Urgent Repairs on Khanh Le Pass Linking Nha Trang and Da Lat Ahead of Rainy Season

Urgent repairs are being rapidly carried out on Khanh Le Pass (National Highway 27C), a vital route connecting the popular resort city of Nha Trang and the highland city of Da Lat in Vietnam's Khanh Hoa province, ahead of the approaching rainy season. Work focuses on areas prone to severe landslides, including the installation of retaining walls, rockfall protection nets, and road surface repairs. The rainy season in Khanh Hoa typically peaks in October and November. Authorities are accelerating repairs on damaged sections of National Highway 27C, particularly at a sharp bend that has experienced serious landslides twice in recent years, causing road blockages. Earth and rocks have been cleared, and the road surface is being asphalted, with safety barriers and other amenities being installed. At a location near the foot of the pass, construction of a reinforced concrete retaining wall on bored piles with a diameter of one meter is underway. Currently, 26 out of 48 piles are complete, with foundation and wall body construction continuing. Contractors have mobilized hundreds of workers for rock breaking and site clearing to expedite reinforcement work on Khanh Le Pass before the rainy season. Repairs and reinforcement of National Highway 27C, especially Khanh Le Pass, have reached approximately 40-50% completion. Repaired sections now allow heavy trucks to pass. A site where a major landslide occurred in late 2025, causing the road surface to collapse by about 5 meters and creating potholes, cracks, and subsidence over an area of approximately 1,500 square meters, has been reinforced with rocks and leveled. Heavy rains in late 2025 caused about 100 landslide points along the entire pass, forcing authorities to temporarily block traffic for repairs. Currently, critical landslide sites have been addressed, and some areas continue to be monitored and reinforced. Over 5 kilometers away, a section of the pass at an altitude of over 300 meters, once blocked by a landslide, is now open to two-way traffic. This location is near the site of an accident on the night of November 16, 2025, which resulted in six fatalities. According to the Khanh Hoa Department of Construction, nine more points on National Highway 27C, including Khanh Le Pass, require reinforcement and repair. The project, with a total investment of nearly 125 billion VND (approximately $5 million USD), has a construction contract value of over 105.5 billion VND (approximately $4.3 million USD) and is scheduled from June 8 to October 5. At an altitude of about 400 meters, high-strength steel mesh and rockfall fences are used in the retaining walls to stabilize slopes, limit debris from falling onto the road, and ensure the safety of people and vehicles. Emergency escape routes have been completed at an altitude of over 500 meters, and at other locations, escape routes are being restored, and retaining walls are being built and treated. Khanh Le Pass is 33 kilometers long, part of the 121-kilometer National Highway 27C, serving as the shortest route between Nha Trang and Da Lat. Some sections of Khanh Le Pass feature continuous underground water flows, and many rocks precariously overhang the slopes, causing drivers to fear landslides and rockfalls. One driver who frequently travels the Nha Trang-Da Lat route commented that while traffic is smoother than before, he still feels uneasy as the rainy season approaches. "I just hope the critical points are reinforced soon, because if the heavy rain continues, drivers will still be very worried about landslides and rockfalls," he said. Source: VnExpress