an additional 55.07km will be completed, of which 32.38km in Ho Chi Minh City, 11.43km in Binh Duong and 11.26km in Dong Nai.
Finally, the entire 76.34km long route will be opened to traffic and put into operation on June 30, 2026, opening a vital traffic route, connecting major cities, promoting economic development in the Southeast region.
To achieve this goal, ensuring enough sand for embankment is a prerequisite, but up to now, the project is still lacking up to 6.3 million cubic meters of sand.
In that situation, the Government has directed the three provinces of Vinh Long, Tien Giang and Ben Tre to provide a total of 10 million m3 of sand for the project. However, up to now, only about 2.3 million m3 has been provided, causing the pressure to find a source of materials to increase.
Need to increase sand mining capacity
Faced with a shortage of sand for embankment, Ho Chi Minh City and the provinces of Dong Nai, Binh Duong and Long An have requested contractors to proactively seek supply from domestic commercial mines, and at the same time consider the option of importing sand from Cambodia to ensure construction progress.
Ho Chi Minh City and localities also recommended that the Government direct localities with sand mines to increase capacity and complete legal procedures as soon as possible.Vinh Long needs to increase the capacity of the two mines of Chanh An and Quoi An - Quoi Thien to a maximum of 50%, completing procedures in March 2025.
In Tien Giang, three mines currently exploited, Hoa Hung 5, Vam Cai Thia and Hoa Khanh 1, are also proposed to increase capacity by 50%, while 4 newly licensed mines including: Hoa Hung 6, Nam Con Da, Ngu Hiep and Tan Phong will be accelerated to be able to exploit from April 2025. At the same time, Tien Giang will support the supply of an additional 1.9 million cubic meters of sand in 2025 to meet the project's needs.
In Ben Tre, the capacity of the two mines An Duc - An Hoa Tay and An Hiep - An Ngai Tay will be increased to the maximum level, with procedures to be completed in April 2025.
On March 11, Party Central Committee member and Deputy Prime Minister Mai Van Chinh inspected the construction site of the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project and worked with relevant localities to remove difficulties in the supply of sand for embankment.
At the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister assessed that the project's progress is slower than required, mainly due to inadequate material sources, site clearance work still facing difficulties in some sections and administrative procedures, and sand mining licensing have not been completed.
To ensure the project reaches the finish line on schedule, Deputy Prime Minister Mai Van Chinh requested that by March 15, the licensing of sand mines must be completed, and at the same time, the mining units must be fully and promptly supplied according to demand.
In addition, the Deputy Prime Minister also emphasized the need to speed up the construction progress, requiring investors to speed up to compensate for the delay, ensuring the goal of completing the entire route by June 30, 2026.
