National Highway 14E, costing over 1.8 billion USD, is already damaged after asphalting; residents worry about construction quality

Residents in Vietnam's Da Nang region are expressing serious concerns over the quality of National Highway 14E, a major infrastructure project. Large sections of the road, which were recently asphalted, have already begun to peel and crack, raising fears about the project's durability. The highway, spanning nearly 71 kilometers and costing approximately 1,850 billion VND (around $73 million USD), is still under construction and has experienced multiple delays since breaking ground in March 2023.

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The road was just built but it's already damaged, so the quality of the construction must be reviewed.

Photographs show workers cutting and re-asphalting damaged sections of the highway, a process that has fueled public anxiety. Many locals, like 56-year-old Nguyen Thi Tinh from Chau Lam village, report seeing long cracks and potholes appearing on the road surface shortly after it was opened. "The road was just built but it's already damaged, so the quality of the construction must be reviewed," Tinh stated, noting that her own street required re-asphalting just that morning.

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Everyone here says they poured the asphalt too thinly, which is why it's breaking down so quickly.

Locals suspect that the asphalt layer applied was too thin, leading to its rapid degradation. "Everyone here says they poured the asphalt too thinly, which is why it's breaking down so quickly," Tinh explained. She voiced fears that the road would deteriorate completely after the upcoming rainy season if the issues are not addressed thoroughly. The highway experiences significant traffic from heavy trucks carrying goods like timber, further exacerbating concerns about its longevity.

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The road was just built but it's already damaged, so the quality of the construction must be reviewed. ... Everyone here says they poured the asphalt too thinly, which is why it's breaking down so quickly.

Despite assurances from the project management board, which claims the damage stems from a localized defect in a single batch of asphalt, residents remain skeptical. They argue that repeated patching and repairs indicate a fundamental problem with the construction quality. The inconvenience caused by the prolonged construction period has already been substantial, making the premature deterioration of the newly surfaced road particularly frustrating for the community.

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If the road surface quality is not guaranteed, the risk of deterioration will happen very quickly.