At the beginning of August, the old tiles on the sidewalks of Pham Ngoc Thach and Nguyen Van Chiem streets were removed, and the base was filled with gravel before granite was laid.
Workers digging trenches to place green stone blocks as a base to reinforce the sidewalks on Nguyen Van Chiem Street.
This street is among 12 sidewalks and 64 alleys scheduled for renovation, including those on Nguyen Thi Nghia, Nguyen Van Cu, Pham Ngoc Thach, and Nguyen Trai streets.
Pham Quach Truong Giang, head of the district Investment and Construction Project Management Board, stated that many sidewalks have not been renovated or repaired for decades and have been damaged by vehicles driving over them, causing rapid deterioration.
Additionally, some areas previously paved with low-durability Terrazzo cement tiles have been cracked and broken by tree roots and will also be upgraded with granite paving.
More than 2 km from Nguyen Van Chiem Street, nearly a dozen workers on Nguyen Trai Street are also busy renovating the sidewalks.
Worker Vo Thanh Dung said that each person is assigned tasks such as mixing mortar, cutting tiles, and laying stones to meet the deadline.
"Over the past two days, we have completed more than 20 meters of the sidewalk," Dung said.
Workers use chainsaws to cut granite stones to fit the current conditions. Besides laying stones, the degraded sidewalks are also being reinforced with new roadbeds, old drainage systems are being replaced, concrete is being poured, and new tiles are being laid.
"The previous sidewalks were degraded and peeling, giving a very shabby appearance, so I'm quite excited to see workers laying new stones. I hope that once the renovation is complete, it will make business more convenient," said the owner of a shop on Nguyen Trai Street.
A sidewalk section that has just been upgraded on Nguyen Trai Street. With its high durability, granite is being used by the district authorities to pave most of the sidewalks in the city center.
The sidewalk projects are carefully fenced off, with information about the project, investor, and contact details provided.
A corner of the sidewalk on Nguyen Van Cu Street is being covered with gravel, awaiting granite paving.
Binh Thanh District bordering District 1 is also renovating more than 5 km of the sidewalk on Dien Bien Phu Street for urban beautification, after which fees will be calculated.
Traders set up temporary stalls while the sidewalk on Pham Ngoc Thach Street is under construction.
In addition to upgrading the sidewalks, District 1 authorities have also marked lines on the sidewalks of numerous streets to collect fees for the use of roadways and sidewalks for about three months.
The central district of the city currently has 155 streets and sidewalks eligible for temporarily renting part of them as parking spots, service businesses, and goods trading, both with and without fees.
District 1 authorities started in May to experiment applying sidewalk fees for parking lots and businesses, with fees ranging from VND20,000 to VND350,000 per square meter.
As of July, 290 business households in the district had registered to use parts of the sidewalk on 11 streets.
