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Work on highway riddled with delays
The HCM City – Trung Luong Highway will not open to traffic by the end of this year as scheduled, Transportation Minister Ho Nghia Dung has announced.
The 62-km long Trung Luong-HCM City highway has a total investment capital of nearly VND 9.9 trillion. Contractors have only fulfilled 75 per cent of the highway’s construction, which is scheduled for completion by late December.
Construction of the highway has been held up by a host of contract delays in building viaducts, roads and intersections, as well as various other connected segments including bridges and approach roads.
"The highway will not be open to cars and motorbikes at the end of the year as scheduled. The newest expected date is at the end of the first quarter or in the beginning of the second quarter of next year", the minister said.
The 62-km highway is designed to run from Cho Dem intersection in HCM City’s Binh Chanh District to Than Cuu Nghia intersection in Tien Giang Province’s Chau Thanh District.
The project’s initial investment capital of VND6,550 billion (US$397 million) was later increased to VND9,884 billion ($599 million).
However, 30 per cent of the investment capital had not come through because of the complex and time-consuming procedures involved in requesting additional funds, the minister said.
The lack of funds has stopped work on the Quan Tho2 Bridge being built by contractor Vinh Nguyen Joint – Stock Company.
The construction process slowed one month ago, said workers of the company. They estimated that with enough workers and building materials, it would still take at least three months to complete the bridge.
Construction has also begun on a one kilometre road segment that extends from the Quan Tho2 Bridge, but this will likewise not be completed by the end of this year.
Other segments share the fate of the Quan Tho 2 Bridge.
Work has begun on the flyover bridge No. 4 between Chau Thanh District and Tan Phuoc District of Tien Giang Province, but budgetary constraints have slowed its progress as well.
The Thang Long Company is also financially strapped in its construction of a viaduct in Long An Province’s Ben Luc District.
None of the contractors engaged in construction on the Tien Giang-Long An Province segment are able to confirm a completion date for their projects.
The Ministry of Transport would report to the Prime Minister new deadlines for finishing several delayed road segments connected to the highway due to late ground clearance and complicated topographical conditions, Dung said.
VNN
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