All of the photographs below were taken in 1972 -- click on any of them to enlarge it.
The huge American construction consortium RMK-BRJ was ubiquitous thoughout southern Việt Nam is the 60s and early 70s with its thousands of ochre-colored trucks and equipment.
RMK-BRJ gave construction training and employment to 200,000 Vietnamese in this period, including many women. These construction workers often became the supervisors and foremen of the Vietnamese contractors I was working with. In particular, they trained them in modern quality standards and practices, which I think has led to good quality Vietnamese construction today. This pouring of concrete cylinders for compression-testing is an example:
In looking at the Vietnamese construction industry today, I suspect that much of the RMK-BRJ plant and equipment became the core of the modern-day large Vietnamese construction companies, many of which remain state-owned. Some of the equipment was probably already being diffused into the local industry to some of the Vietnamese contractors I was working with in 1972, such as this concrete mixer on the Tham Thiện Bridge replacement on Highway QL-51 between Sài Gòn and Vũng Tào on the coast.
Of the many RMK-BRJ construction plants, I understand the the Saigon concrete beam precasting plant is still turning out prestressed concrete beams like the beams used for the La Nga Bridge on Highway QL-20 north of Hồ Chí Minh City.
RMK-BRJ's Saigon Island Depot was the primary depot for most of the imported construction material and equipment entering Việt Nam from America.
RMK-BRJ had all kinds of construction equipment all over southern Việt Nam, including a fleet of water-craft for riverine construction.
