Balancing construction sand sources, including coordination plans between projects, is being implemented by localities in the region to speed up the construction progress of key expressways.
Expanding the sea sand pilot
According to the Ministry of Transport’s calculations, the total demand for roadbed materials for projects in the Mekong Delta region alone is about 70 million m3, of which fill soil is about 7 million m3 and fill sand is about 63 million m3, mainly concentrated in 2023 and 2024.
Recently, the Prime Minister has resolutely directed to resolve difficulties and obstacles in the procedures for exploiting common construction materials to ensure the supply of materials for projects, and at the same time researched solutions to diversify the sources of materials used for transport projects.
Regarding the sea sand solution, the Ministry of Transport has proactively coordinated with ministries and branches to pilot the use of sea sand as roadbed material, the results of which have been reported to the prime minister. On that basis, the ministry has issued a document guiding localities in using sea sand as roadbed material for transport projects. However, the leader of the Ministry of Transport said that the pilot use of sea sand as roadbed material has only been implemented on a small scale, the design level is lower than that of expressways, the quality of sea sand has only been studied for one area (sea sand mine in Tra Vinh Province).
Therefore, the Ministry of Transport has proposed and received permission from the government to continue to expand the pilot use of sea sand in highway construction. The transport sector is piloting the expansion of the use of sea sand as roadbed material in the North-South Expressway component project, Hau Giang-Ca Mau section, with an estimated 2 million m3 of sea sand used. In addition, some localities in the north such as Quang Ninh and Hai Duong are also piloting the use of sea sand for roads, levelling, etc.
According to Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang, from these initial results, the Ministry of Transport will continue to coordinate with relevant ministries, branches and units to accelerate the pilot use of sea sand for roadbeds; focus on testing the physical and chemical properties of sea sand in some other areas such as Hai Phong, Vung Tau, etc.; and organise pilot construction expansion in some projects in the region such as the Ninh Binh-Hai Phong Expressway construction investment project.
To prevent landslides and subsidence due to the impact of river sand exploitation, the pilot expansion of the use of sea sand is one of the quite effective adaptation solutions to the impact of climate change in the Mekong Delta region.
Balancing sand sources
Regarding the supply of materials for some expressway projects in the Mekong Delta region, a representative of the Ministry of Transport said that the total demand for construction sand in the Chau Doc-Can Tho-Soc Trang project is about 29 million m3; it has been determined that this will be taken from An Giang (more than 9 million m3), Can Tho (more than 7 million m3), Hau Giang (6 million m3), and Soc Trang (6.6 million m3).
As of mid-October, localities have identified a supply of 23 million m3, of which about 10 million m3 is eligible for exploitation while the remaining volume is being finalised for procedures.
The remaining 6 million m3 has not been identified, in component project 4 (through Soc Trang Province), the locality plans to exploit seven sand mines in the province, with an estimated reserve of 6.6 million m3.
However, through actual surveys, only 2 out of the 7 mines meet the requirements (with a reserve of about 760,000 m3), while the remaining part (more than 5.8 million m3) is expected to utilise sea sand sources to serve the construction of the Can Tho-Ca Mau project.
“Although the sand source has been basically identified, the exploitation capacity has not met the requirements due to the need to transfer to prioritise the North-South Expressway project in the east (Can Tho-Ca Mau section) as well as the difficulty in increasing the exploitation capacity due to environmental protection,” said the leader of the Ministry of Transport.
Regarding the Cao Lanh-An Huu Expressway project, the total demand for sand is about 3.2 million m3. Dong Thap Province has identified and is committed to supply a source of about 2.8 million m3; it is currently completing the procedures for exploitation, however it is still short by 0.4 million m3.
In 2023, Dong Thap Province temporarily transferred to serve the immediate needs of the project and the contractor received about 121,000 m3 of sand. For the two projects from Can Tho to Ca Mau, the total demand for stone materials is about 2.2 million m3, and the filling soil is about 1.5 million m3 taken from the mines currently operating in the area with the supply capacity meeting the requirements of quality, reserves, and ensuring the required progress.
As for the sand filling material, as of mid-October, nearly 23 million m3 have been granted certification as being qualified for exploitation (An Giang 6.8 million m3; Dong Thap 7 million m3; Vinh Long 3.5 million m3; Soc Trang 5.5 million m3), while exploitation procedures are being completed for the remaining 5.5 million m3 (Tien Giang 2 million m3, Ben Tre 2 million m3, Vinh Long 1.5 million m3).
The Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 Project requires about 9.3 million m3 of sand. Ho Chi Minh City and the provinces of Dong Nai, Binh Duong, and Long An have coordinated to review and coordinate material sources for implementation. Regarding imported commercial sand sources, the prime minister assigned ministries and branches to study plans to import sand as construction materials for infrastructure projects.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association, as an act of goodwill, Cambodia will export sand to Vietnam with a reserve of about 100 million m3, with an exploitation period of one year. The association has proposed that Ho Chi Minh City be the focal point in the work with Cambodia to carry out procedures.
Implementing the government's direction, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has chaired and coordinated with relevant ministries, branches, and agencies to conduct surveys in Cambodia and has reported to the prime minister.
According to the report, Cambodia’s sand reserves for filling and construction are very abundant, providing enough for the immediate and long-term needs of the southern provinces; Sand supply does not encounter any difficulties or problems with the policies of the two governments and this is a large source of supply for projects.
