Cam Lo – La Son expressway interchange worth 300 billion VND stalls awaiting land clearance

The Provincial Road 12B interchange on the Cam Lo - La Son expressway expansion project in Hue City has become a construction bottleneck due to slow land clearance. More than 100 households, graves, and associated utilities cannot yet be relocated, causing this nearly 300 billion VND component to stall and risking delays to the synchronized completion of the entire expressway by the end of this year. The Cam Lo - La Son expressway expansion spans 98.73 km, with about 62.72 km in Hue City. It began construction on December 19, 2025, with a 12-month timeline and is expected to be completed by year-end. During the implementation of the overall project, the Provincial Road 12B interchange at Km72+370 (Kim Long Ward, Hue City) was added to create a direct connection from the expressway to the Nguyen Hoang Bridge area, contributing to Hue’s urban transport network. According to the Ho Chi Minh Highway Project Management Board, the interchange has a total investment of about 300 billion VND, of which civil works cost around 240 billion VND and land clearance more than 54 billion VND. The item is expected to be essentially completed by the end of 2026 to align with the expansion progress of the entire expressway. However, to date the project cannot commence due to land clearance issues. This is a large-scale interchange requiring mountain blasting, constructing an overpass to bypass Hue (National Highway 1) to form ingress-egress lanes for the expressway in a South-North direction, and excavating a tunnel beneath to organize ingress-egress for the North-South direction. The entire construction area must be fully cleared, resulting in a very large workload. According to the Hue City Area Project Management Board for Investment and Construction, which is responsible for land clearance, the construction area for the interchange affects 215 households and 3 organizations, along with about 111 graves that must be relocated. Kim Long Ward People’s Committee issued notices to reclaim land for 37 residential/business plots and 73 agricultural plots. However, 105 cases have delayed land clearance notices due to insufficient compensation conditions or planning discrepancies, delaying handover. In addition, the project scope also faces infrastructure relocation for power, telecommunications, and water supply. These items are planned to be moved to hand over full land by June 30. The Ho Chi Minh Highway Project Management Board also proposed advancing more than 2.9 billion VND to assist affected households to enable early land handover. According to the investor, land clearance progress has shown some progress but remains slow. Currently only 49 of 212 households have handed over land, while about 118 households require resettlement. It is planned to hand over another portion on 20 April, with the target of finishing land clearance within the interchange and roundabout area by 30 June. However, more than 100 graves still have not been relocated. According to the Truong Son Construction Corporation, the contractor, slow handover of land prevents synchronized construction. The contractor needs continuous land to open site roads, mobilize equipment, and ensure capacity for large-scale construction. The area also has soft soil strata requiring foundation treatment and settlement of about half a year, increasing schedule pressure, especially given Hue’s long rainy season that complicates construction. Facing the risk of delays, Hue City authorities recently conducted an on-site inspection and ordered relevant units to accelerate land clearance, complete inventories, coordinate with residents to relocate graves, and ensure land handover for construction according to plan. According to Hue Department of Construction, upon completion the Provincial Road 12B interchange will create an important connection to the Nguyen Hoang Bridge, contributing to urban space expansion and improved regional connectivity. However, given the large volume of land clearance still required, this nearly 300 billion VND component is anxiously awaiting land clearance to complete in sync with the Cam Lo - La Son expressway expansion by late 2026.