Traffic to and from Da Lat in Vietnam’s Central Highlands will be partially disrupted for six days as authorities close Prenn Pass from Jan. 9 to 15 to carry out repairs on landslides that damaged the key mountain route late last year.
During this period, vehicles will be prohibited from traveling on a section of National Highway 20 in Lam Dong Province, from the foot of Prenn Pass to just before the Datanla Waterfall tourist area, according to the provincial Department of Construction.
Nearly five kilometers of the highway running through the pass will be closed, with traffic rerouted to facilitate repairs to landslides and slope failures that occurred late last year. Vehicles entering and leaving Da Lat will be diverted via Mimosa Pass or the Sacom–Tuyen Lam Pass route.
Prenn Pass, which stretches 7.27 kilometers, is a vital route connecting National Highway 20 from southern localities to Da Lat.
At noon on Nov. 4 last year, hundreds of cubic meters of soil and rock slid down from an uphill slope, toppling large pine trees and blocking the roadway, despite the absence of rain at the time.
More than two weeks earlier, another landslide occurred when a large section of the road surface collapsed into a ravine, pulling down retaining walls and guardrails and creating a deep cavity. The asphalt surface was torn apart, with several meters of roadway cracking and subsiding.
Source: VN Express