According to the Department of Transport of Hau Giang Province, currently, contractors are constructing bridges on highways passing through localities such as Dong Phap Bridge, KH9 Bridge, Xa No Bridge, an overpass passing over the National Highway 61C, and Nang Mau 2 Bridge. Contractors complained that the present exploitation speed of 3,750 cubic meters of sand a day will not meet the project implementation schedule. Therefore, they are urgently looking for more sand sources to serve the projects.
Meanwhile, project contractors in Can Tho City are also falling into a similar situation. According to Mr. Le Tien Dung, Director of the Department of Transport of Can Tho City, there is a severe shortage of sand used as road embankment material for key traffic projects.
Furthermore, the most difficult is the fluctuation of sand price, estimated to be only about VND200,000 per cubic meter but at present, the commercial purchase price is around VND300,000 per cubic meter. Meanwhile, only traffic projects in Can Tho City need approximately 2.1 million cubic meters of sand for road construction but contractors can only buy about 30 percent while they find it difficult to purchase the rest.
According to the report of the My Thuan Project Management Board, the sand source for the Can Tho - Ca Mau expressway is basically enough. An Giang and Dong Thap provinces provide sand for the project. Meanwhile, the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway section passing through Can Tho with a length of 37.5km needs 5.3 million cubic meters for road construction but currently, the management board just has around 2.4 million cubic meters from An Giang.
According to Permanent Vice Chairman Duong Tan Hien of Can Tho City People's Committee, the city and contractors have worked with An Giang, Dong Thap, and Vinh Long provinces to find sand sources to supply for the construction of highways. Moreover, Can Tho City has also worked with Cambodia to find sand sources.
Initial assessment shows that Cambodia has a lot of sand with good quality. However, the price of sand is very high, fluctuating around VND200,000 per cubic meter and transportation fee is up to VND300,000 per cubic meter. Can Tho City is trying to find solutions to solve key projects.
Recently, Can Tho City leaders have worked with Soc Trang province leaders to find a source of sand for road construction.
Accordingly, Soc Trang said there are about 8 million cubic meters on the Hau River. Soc Trang government has promised to provide 5 million cubic meters of sand. Responsible agencies are coordinating to re-evaluate existing sand source and reserves on Hau River.
