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Ministry of Transport expects Hai Van tunnel to be open soon

(Date: July 01, 2004. Source: Vietnam News)

Nguyen Dinh Bach, director of Hai Van Tunnel Management Development Company (Hamadeco), talked with Tuoi Tre Chu Nhat (Youth Sunday) magazine about Hai Van Pass Tunnel – an important leg of the North-South route. When will you open the Hai Van Pass Tunnel for traffic? According to the Ministry of Transport, the tunnel is to be open for traffic by April next year. We are now working on giving the finishing touches. The tunnel will have controlling stations at the northern and southern gates, which will also collect tolls. All transport will be banned from overtaking and no vehicle will be allowed to stop or park anywhere inside the tunnel, except in the case of a break down. Vehicles have to travel between 60 and 80km per hour, keeping a minimum distance of 3m. What types of vehicles will be allowed to travel through the tunnel? All kinds of automobiles except those carrying oil, petrol, gas, explosives and chemicals prone to fire. Over-sized trucks will have to inform and register with the tunnel managers, so as to be led through the tunnel. Motorbikes of less than 175cu.cm and pedestrians will be prohibited from taking the tunnel. However, to meet the demands of residents of Da Nang City and Thua Thien-Hue Province, two vehicles will be used: one to carry people and the other to carry their motorbikes. These vehicles will pass the tunnel every five or 10 minutes. We have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build a tunnel for the benefit of only certain means of transport. Others will still have to climb over the pass. Is it a waste? The risk of explosions and fires inside large tunnels is very high. To ensure traffic safety, countries around the world with large tunnels strictly obey regulations on fire and explosion prevention. We have to also follow such safety regulations. Motorbikes lower than 175cu.cm and pedestrians have been banned because they will not be able to stand the noise, heat and wind inside the tunnel. Japanese experts have also asked to limit motorbikes higher than 175cu.cm inside the tunnel. How do you plan to control activity inside the tunnel? We have installed 56 cameras at different angles. Every image will be processed at the main control centre located at the southern gate of the tunnel on a 75sq.m screen. Managers will monitor every activity inside the tunnel including ventilation, dust filtering, lighting and fire prevention systems. The 6.3km long tunnel will be lighted with 1,000 high-voltage yellow bulbs, which can automatically change their brightness to suit the vision of drivers. How will you deal with accidents inside the tunnel? There will be a main control centre and a rescue centre located at the southern gate of the tunnel. There will also be 18 fire engines and ambulances working round-the-clock. Along the tunnel, we have installed fire fighting systems and scubas to help victims. How many personnel will you need to manage the tunnel? There will be 143 engineers and technicians to manage and run the tunnel. But to do the job effectively, we may need at least 200 people. We have sent 30 engineers to Japan to study ventilation and electrical systems. What will be the toll for different categories of vehicles? Toll charges have not been fixed yet. But following the Ministry of Finance’s regulations issued in 2002, vehicles with 12 seats or less, vans with loading capacity of less than two tonnes and buses will have to pay a toll of VND10,000. Automobiles of 12 to 30 seats and trucks with loading capacity of less 2 to under 4 tonnes will have to pay VND15,000. Vehicles of 31 seats and upwards and trucks with loading capacity of less 4 to under 10 tonnes will have to shell out VND22,000. Trucks with loading capacity of less 10-18 tonnes will be charged VND40,000 and those of above 18 tonnes VND80,000. — VNS

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