Opening up the traffic "blood vessels" of Thanh land...

"Overcoming the sun" to construct Bong Son bridge (North-South expressway connection project, National Highway 1A to Nghi Son Port).

If we want to "show off" the picture of Thanh Hoa province's traffic infrastructure in recent years, perhaps starting the story with the existence of the North-South expressway section Mai Son - National Highway (QL) 45 will evoke many interesting things. A stretch of expressway with a total investment of more than 12,000 billion VND; total route length of 63.37km, passing through the territory of 2 provinces Ninh Binh , Thanh Hoa. Of which, the road construction length is 57.32km, the bridge construction length is 5.12km, the tunnel construction length is 0.93km. The section passing through the area

Thanh Hoa has a length of 49.02km and through Ninh Binh province (old) has a length of 14.35km. The scale of phase 1 of the project is to build 4 lanes, design speed 80km/h.

The project was started in September 2020, during a period of many difficulties and challenges: the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, greatly affecting all aspects of life, erratic weather, high prices of fuel and materials; shortage of supply (especially for earth filling materials). Despite the difficulties and challenges, with the spirit of "only discussing work, no retreat", "speeding up, reaching the finish line", the Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction ) launched a "120-day technical traffic opening emulation movement"; the project management boards and contractors enthusiastically responded; the localities worked hard to coordinate, the project was put into operation and use on April 30, 2023. In particular, to ensure connectivity and promote the effectiveness of investment in the North-South expressway, Thanh Hoa province has prioritized resources, allocating 7,512 billion VND from the provincial budget to invest in a number of large-scale projects with 4-8 lanes connecting key local routes with the expressway project through intersections, such as: Route connecting National Highway 1 with National Highway 45 and Thieu Giang expressway intersection; Thanh Hoa city route with Tho Xuan Airport and Dong Thang intersection; Van Thien intersection route with Ben En National Park; route connecting the expressway with National Highway 1 to Nghi Son deep-water port.

The North-South Expressway section Mai Son - National Highway 45 has been put into operation and use, shortening the travel time between Hanoi - Thanh Hoa to just over 2 hours instead of over 3 hours as before, opening up many advantages, opportunities, and room for development. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the North-South Expressway construction project in the East phase 2017-2020, Mai Son - National Highway 45 section, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Do Minh Tuan emphasized: The Mai Son - National Highway 45 component project is a project that plays a very important role in the socio-economic development of the country in general and the provinces through which the route passes in particular. The route, once put into operation, will shorten the time from Thanh Hoa to Ninh Binh to Hanoi and the northern provinces through interchanges, connecting Thanh Hoa province with economic - political - social centers across the country, contributing significantly to promoting socio-economic development, ensuring local security and defense, creating favorable conditions for the exchange of goods, promoting tourism development, and attracting investors.

In recent times, in addition to the attention and facilitation of the Central Government, Thanh Hoa province has mobilized maximum resources, implemented synchronous solutions to invest and complete socio-economic infrastructure, focusing on synchronous and modern transport infrastructure. Thereby creating a physical foundation to effectively promote potential and inherent advantages, creating favorable conditions to attract investment, improve competitiveness, promote tourism, and gradually affirm its position as a new growth pole in the North of the country.

In the 2021-2025 period, nearly 710km of national highways and provincial roads have been upgraded, expanded, and newly built, connecting dynamic economic centers, regions, and connecting with key traffic axes of the whole country. A number of large projects have been completed and put into use, such as: Traffic road connecting Sam Son City (old) with Nghi Son Economic Zone; East-West Highway of Thanh Hoa City (old) from Rung Thong town to National Highway 1A; road connecting the center of Thanh Hoa City with the road from Tho Xuan Airport to Nghi Son Economic Zone; Van Thien road to Ben En; road connecting National Highway 1A and National Highway 45 from Hoang Xuan commune, Hoang Hoa district (old) to Thieu Long commune, Thieu Hoa district (old)...

In addition to the traffic infrastructure projects that have been inaugurated and put into use, Thanh Hoa is focusing on implementing key traffic projects in the area such as: Project to invest in the construction of the coastal road section Hoang Hoa - Sam Son and the section Quang Xuong - Tinh Gia, the project of the North - South expressway, National Highway 1A to Nghi Son Port; the project of the North - South railway overpass and the road at both ends of the bridge belonging to the East - West Highway... These projects, when completed and put into use, will not only create infrastructure highlights but also be the foundation, "impetus" for the development, inter-regional connectivity and important economic axes of the province.

We visited the Bong Son bridge construction site, the border between Cac Son commune and Tuong Linh commune - one of the items of route No. 1, the North-South expressway project, National Highway 1A to Nghi Son Port in the exciting and bustling days of celebrating the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution (1945-2025) and National Day September 2. On the construction site, the sun was scorching hot, sweat poured out like a shower, wetting their faces and their backs, but the staff and workers still maintained their spirit and spirit of emulation and working enthusiastically and responsibly. Mr. Ngo Van Thong - Construction technical officer, Thanh Hoa Bridge Construction Joint Stock Company said: "On the area of the handed over site, the contractors have urgently mobilized, concentrated human resources, materials, machinery, and deployed construction teams. Except for objective weather factors, sometimes stormy rain, sometimes intense heat, basically, the construction process has been relatively favorable".

The North-South Expressway and National Highway 1A connecting road project to Nghi Son Port was approved for investment by the Provincial People's Committee Chairman in Decision No. 4430/QD-UBND dated December 13, 2022 with a total investment of VND 1,345 billion, and started construction in February 2024, as planned after 27 months of construction. The project includes 2 routes, of which route No. 1 is Provincial Road 512, the section from National Highway 1 to Tho Xuan - Nghi Son road is 10.3km long, passing through Tan Dan ward, Cac Son commune and Tuong Linh commune. Route No. 2 is Nghi Son - Bai Tranh road, the section from Ho bridge to the intersection to the North-South Expressway, is 3km long, in Truong Lam commune.

Mr. Le Viet Khoi, Head of Technical - Appraisal Department (Management Board of Construction Investment Projects in Nghi Son Economic Zone and Thanh Hoa Industrial Zones), shared: “The construction process still faces many difficulties and challenges such as site clearance; the technical nature of the project is relatively complicated, some sections of the route must be treated with weak foundations, some construction materials are scarce and prices are high... The Board has increased the number of officers and engineers to the construction site to direct and supervise the technical and quality of each construction item. Coordinate with functional departments, local authorities where the project passes through and contractors to resolve difficulties and problems; mobilize people to agree, promptly complete site clearance, create favorable conditions for the construction unit to ensure progress and quality”.

Currently, the project has basically completed 5.5km of roads, of which about 2km has been completed with asphalt concrete; is digging and lowering the foundation of the section through the mountain in Cac Son commune; constructing horizontal drainage culverts; basically completed construction of 6/7 bridges on the route, of which the railway overpass and National Highway 47B have completed about 55% of the volume. By the end of August 2025, the construction units of the entire project have achieved over 45% of the total volume to be constructed. Mr. Mai Ngoc Khang, Deputy Director of the Management Board of the Nghi Son Economic Zone and Thanh Hoa Industrial Zones Investment and Construction Project, Executive Director of the North-South Expressway and National Highway 1A to Nghi Son Port project, commented: “The investment and construction of the project is very important in connecting the regions in the region, forming an external traffic route directly connecting with National Highway 1 and the North-South Expressway. After completion, the project will shorten the travel time between the western communes of the province and Nghi Son Economic Zone, ensuring the transportation of goods and passengers, creating a complete traffic network connecting the North-South Expressway, Nghi Son - Tho Xuan road and regional routes with Tho Xuan Airport and Nghi Son Port. At the same time, it will create convenient traffic for industrial parks along the route, increasing the connectivity of coastal tourism”.

With the mission of "going ahead to pave the way", developing traffic infrastructure is paving the way to the future... the traffic "blood vessels" of Thanh Hoa are increasingly open and clear. Believing that, with the existing position and strength, in the coming time, the province will continue to mobilize maximum resources, invest in developing traffic infrastructure, open up dynamic roads, spacious avenues connecting to the journey to a bright future, becoming the driving force for Thanh Hoa to confidently accompany the country into the new era.

Article and photos: Thuy - Huong

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/rong-mo-mach-mau-giao-thong-xu--258719.htm