Construction project investors in Mekong Delta struggling to find sand supply

SGGP 11/11/2022 22:12

The Can Tho - Ca Mau expressway and the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway are estimated to need about 40 million cubic meters of sand for leveling, but investors are still struggling to find the supply of sand, an extremely needful material for the construction.

Deputy Minister of Construction Le Quang Hung today had a meeting with Hau Giang Province and Can Tho City on the implementation of expressway projects.

It is estimated that the entire Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway with a length of 188 km will require more than 21 million cubic meters of sand for leveling while the Can Tho - Ca Mau section of the North-South expressway project with a length of 109 km will need 18. 5 million cubic meters of sand. For these two expressway projects alone, the Mekong Delta needs about 40 million cubic meters of sand.

According to the Can Tho City Construction Investment Project Management Board, the investor of Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway with a length of 37.4 km, the unit is currently bumping into a problem with the source of sand for leveling and sand for concrete construction because sand is very scarce in recent years.

Can Tho City has also sent an official dispatch to An Giang and Dong Thap provinces to call for support in providing sand to implement the project, but it is still not finished.

A representative of the investor of a project with a length of 37km in Hau Giang Province said that they are also facing similar difficulties.

The My Thuan Project Management Board, the investor of the Can Tho - Ca Mau expressway project, said that the demand for leveling sand for the Can Tho - Ca Mau section will be 18.5 million cubic meters, but authorities in An Giang Province promised to provide around one million cubic meters so the project still lacks 17.5 million cubic meters.

Authorities in Dong Thap Province said that the source and quantity of sand that can be supplied have not been determined yet. Subsequently, the My Thuan Project Management Board proposed the Deputy Minister of Construction report to the Government to find solutions to the problem.

Regarding the source of sea sand, the My Thuan Project Management Board said that according to the survey, Soc Trang Province has 13 billion cubic meters and Tra Vinh Province has been licensed to exploit 1 million cubic meters. Currently, the Ministry of Transport has also approved to pilot the construction of the Can Tho - Ca Mau expressway project. It is expected to pilot the construction at two sections with an approximate cost of about VND20 billion starting in January 2023. The sea sand source will be about 5,000 cubic meters from Tra Vinh Province. The final report and assessment will not be available until the end of 2023.

The consulting unit of the project construction using sea sand, Truong Son Consulting Joint Stock Company, said that the characteristics of sea sand are drifting from the mainland, the grain composition is much friction, so the sand grains are rounder than river sand. Therefore, when sea sand is used in the leveling and installation of the highway project, evaluation should be conducted. Countries around the world, after adding inorganic substances, only use a lot in civil construction. However, Vietnam can’t add other inorganic substances as other countries because it will make the potential cost increase greatly.

Deputy Minister of Construction Le Quang Hung expressed concern because there is no specific solution for the leveling sand source. The first trial was carried out in August 2022, while according to the progress, it will not be until the end of 2023 to finish the trial. Thus, if the trial is successful, exploitation of sea sand will be done until 2024 whereas the projects that are under progress will almost have to be leveled, especially in 2023 when demand for leveling will rise.

Therefore, Deputy Minister Le Quang Hung asked investors to find other more feasible options, nor could they rely on sand from An Giang or Dong Thap because it is not possible to suddenly exploit tens of millions of cubic meters of sand, or else environmental problems will arise. In the case of having to import sand from abroad, the potential cost will increase, leading to a slide in the total investment, so investors must carefully consider and proactively anticipate their financial options.