Completed site clearance but…

Up to this point, Hai Phong has basically completed site clearance work to serve the Hanoi-Hai Phong expressway construction project and only about 1% of the entire project remains unfinished. As a leading locality in site clearance work, but during the construction process of this route, the project is facing difficulties because in some places, people obstruct the contractor, not allowing construction with the reason: they need underground tunnels for people's lives rather than overpasses.

The desire to build underground tunnels to serve daily activities and production in people's lives is completely legitimate. Because farmers are poor and have few motor vehicles, if they have to take the overpass to the other side of the road, it will take time and effort. Therefore, from June 2012 until now, in some areas, contractors have not been able to carry out construction due to people's obstructions. Discussing this issue, Deputy Director of the Hanoi-Hai Phong Expressway Construction Project Management Board To Duc Quan said that the aspirations of people in some places are well-founded, however, the expressway cannot have too many underground tunnels for people's lives,  because this will affect the technical conditions of the route.

In Tan Vien commune (An Lao district), after many requests from people and realizing that this area could build a residential underground tunnel, the Project Management Board asked for permission to adjust and build here a non-standard underground tunnel (ie an underground tunnel that does not meet standards in width and height). When the underpass was built, local people were happy, but the project management board was concerned about the quality standards of the entire route. According to the Project Management Board, building this underground tunnel is a great effort of the Project Management Board and we hope that local people will understand and share the work of the Investor Management Board to create conditions and agree to focus on completing the 33 km section through Hai Phong before other localities under the direction of the Prime Minister.

Construction site of tunnel under Hanoi - Hai Phong expressway
section passing through Huu Bang commune (Kien Thuy).

It is not possible to build more tunnels through Huu Bang commune

Thinking that building an underground tunnel for people in Tan Vien commune would satisfy the wishes of local people, recently, the contractor constructing package EX9 through Huu Bang commune (Kien Thuy district) continued to be hindered by the people of Kim Doi 2 and 3 villages. The reason they also want to have underground tunnels for people. According to the project, the section through Huu Bang commune will have an underground tunnel for people at km 89+300. But, the households here objected because they thought it was unreasonable to build an underground tunnel in that location. Explaining this situation, the leader of Huu Bang commune said that the households of these two villages... "do not like to go together" and if they were in that position, it would involve spiritual issues. One village likes it, another village opposes it. This mess makes the commune leaders not know how to explain it.

In this area, according to the project management board, the construction of underground tunnels for people is almost zero. Mr. To Duc Quan said that in the design of this road section, in the area where people want to build an underground tunnel, the maximum elevation is only 1.5m compared to the road elevation in Tan Vien commune, the elevation of this section is only half that. If you build an underpass for people's lives, but still meet the design of a highway, this underpass is only equivalent to... a drainage pipe. Therefore, the most optimal solution is to move the tunnel to km89+460, which means moving the tunnel to the intersection with road 403 only 160m and this is the last possible location.

The reality is that the localities involved in the Hanoi-Hai Phong high-speed auto route do not fully understand the project and only care about immediate issues without considering the long term. Ignorance and unreasonable recommendations from the people make local leaders confused. Therefore, to focus on completing the route, leaders of localities where the expressway passes through need to organize dialogue with the project management board to clarify the technical design of the project, so that people can understand the importance of the project as well as construction plans, including the issue of underground tunnels.

According toMai Lam – Hai Phong-Society Newspaper