Localities focus on solving material needs for Ring Road 3 project

Entering the peak construction phase of the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project, localities where the project passes through are waiting for sand as construction material. Currently, sand for filling is scarce because the reserves exploited at mines in some provinces of the Mekong Delta are not enough to supply, affecting the progress of the national key project.

In construction package 6 (Cu Chi district), Truong Son Company is facing difficulties with sand for filling and embankment. The company representative said: The amount of sand currently needed is 450,000 m3, while the amount of sand from the mines is limited. "If by June, the sand from the mines in Tien Giang and Ben Tre cannot arrive in time, it will affect the project's progress," the leader of Truong Son Company worried.

Similarly, contractors such as Dinh An Group, Delta Company... are also actively looking for sources of sand for filling. According to many contractors, the price of sand is high because the transportation cost from the sand mine to the construction site has to go through many stages. Due to the scarcity of sand, the project's construction progress is slow, affecting the overall progress of the project.

The scarcity of sand is not only a concern for contractors but also for investors. Mr. Luong Minh Phuc, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board (Traffic Board), the investor of the Ring Road 3 project in Ho Chi Minh City, said: The problem and obstacle in the construction process is still the source of construction materials.

Specifically, the Ring Road 3 project in Ho Chi Minh City needs 6.6 million cubic meters of sand and 4.4 million cubic meters of stone, but so far only about 1.6 million cubic meters of sand have been mobilized, the remaining 5 million cubic meters the city is waiting for sand from mines in the three provinces of Vinh Long, Tien Giang, and Ben Tre.

In Binh Duong province, the total demand for sand for construction is 700,000 m3, but the supply capacity from existing mines is not enough. The Binh Duong Provincial Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board estimates that contractors need an average of 1,000 m3 of sand per day, but the remaining capacity is 4,000 m3/day to ensure project completion in 2025.

Given the current urgent situation, the Binh Duong Provincial Traffic Department has sent a document to contractors committing to meet the minimum volume of sand according to the bidding documents, while encouraging the search for sand sources from Cambodia.

According to calculations, the total demand for sand for the entire project is about 8.5 million cubic meters, of which the section through Ho Chi Minh City needs the most with 6.6 million cubic meters, Dong Nai is 0.5 million cubic meters; Binh Duong 0.7 million cubic meters and Long An 0.72 million cubic meters.

Mr. Luong Minh Phuc shared: “The section through Ho Chi Minh City accounts for about 40% of the total length of the project, so the amount of sand needed for construction is very large. To ensure the mobilization of 6.3 million cubic meters of sand by the time of completion, the city will continue to mobilize sand sources from the three provinces of Vinh Long, Tien Giang, and Ben Tre”.

These are also the three localities with the largest sand reserves with about 10 million cubic meters of sand from 13 mines under the direction of the Prime Minister. Therefore, Ho Chi Minh City proposed that the Prime Minister direct the provinces of Vinh Long, Tien Giang, and Ben Tre to increase mine capacity and speed up the exploitation procedures of newly licensed mines.

Recently, the Ministry of Construction issued a notice requesting the People's Committees of Tien Giang and Ben Tre provinces to complete licensing procedures for the remaining seven sand mines before March 15, 2025; At the same time, it is recommended that the People's Committees of Vinh Long, Tien Giang, and Ben Tre provinces consider increasing the exploitation capacity of 13 sand mines by 50% to meet the construction needs of Ring Road 3 in 2025.

The Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project route has a total length of about 76.3 km, with a total investment of VND 75,378 billion, implemented in the form of public investment. The project is divided into three components: Component 1 is managed by Ho Chi Minh City with a length of 47.3 km, with an investment capital of VND 22,411 billion; Component 3 is managed by Dong Nai province, with a length of 11.3 km, with a capital of VND 2,584 billion; Component 5 is managed by Binh Duong province, with a length of 11.3 km, with a capital of VND 5,752 billion. The project is expected to be completed in 2025 and put into operation in 2026.

Source: Nhan Dan Newspaper