Long Thanh airport project gets 10 reservoirs to keep dust away

By Phuoc Tuan   April 5, 2023 | 10:03 pm PT
Long Thanh airport project gets 10 reservoirs to keep dust away
One of the 10 reservoirs built to fix dust pollution at the construction site of Long Thanh airport, Dong Nai Province, April 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Phuoc Tuan
Workers have built 10 reservoirs to provide water for spraying away dust generated by the construction of the Long Thanh Airport, which will be Vietnam's largest.

The 10 reservoirs will provide water for 60 trucks, including two fire trucks, to spray the ground where Long Thanh International Airport is under construction in Dong Nai Province, a neighbor of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), a construction site manager said Wednesday.

Lt. Col. Vo Thanh Phong, director of the management board of a contract package to level ground and build the drainage system for the airport project, said that each reservoir can store 1,200 cubic meters of water, which will be drained from wells.

"Together, the 10 reservoirs can guarantee enough water to spray the ground over the entire project."

He added that construction workers are building a stone road of 78 kilometers long to reduce the dust generated when trucks carry building materials in and out of the project.

As the southern region is in the peak of the dry season, winds have carried dust from the project as far as 10 kilometers, affecting tens of thousands of families in Dong Nai.

In many cases, houses and trees are covered in a layer of red dust and many people have to use nets or plastic sheets to shield their houses.

Dong Nai authorities and the Ministry of Transport last month requested the airport’s investor, Airports Corporation of Vietnam, a joint-stock company with 95.4% state-owned shares, to solve the problem.

An inspection team from the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment then concluded that dust was dispersed as the workers had failed to water the entire site adequately during the process of leveling the ground on an area of more than 2,500 hectares.

The team also cited the weather in the south as one of the reasons for the problem: "Given the large area of the project, the wind will carry the dust away," it said.

Long Thanh Airport project, spanning 5,000 ha, has an expected investment capital of around VND336.63 trillion ($14.3 billion).

The first phase of the project, which started in 2021, includes construction of a runway, terminal and accompanying infrastructure, with a capacity for 25 million visitors a year.

Once put into operation, it will replace HCMC's Tan Son Nhat International Airport as Vietnam's largest.

Residents besieged by dust storms from construction of Vietnam's largest airport, March 2023. Video by VnExpress/Vu Thinh, Phuoc Tuan

 
 
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