Expressway linking two southern cities set to complete by end-2023

Construction of the My Thuan-Can Tho Expressway, a part of the North-South Expressway connecting Ho Chi Minh City and the southern city of Can Tho, is set to complete by end-2023.

The project has missed the Ministry of Transport’s deadline of completion by end-April, partly due to slow site clearances in some areas, some contractors missing the deadlines, and weak ground in some zones affecting construction.

The 23-kilometer expressway has an investment of VND4.83 trillion ($205.67 million), passing 12.53 kilometers through Vinh Long province and 10.44 kilometers through Dong Thap province, both in the Mekong Delta. Three sub-projects of the My Thuan-Can Tho project have been completed by between 58.75% and 62.92%.

It is set to link with the Trung Luong-My Thuan Expressway and the My Thuan 2 Bridge, fulfilling the connection between HCMC and Can Tho city. Kicked off in 2021, the project can cut the travelling time between the two major cities to about two hours.

Shortage of construction materials and little or no progress in site clearance have been hampering many road projects in the Mekong Delta.

For example, contractors of the 110-kilometer Can Tho-Ca Mau Expressway have been unable to continue the project due to a shortage of sand since March. The VND27.2 trillion ($1.16 billion) project, also a part of the North-South Expressway eastern section in 2021-2025 project, has been allocated 35,000 cubic meters of sand for its Can Tho-Hau Giang section, while its Hau Giang-Ca Mau section is yet to have sand. The total demand is 18 million cubic meters.

The project management board clarified it worked with relevant agencies and local authorities to fix the issues, but the progress related to exploitation of sand mines has been moving at a snail’s pace.

Dong Thap and An Giang provinces have planned to aid the project with a supply of 1.89 million and 1.1 million cubic meters of sand, respectively. However, the board said further exploitation from current mines can only fulfill 1.47 million cubic meters of sand, or 8% of the requirements.

Site clearance is also a concern. Hau Giang province has delivered 55 kilometers of land for the projects, but only 19 kilometers and 15 kilometers of those are approved for the construction of the Can Tho-Hau Giang and Hau Giang-Ca Mau sections, respectively.

For the section in Hau Giang province with 12,067 households under impact, 217 have yet to hand over their land, negatively affecting progress. The transport ministry has requested Hau Giang province to boost up these tasks.

For four expressway projects in the Mekong Delta in 2021-2025, namely Can Tho-Ca Mau, Chau Doc-Can Tho-Soc Trang, My An-Cao Lanh, and An Huu-Cao Lanh, the transport ministry had already pointed out the heavy demand for sand of 35.6 million cubic meters for the road embankment.

Meanwhile, the supply, particularly river sand from the region, is limited. The licensed exploitation from mines in Vinh Long, Dong Thap, and An Giang provinces is 5.6 million cubic meters a year, while only 1.9 million cubic meters are supplied to expressway projects yearly.

Overall, the demand for construction sand in the Mekong Delta is about 39 million cubic meters, exceeding the region’s supply of 26 million cubic meters.

The transport ministry is studying possible use of marine sand as an alternative to river sand and the result is expected at the end of this year.