The Official Letter on urgently developing standards for expressways and focusing on implementing solutions to ensure progress and quality of traffic infrastructure investment projects

On 12/9/2023, the Prime Minister issued the Official Letter No. 794/CD-TTg on urgently developing standards for expressways and focusing on implementing solutions to ensure progress and quality of traffic infrastructure investment projects.

According to the Official Letter, the Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Transport as follows:

- Regarding the construction and promulgation of expressway design standards:

+ To urgently carry out the tasks assigned by the Government, develop and promulgate expressway design standards according to authority as a basis for planning, design, construction investment and management of the expressway system, connecting intersections; as a basis for determining investment rates, mobilize investment capital to build appropriate expressways, ensure publicity, transparency, efficiency, avoid loss, waste, and group benefits. To complete in October 2023.

+ The process of developing the Regulations needs to research international experience, summarize investment practices and construction of expressway projects in recent times and ensure compatibility with actual conditions in Vietnam; organize consultation with ministries, branches, localities, relevant agencies, experts and scientists;

+ The content of the Regulations should note the regulations on the number of lanes, cross-sections, median strips, emergency stopping lanes, design speeds, rest stops, etc.; the principles of scientific and effective layout and organization of intersections; the design width and speed of intersections consistent with the speed of the expressway to ensure convenient, safe and effective exploitation and operation, in accordance with the requirements and conditions of socio-economic development of localities and regions, connect regions, exploit maximum investment efficiency of expressways, create space for new developments, create motivation to promote local and regional socio-economic development;

- Regarding strengthening solutions to handle soft ground: Urgently direct the review and guide localities (the governing body, the agency with authority to implement expressway projects) to review, strengthen solutions to soft ground in projects, especially the projects in the Red River Delta and Mekong Delta to ensure technical requirements and construction quality, especially loading time must be appropriate to control settlement; make solutions to organize scientific and reasonable construction to both ensure the progress of the works or project, while ensuring time and technical requirements for handling soft ground, absolutely not let technical negligence and processing process affecting the quality of works and projects.

- Regarding research on using sea sand as foundation material for infrastructure projects: preside and coordinate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Science and Technology to accelerate the progress of research into using sea sand for backfilling infrastructure projects such as highways, national highways or leveling industrial parks, urban areas,... to reduce dependence on river sand sources, proactive in source materials, speed up the construction progress of projects in the coming time; at the same time, the use of sea sand must ensure technical standards and not cause negative effects on the environment. To complete in October 2023.

- The People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities are the governing bodies and competent authorities to implement expressway projects.

+ To urgently implement the Prime Minister's direction in the Official Letter No. 769/CD-TTg dated August 26, 2023; coordinate with the Ministry of Transport to organize a review of the arrangement of rest stops and intersections connecting expressways with local and regional traffic networks, ensuring appropriate distance, safe and effective exploitation to connect and synchronize between expressways and local roads to develop new economic spaces, taking full advantage of the benefits brought by highways.

+ To direct the review and strengthening of solutions to handle soft ground at projects according to the guidance of the Ministry of Transport at Point b, Clause 1 of the Official Letter, absolutely avoid technical negligence, the processing process affecting the quality of works and projects.

In addition, the Prime Minister assigned specific tasks to the Ministries: Natural Resources and Environment, Science and Technology, Construction, Agriculture and Rural Development and the Government Office.