Hanoi (VNA)🤡 – Contractors of the eastern North-South Expressway sub-project are actively pooling machinery and manpower to accelerate its construction progress in line with the commitments made to the Ministry of Transport (MoT).

A series of North-South expressway sub-projects are being pushed by the MoT to accelerate disbursement and meet the schedule. For contracts that are progressing slowly, the Project Management Unit No 2 transferred the workload to other contractors to assist in speeding up construction. It also requested the deployment of additional machinery and asphalt to ensure timely construction for sections where the conditions are suitable for load removal in areas with weak grounds. As the contractor that nearly completed the XL2 package of the National Highway 45-Nghi Son Expressway sub-project, Nguyen Manh Tuan, director of the XL2 package management board under Lizen Company, said since July 27, the consortium of Lizen and 471 JSC has taken over the entire construction of the asphalt concrete overlay for a 7.6km stretch from the XL3 package. It is expected that by August 25, the entire task of Lizen and other supporting contractors will be completed, he added. Regarding My Thuan 2 bridge project, a component project of the North-South expressway project in the 2017-2020 period, the project management unit's report indicated that the completed construction output has reached 87% of the contract value. The entire project is set to be completed by the end of this year. After over seven months of construction, there has been a noticeable improvement in the construction progress and resource mobilisation for Hau Giang-Ca Mau section of the North-South expressway project. According to a report from the My Thuan project management unit, the construction output has reached nearly 800 billion VND, which is approximately 7% of the contract value and about 60% of the registered contractor's plan.   This year saw completion and operation of three North-South expressway subprojects, including National Highway 45-Nghi Son, Nghi Son-Dien Chau, My Thuan 2 Bridge, and My Thuan-Can Tho project. The MoT has been directing contractors to pool all possible resources, capitalise on favourable weather conditions, and arrange "3 shifts, 4 teams" to ensure the projects are put into operation on schedule and to avoid delays. The MoT also requested investors and relevant agencies to urge contractors to pool all possible resources, take advantage of favourable weather conditions, and continue with construction to meet schedule and disbursement plans. It called for attention to quality management, labour safety and fines against underperforming contractors and those violating contract schedules in accordance with regulations. Recognising the prerequisites and the biggest obstacles to the completion of the eastern North-South expressway project for the 2021-2025 period, the MoT directed contractors to work with localities to expedite the completion of procedures for exploiting construction material quarries. The hope is a completion date of the end of July and early August 2023 for quarries that have been submitted. Additional quarries that meet criteria for quantity, quality, and procedural convenience regarding land should be surveyed and included in the material survey file for the project (if needed) and complete procedures for remaining quarries no later than October 2023./.