At the Ring Road 2.5 construction site in Yen Hoa Ward, workers continued clearing debris under the scorching midday sun. Nguyen Thi Hoa, 56, one of the workers, said she attaches a heat-insulating sheet to her hat to protect herself from the heat.
“The weather has been unbearably hot for nearly a week. I've been drinking a lot of cold water and ended up with a sore throat, but without it, I just can’t stand the heat.”
From May 22 to 27, northern and central Vietnam were hit by a severe heatwave caused by a western low-pressure hot zone combined with strong foehn winds.
According to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, many weather stations recorded their highest May temperatures on record.
Hanoi was the epicenter of the heatwave, with daily highs at 39-40 degrees for several days. At its Lang Station, the temperature reached 41.1 C on May 26, or within a whisker of its highest ever of 41.8 C set on June 4, 2017.
At the section of the site running through Van Kiep Street in Hong Ha Ward, most demolition work was carried out by machinery, leaving only a four-member drilling survey team working outdoors. The group bought a 6-square-meter tarpaulin for VND250,000 (US$9.50) to shield themselves from the sun.
“I don’t wear hats or scarves covering my head because they feel too suffocating and make it hard to breathe,” Dinh Van Nam, one of the members of the drilling team, said.
To avoid the worst of the heat, the team adjusted its working hours to 6 a.m. - 10 a.m., one hour earlier than usual, and 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Workers constantly drank cold water to lower their body temperatures. The job required all four men to coordinate continuously. Under the oppressive conditions, they had to rest for five minutes after every 20 minutes of work.
Around 700 meters from the site, Nguyen Ba Danh shares a 15-square-meter rented room with three colleagues while working on the Tran Hung Dao Bridge project.
The group has been working at the site for about a month and pays VND3 million (US$114) per month for the room.
Because the rental is short-term, the room has no air conditioner, and the four workers share a single fan.
“By the time we get back to the room, everyone is completely exhausted and no one wants to go anywhere because it’s hot day and night,” Danh said.
At 3 p.m., excavator operators working on Ring Road 2.5 add more engine oil to their machines. Due to the intense heat, each excavator requires an extra 60 liters of oil.
To ensure Ring Road 2.5 is completed on schedule and workers’ health is safeguarded during the heatwave, the contractors adjusted the working hours to 5:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Workplace safety measures were also tightened.
Warning signs and barriers were installed around construction zones, while water-spraying trucks operated to reduce dust and cool the place.
