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Young engineers keep tunnel in the air

(Date:June 16, 2003. Source: Vietnam News)

DA NANG — Innovative construction techniques pioneered by young Vietnamese engineers have
put a stop to collapses that have dogged the construction of the Hai Van Pass Tunnel.

Digging deep: Thanks to the efforts of young engineers to prevent collapses, the Hai Van Pass Tunnel is expected to be completed on schedule. — VNA/VNS Photo Cong Dien

The Hai Van Pass Tunnel Project is the first combined road and tunnel complex in Viet Nam. The construction of the 12.18km tunnel, began in late 2000.

The first incident occurred only one month after construction began when underground water entered a collapsed area, creating a series of collapses inside the tunnel.

Construction was stopped while Korean engineers and construction experts left the country to search more widely for a solution.

Construction delays resulted in financial losses of more than VND100 million (US$6,700) for each day. "The incident was a huge challenge to the Vietnamese and foreign experts, and engineers taking part in the project," said Le Van Khang, the deputy director of the project’s management committee.

After several meetings between local experts and officials at the Ministry of Transport, a $1 million contract was signed with a Hong Kong-based construction company to rectify and prevent the landslides.

But the contract was unable to be completed when the Hong Kong company withdrew after one of their experts was involved in an accident, which occurred not long after the arrival of 12 experts and their equipment in Viet Nam.

Numerous German, French and Japanese companies offered their expertise and technology, but only at prices well beyond Viet Nam’s capacity.

The project’s management committee decided to commission a group of young engineers with the Song Da Construction Company 10 to undertake topographical research of the Hai Van Pass to find measures to stop these incidents.

Hoang Ngoc Tu, the head of the research group, said, "We read books and papers, searched the Internet, and exchanged ideas with foreign experts which enabled us to benefit from their collective experience."

The research group also met with some veteran engineers who had taken part in the construction of several underground projects in Viet Nam, including the Song Da and Yaly hydropower plants.

The Hai Van Pass passes through an area of great geological diversity. Rains and soft soils are believed to have contributed to several cracks which have appeared in the side of a nearby mountain.

After three months of research, the young engineers found a remedy for the problem: immediately after digging a section of tunnel, workers rapidly construct a concrete lining that is then followed by further reinforcement work.

"We were delighted when no leaks became evident during the hours after the first freshly dug section of the tunnel was lined," said Tu.

The technology has been successfully applied in a 5km section of tunnel every time the warning signs of a collapse occur. It is estimated to have saved more than $1 million from the State budget.

The young workers’ innovation has won them the first prize at a recently organised young and talented scientists’ festival, which was organised by the Song Da Construction Corporation.

Immediately after the successful application of the technology, the corporation presented the young workers with a reward totalling VND100 million.

"Their technology has now been offered to the Ministry of Construction for further recognition to honour those who successfully conquered the frequent collapses in the tunnel, saving massive amounts of State funds," said Khang. — VNS

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