Central expressway to be ready three months early

Nguyen Van Huy, director of the Nha Trang – Cam Lam Expressway Investment Company, Ltd., said the construction had started in September 2021 amid difficulties caused by Covid-19 outbreaks and rising prices of building materials.

But the company overcame them and stuck to the schedule by having clear funding plans in place and using modern technologies.

The four-lane expressway, which is set to cost more than VND7.6 trillion (US$323.7 million), is more than 95% complete.

It will run from Dien Khanh District in Khanh Hoa Province to Cam Thinh Tay Commune in the province’s Cam Ranh Town.

Huy said the company uses machinery from the U.S. and Europe while technologies used in the road coating process helped cut construction time by half and reduce the number of workers from 20 to five.

The imported machines also helped maintain the temperature of the concrete mix coming from the factory to the construction site, thus guaranteeing the technical quality of the coating, he said.

Dr. Chu Cong Minh, an infrastructure expert at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, said the expressway is one of a few in Vietnam built by a public-private partnership (PPP). HCMC construction firm Son Hai is the private partner.

He said infrastructure works could not rely solely on government funds and PPPs ease the burden on the government’s coffers and help speed up work.

But clear and attractive policies are needed to persuade private investors to sign up, he added.