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Work to bury cables leaves a gaping hole in a HCM City street, threatening lives and vehicles. The impatience of contractors and the public about the time taken to complete infrastructure projects is blamed for poor quality of some new roads. — VNA/ VNS Photo The Duyet |
The potholes, 1m wide and 1.5m deep and linked to each other, were just 2m from the railway.
Ward 9 People's Committee member Nghiem Van Thai said the potholes had been filled with soil and rocks to prevent any further subsidence.
Dan Tri newspaper says traffic inspectors had erected warning signs and security barriers immediately after the potholes were reported.
HCM City Sewerage Company workers had also checked nearby sewerage systems.
The newspaper attributed the pot-holes to the poor work that results from a rush to finish infrastructure on schedule and at any price.
Potholes appeared in the HCM City – Trung Luong Highway soon after it was opened in early February, 2010, and much work still remains to be done.
A major example was the Ham Luong Bridge in southern Ben Tre Province which was finished to coincide with Liberation Day, April 30, 2010.
"Building of the bridge set a record," the newspaper says.
"It was completed two months ahead of schedule - a rare occurrence with road works.
"But potholes in the path leading to the bridge from the Mo Cay District were found five months later."
Viet Nam Architects Association member Le Cong Si complained that investors, contractors and even the public were too impatient about the time taken to complete infrastructure projects.
"Each job must be allowed time to ensure adequate quality," he said. "If not the finished work will be of poor quality."
Often projects are technically incomplete when contractors decide to open them "temporarily". But capital works such as roads and bridges have to carry the ‘real' load.
"Many think of the ‘temporary' opening as a way to check the quality of the work. If there are no mishaps within a set time, they dismantle the so-called ‘temporarily-open-to-traffic' order."
Architect Si said that if failures occured the contractors provided their own rationale for what had happened.
"When potholes in the HCM City – Trung Luong Highway appeared and accidents occurred, the investor explained it had happened because the project was incomplete and in temporary use," the architect said.
But those who allow such "temporary use" must be held accountable for any mishaps.
HCM City Civic Engineering Technical Science Association deputy director Phan Phung Sanh said design consultants must approve shorter construction times together with adequate technical measures.
"It can't be done through subjective orders from investors or contractors," he said. "Contractors have to maintain design criteria."
"If contractors are forced to shorten the time for construction progress, they will lower quality rather than make a loss."— VNS
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