On the afternoon of September 4, in Da Lat City, the Central Working Group led by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha had a working session with Lam Dong and Khanh Hoa provinces on the project to build the Nha Trang - Da Lat expressway.

Acting Secretary of Lam Dong Provincial Party Committee Nguyen Thai Hoc speaks at the meeting. Photo: Le Son

To implement the above expressway, Lam Dong and Khanh Hoa provinces have proposed 3 route options. The shortest route is over 99km long, the longest is 120km. Of which, the option parallel to the current National Highway 27C (over 99km) has been proposed by the authorities.

Overview of the working session of the Central Delegation with Lam Dong province. Photo: Le Son

This highway, which is characterized by the Khanh Hoa side being a plain, but when it reaches the Bidoup - Nui Ba National Park (Lam Dong), the elevation is 1,800, and when it reaches the Da Ra Hoa area (Lac Duong district, Lam Dong province), the elevation is 1,500 above sea level.

The most difficult part is that most of the entire route crosses and occupies special-use forests, protective forests and planted forests with a total area of ​​about 409 hectares. Of which, about 14km passes through Bidoup - Nui Ba National Park and a tunnel with a length of 1.4km.

Route options for the Nha Trang - Da Lat expressway. Photo: Le Son

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha and Mr. Nguyen Thai Hoc, Acting Secretary of Lam Dong Provincial Party Committee, said that if this option is selected for construction, it will be the most beautiful highway in Vietnam.

To minimize the impact and influence on forests, the consulting and design unit has proposed a solution to build viaducts and soft retaining walls where the slope is vertical. The viaducts have high pillars, and there are still forests between the bridge compartments. With this construction option, it is estimated that the Nha Trang - Da Lat expressway will reduce the impact on forests by about 30% compared to the conventional construction method. However, on the contrary, if many viaducts are built, the capital will increase significantly.

At the meeting, the leaders of Khanh Hoa and Lam Dong provinces, along with central ministries and branches, also presented the difficulties and obstacles in implementing the Nha Trang - Da Lat expressway. The biggest difficulty now is capital, then the highway passes through the special-use forest of Bidoup - Nui Ba National Park and the protective forest, the procedures for converting the purpose of forest use will be very complicated, the construction terrain is difficult...

If implemented, the capital to implement the project is very large, up to more than 25,000 billion VND, requiring the structure of state budget capital to participate at 17,540 billion VND (accounting for 70%) and the remaining 7,517 billion VND is capital mobilized by investors. 2024-2025 is the estimated period of project preparation costs from investor capital. The investment period is 2026-2028.

After listening to the opinions of representatives of Khanh Hoa and Lam Dong provinces and delegates of central ministries and branches attending the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha concluded: Proposing Lam Dong and Khanh Hoa provinces, the Ministry of Transport and Son Hai Group to continue researching and selecting the optimal solution when implementing the Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa expressway. Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha assigned the Ministry of Transport to preside over and research a suitable route, apply the best technology and equipment for construction to overcome the terrain differences, while ensuring aesthetics, technical safety, harmony with nature and minimizing impacts on forests. The Deputy Prime Minister agreed to submit to the Prime Minister to speed up the project implementation progress based on the calculation of the plan; authority to decide on investment policy; investment scale, contribution ratio of central, local and investor capital.