CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY IN NORTHWEST NORTH VIETNAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78T02095R000800070029-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 15, 2005
• Sequence Number: 29
• Publication Date: October 21, 1966
• Content Type: IM

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VL Vl\L 1
No.
CIA/RR EM 66 - 51
October 1966
INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM
CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY
IN NORTHWEST NORTH VIETNAM
DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE
NGA review(s) completed.
SECRET
GROUP 1
Excluded from automatic
downgrading and
declassification
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This material contains information affecting
the National Defense of the United States
within the meaning of the espionage laws,
Title 18, USC, Secs. 793 and 794, the trans-
mission or revelation of which in any manner
to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
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CONTENTS
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1. Road Construction in China and North Vietnam
2. Road Construction in Laos . .
3. Probable Military Camps and Storage Areas
4. Telecommunications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Figure 1. Construction Activity in Northwest North
Vietnam (map) following page . . . .
Figure 2. Route 191 Under Construction, North
Vietnam (photograph) following page
Figure 3. Native Villages, Nam Ou [River] Valley,
Laos, (photograph) following page .
Figure 4. Probable Storage Areas, Route 191,
North Vietnam (photograph) following page
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CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY IN NORTHWEST NORTH VIETNAM*
Summary
Recent Communist construction in Lai Chau Province of North Viet-
nam, although extensive, does not suggest an increase in the tempo of
developments in this area. Compared with the pace of construction and
improvement of some roads in the Laos Panhandle, in China, and else-
where in North Vietnam, the work in Lai Chau Province seems to indi-
cate steady but not rapid progress in developing a logistic channel of
limited capacity from China to Laos. The road construction and im-
provement in North Vietnam is probably being carried out with the aid of
the Chinese. The completion of presentworkwill give the Chinese Com-
munists access to North Vietnam and Laos along an improved road net-
work, contingency storage facilities, and a secure telecommunications
system. (See the map, Figure 1).
This memorandum was produced solely by CIA.. It was prepared by
the Office of Research and Reports and coordinated with the Office of
Current Intelligence and the Office of National Estimates; the estimates
and conclusions represent the best judgment of the Directorate of Intelli-
gence as of 21 October 1966.
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Construction Activity in
Northwest North Vietnam
Road
Railroad
Telecommunications line
? New military/storage area
L A(O S
Road
Terminus-
102
Ban Nam Bac 0
25X1
Figure I
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SECRET
Lai Chau Province is in the northwesternmost part of North Vietnam
having its northern border with Yunnan Province in Communist China
and its southwestern border with Communist-held portions of northern
Laos. It is considered strategic as a staging area for both current
and future Chinese Communist activities in Indochina. A strip 30 miles
wide in Lai Chau Province along the China border is a sanctuary zone
that was delineated when the Rolling Thunder program for bombing
North Vietnam was begun in February 1965. The distance via the
present road system (routes 132, 604, 6, 19) from the Chinese border
at Ban Nam Coum to the Laotian border by way of Lai Chau and Dien
Bien Phu is 160 miles (see the map, Figure 1). With the completion
of route 191, now under construction between Lai Chau city and Dien
Bien Phu, the distance will be reduced to 130 miles.
The road construction observed to date in both southern Yunnan
Province and Lai Chau Province consists of roadbed improvements,
realignment, and new road development. Improvements to the road
from Ko-chiu south via Chin Ping to the North Vietnamese border at
Ban Nam Coum, a distance of 75 miles, began during 1965 and were
completed in mid-1966. This work consisted of widening the road to
18 feet and surfacing most of it with gravel. Route 6 in North Vietnam
was bypassed for the first 11 miles near the China border by the con-
struction of a road for 27 miles through Phong Tho designated as routes
132 and 604. Route 6, which crosses a mountain at this point, has
numerous switchbacks; the new bypass has eliminated this vulnerable
section. An additional 72 miles of route 6 to its junction with route
19 has been improved. As a result of upgrading this road system,
the Chinese Communists now have more direct and rapid access to
northwestern North Vietnam than the old routes from Meng-tzu or
Lao Cai on the Kun-ming - Hanoi rail line.
Access to Laos from North Vietnam or China via route 6 must,
however, continue by way of route 19 through Dien Bien Phu until
route 191 from Lai Chau to Dien Bien Phu is completed. Route 19 has
been regularly interdicted by US and South Vietnamese airstrikes.
Route 6 south of Lai Chau and route 19 continue to be serviceable,
however, because of constant repairs to the cratered roadbed and
damaged bridges. Five of the recently discovered cable bridges in
North Vietnam are located on route 19 between route 6 and Dien Bien
Phu. When the decking on these bridges is removed during daylight
hours, only the steel cables are exposed, thereby greatly reducing
the chance of interdiction from airstrikes. There is also a cable
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bridge on route 6 north of its junction with route 19 which appeared to
have been completed for some time when seen in photography of
Construction of route 191 along an alignment which previously had
been a trail was started in late March 1966. This road will :)e 52 miles
long, about 18 feet wide, and surfaced in gravel; it will provide more
direct access from Lai Chau city on route 6 to Dien Bien Phu and Laos.
About 15 miles (30 percent) of this road had been completed
(see the photograph, Figure 2). At the present rate of construc-
tion, it will not be completed before mid-1967. When completed, it will
reduce by 30 miles the road distance from China to the Laos border.
The rate of road construction on route 191 and the time required
to complete it indicate that this is not a crash effort. By way of com-
parison, road improvement work in southern Yunnan and on route 6
north of Lai Chau was in the planning stages in 1964. The work was
implemented over an 18-month period beginning in early 1965, or at
the rate of about 0. 3 mile per day. Route 191 is in an area cf rugged
terrain, but its alignment is almost entirely through the river valleys.
The following tabulation compares the rates of road construction and
improvement in Yunnan and Lai Chau Provinces with the crash con-
struction effort which was accomplished during the 1965-66 dry season
on routes in the Laos Panhandle that support the movement of supplies
into South Vietnam.
Construction Average Rate
Time of :Road. Construction
Route Length (Miles) __(Months)__ (Miles Per Day)
191- 52 (15 miles 5 0.1
completed)
Yunnan Province -
UcrLh Vietnamese
Herder and
6 (improvements) 17th 18 0,-3
61
63
119 3.5
a. In the Laos Panhandle.
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The road construction and improvement in North Vietnam probably
are being carried out with the aid of the Chinese. The layout of the
workcamps along the road and at bridge construction sites is very
similar in pattern to the road construction observed in Yunnan Province
at the Laos border near Muong Sing. These workcamps are either dis
mantled or abandoned following the completion of construction. An
estimated 500 buildings have been dismantled in 15 road construction
camps located on route 6 and areas of Lai Chau city.
The routes in Yunnan and Lai Chau Provinces have a minimum
capacity in the monsoon season of 100 short tons per day and a maxi-
mum in the dry season of 800 short tons per day. It is probable that
supplies from China are shipped to several points in North Vietnam via
these routes. The tonnage shipped onward to Dien Bien Phu and Laos
is probably considerably less than the capacity of the road but sufficient
to support current North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao operations.
Photography (reveals that
route 19 south of Dien Bien Phu is being used in conjunction with the
river system of Laos as a Communist supply route in Laos to Muong
Ngai, 15 miles northeast of Ban Nam Bac,where 23 storage buildings
have been discovered. There is no evidence from photography to sup-
port recent reports of new road construction extending route 19 west
for an additional 15 miles in Laos to Muong Khoua on the Nam Ou
River. Route 19 at present has its motorable terminus in Laos on the
east bank of Nam Noua River at Houay Houp. This river flows south
13 miles to the Nam Ou. There are two storage buildings located at
Houay Houp which have been active since October 1965. Two more
buildings are located at the confluence of the Nam Noua and the Nam
Ou.Rivers, possibly indicating that supplies are transloaded at this
point to larger watercraft on the Nam Ou for movement south in Laos.
All Laotian villages along the Nam Ou south from Houay Houp to the
Nam Noua have been vacated, thus lending support to the belief that
the Communists have taken control of this area (see the photograph,
Figure 3). The river route south from route 19 has been recognized
as the means for moving supplies south in Laos since 1965, but the
change in status of villages along the river was not seen until
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3. Probable Military Camps and Storage Areas
At least 36 dispersed storage facilities and military camps with
a total of 538 buildings have been discovered along the improved road
system in northwest North Vietnam. They are located adjacent to the
route south from the China border to the present terminus of con-
:struction on route 191, all within 60 miles from China (see the map,
Figure 1). They are concentrated in four areas: (1) Phong Tho,
(2) Lai Chau city, (3) Route 6, and (4) Route 191 (see the photograph,
Figure 4). All the sites in the area north of Lai Chau and at Phong Tho
are within the sanctuary zone declared for the Rolling 'Thunder program.
There are 310 storage buildings with an estimated total capacity of
10, 000 to 20, 000 tons. By comparison, the total storage capacity of
supply depots in China within 150 miles of the North Vietnam border
at Ban Nam Coum is almost 500, 000 tons.
There is nothing to indicate whether the installations are Chinese
or North Vietnamese. On the one hand, available evidence suggests
that the Chinese were involved in the construction of roads and tele-
communication lines in this area. On the other hand, frequent air-
strikes as far north as Lai Chau city and against the Hanoi :Lao Cai
rail line may have forced dispersal of Vietnamese storage installations
to points further north within the sanctuary area near the Chinese
border. The storage areas south of the sanctuary zone probably serve
the same purposes as those north of Lai Chau city, but their iDosition
is more vulnerable to airstrikes.
At least three areas have some form of ground defensive positions
in place. The installations at the junction of routes 4 and 191 have
antiaircraft positions nearby. The military camp at Phong Tho has
personnel trenching, and there are 85 automatic weapons positions
near the storage sites on route 191 south of Lai Chau city. "here
does not appear to be any deliberate attempt to camouflage the buildings
or other structures.
Although road construction and improvement has been in evidence
for the past 18 months, there was no evidence of the storage sites in
photography prior to Photography did not
reveal any activity on route 191, but there were signs of construction
of the sites were in place
More recent coverage revealed that all
indicating
that they have been developed in the past 5 to 7 months.
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The development of telecommunication lines in Lai Chau Province
has been observed in photography since early 1966. Comparative pho-
tographic coverage indicates that wire lines have been constructed
south from China along route 6. Where coverage has been exceptionally
good, poles can be seen with six insulators and six wires running along
the trace. The line extends east into North Vietnam as far as Hoa Binh.
Another line has been developed westward from the junction of routes
6 and 19 and can be traced to the Laos border. It is probable that the
line extends into Laos at least to the present motorable terminus of
route 19 at Houay Houp. Photography of route 19 at Houay Houp shows
a telecommunication trace.
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ROUTE 191 UNDER CONSTRUCTION
NORTH VIETNAM
21-5ON 103-07E
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NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC
INTERPRETATION CENTER
Figure 2
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NATIVE VILLAGES
NAM OU fRiYERI VALLEY, LAOS
NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC
INTERPRETATION CENTER
SOP AT
21-04N 102-34E
PAK IUONG
20-56N 102-45E
Figure 3
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NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC
INTERPRETATION CENTER
PROBABLE
STORAGE AREAS
ROUTE 191
NORTH VIETNAM
21-56N 103-08E
NPIC L-0134 (10 66)
Figure 4
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