Technical Assistance Consultant’s Report

Project Number: 47030-001 November 2015

People's Republic of : Integrated Rural-Urban Infrastructure Development— Final Report SD3: Engineering Technical Analysis of the Road Component (Financed by the ADB's Technical Assistance Special Fund and Cofinanced by the Multi-Donor Trust Fund under the Water Financing Partnership Facility)

Prepared by AECOM Asia Company Ltd. Hong Kong, China

For Pingxiang Municipal Government

This consultant’s report does not necessarily reflect the views of ADB or the Government concerned, and ADB and the Government cannot be held liable for its contents. (For project preparatory technical assistance: All the views expressed herein may not be incorporated into the proposed project’s design.

Jiangxi Pingxiang Integrated Rural-Urban Infrastructure Development Project

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction ...... 4 1.1 Background ...... 4 1.2 Transport Plan ...... 5 2. Proposed Road ...... 9 2.1 Rationale ...... 9 2.2 Traffic Demand Analysis ...... 11 2.2.1 Introduction ...... 11 2.2.2 Traffic Survey...... 12 2.2.3 Traffic Zoning ...... 14 2.2.4 Trip Generation ...... 15 2.2.5 Traffic Assignment ...... 16 2.3 Natural Conditions ...... 17 2.3.1 Regional Hydrology and Weather ...... 17 2.3.2 Site Stability Assessment ...... 18 2.4 Design Analysis ...... 18 2.4.1 Field Visit ...... 18 2.4.2 Classification and Technical Standards ...... 19 2.4.3 Road Layout and Alignment ...... 20 2.4.4 Corridor study during Pre-Feasibility Study ...... 20 2.4.5 Alignment Alternative Comparisons ...... 21 2.4.6 Road Cross Section ...... 27 2.4.7 Pavement ...... 28 2.4.8 Drainage ...... 29 2.4.9 Existing Roads Bisecting Proposed Road ...... 30 2.4.10 Sub-grade and Ground Treatment ...... 31 2.4.11 Bridge and Tunnel ...... 32 2.4.12 Road Safety ...... 36 2.4.13 Rural Public Transport ...... 41 2.4.14 ITS in Traffic Management and Public Transport ...... 43 2.4.15 Major Work Quantities and Costs ...... 44 3. Key Issues and Next Steps ...... 45

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List of Figures Figure 1: Pingxiang Municipality ...... 4 Figure 2: Pingxiang Transport Map ...... 6 Figure 3: Existing Transport Network in Pingxiang ...... 7 Figure 4: Proposed Road ...... 9 Figure 5: Black Spots of Accident on Existing Roads...... 10 Figure 6: Locations of Schools in the Road Project Area ...... 11 Figure 7: Location of Traffic Count ...... 13 Figure 8: Traffic Zones ...... 14 Figure 9: Desire Line Diagram of Projected Daily trips ...... 15 Figure 10: Traffic loading on 2020 Road Network ...... 17 Figure 11: Traffic loading on 2032 Road Network ...... 17 Figure 12: Alignment Alternatives Layout during Pre-FS ...... 21 Figure 13: Alignment Alternatives for the Section (K22+100~K30+682) ...... 22 Figure 14: Scheme A—At-grade Intersection ...... 24 Figure 15: Scheme B—Grade-separated Interchange ...... 24 Figure 16: Alignment Alternatives for Ending Section at Yinhe and Xuanfeng ...... 26 Figure 17: Proposed Typical Cross Section ...... 27 Figure 18: Proposed Cross Section at Bridge ...... 28 Figure 19: Typical Cross-section of Concrete Small Box Girder ...... 34 Figure 20: Proposed Dimension Limits of Tunnel ...... 35 Figure 21: Open Cut Section of Tunnel...... 35 Figure 22: PPTA Example Recommendations for Intersection Improvement ...... 37 Figure 23: Examples of Warning Signs ...... 39

List of Tables Table 1: Project Demand for Car, Passenger and Freight ...... 8 Table 2: Location of Traffic Counts ...... 14 Table 3: Growth Projection ...... 16 Table 4: Demand Forecast Results（pcu/d） ...... 16 Table 5: Technical Design Parameters of the Road ...... 19 Table 6: Comparison for Road Alignments (K22+100 to K30+682) ...... 22 Table 7: Comparisons for Work Quantities and Cost ...... 23 Table 8: Road Alignment Scheme Bisecting Luxi Expressway Collector ...... 25 Table 9: Comparisons for Work Quantities and Cost Estimates ...... 25 Table 10: Comparison for Road Alignment Schemes (K38+440 to K43+956) ...... 26 Table 11: Comparison for Work Quantities and Cost Estimates ...... 27 Table 12: Proposed Road Pavement for Carriageway ...... 28 Table 13: Comparison of Types of Drainage Ditch Structure ...... 29 Table 14: Existing Roads Bisecting the Project Road ...... 30 Table 15: Ground Treatment Methods ...... 32 Table 16: List of Proposed Bridges ...... 33

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Table 17: Road Accident Records ...... 36 Table 18: New Rural Bus Routes ...... 41 Table 19: Existing Bus Routes Improvement ...... 42 Table 20: Summary of Work Quantities and Costs...... 44

Abbreviations AC = asphalt cement CNY = Chinese Yuan FSR = Feasibility Study Report ITS = Intelligent Traffic Systems km = kilometer; km2 = square kilometer LDI = Local Design Institute m = meter; m2 = square meter; m3 = cubic meter mm = millimeter mu = mu, Chinese unit of land measure O-D = origin-destination pcu/d = passenger car unit per day RUC = Road User Cost VOC = vehicle operating cost

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1. Introduction 1.1 Background 1. Pingxiang, known as “the western gate” of Jiangxi, is located in the west part of Jiangxi province, along the -Jiangxi border. It is bordered by of Yuanzhou district in the east and city and of Hunan province in the west, with and of Hunan province in the south and the and city of Hunan province in the north. It covers an area of 3,827 km2 which accounts for 2.29% of the total area of Jiangxi province and has a population of 1.8642 million.

2. In 2010, the municipality achieved a GDP of CNY 52.039 billion CNY with an annual increase of 14.3%, the per capita net income of farmers also has risen by 13.8%, reaching 7,219 CNY, the per capita disposable income of urban residents grew by 10.5% to 16,381 CNY.

Figure 1: Pingxiang Municipality

3. Pingxiang Municipality administers three counties, two districts, and one economic development zone, namely , , Luxi county, , , and Pingxiang New Economic Development Zone. Pingxiang’s economy mainstays include coal, iron ore mining, steel-making, aluminum-making, ceramics industry, chemical engineering, and fireworks industry.

4. Despite the rapid economic growth and urban-rural infrastructure, Pingxiang still lags behind other areas in Jiangxi Province. There are also wide regional disparities in

AECOM Asia Company Limited SD3-4 Asian Development Bank Jiangxi Pingxiang Integrated Rural-Urban Infrastructure Development Project both economic development and physical infrastructure provision. The mountainous and hilly terrain create barriers between local towns and villages and partly contribute to the backwardness of the economy. The rate of urbanization is about 30%, far below the national level which 53% in 2012. The rural poor population make up 18.6% of total population. While the urbanization is expected to accelerate, most of the rural areas have yet to develop adequate infrastructure and transportation networks.

5. Road is the most widely used transport mode in Pingxiang, and is the enabling factor in economic development and reduction of poverty. A highway network has been formed in Pingxiang, however, lower class highways (class III and lower) account for 80% of the total length of highway. Pingxiang is mountainous and landlocked, especially in the northeast and south areas. Many of town and county roads are of low technical standards and suffer from poor maintenance. There are still some villages in remote area that cannot be reached with paved roads. The highway network is in need of improvement and upgrading.

1.2 Transport Plan 6. Pingxiang Integrated Transport Plan 2012 is the basis for developing the proposed project. According to statistics in the plan, total length of all-weather highway in Pingxiang reached 6,119km in 2010, including one expressway-Hukun (Shanghai to Kunming) Expressway, 49.8km long; two national roads-G320, G319, with total length of 203km; provincial roads 406km long; and numerous sub-standard town and county roads. Expressway accounts for only 0.9%; class I roads (51km) accounts for 0.8%; Class II road (345km) accounts for 5.3%; Class III road (172km) accounts for 2.8%; Class IV road (3,783km) accounts for 61.8%; and unclassified road accounts for 28.1%. Asphalt pavement road (4.2%) are 255km long in total,; cement pavement road (68.6%) 4192km; there are still many unpaved road (22.4%) totaled 1,372km.

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Figure 2: Pingxiang Transport Map

7. The main corridors in the region are (i) Hukun Expressway; (ii) national roads G320 and G319; and (iii) provincial roads S314, S231, and S232. Cross-shape trunk corridors are formed in Pingxiang, consisting of east-west trunk of Hukun Expressway and S320, and north-south trunk of G319, S231, and S232. East-west corridor runs through Pingxiang urban area which connects to and Yichun, and extends further east leading to Shanghai and Fujian Province on the east coast. To the west, it reaches the Chang-Zhu-Tan (, , ) Region in Hunan Province, which is an economically active area. North-south corridor links Pingxiang with Changsha, Liuyang, and further to Wuhan, Zhengzhou to the north; connects to Ji’an, in Jiangxi and further to Guangzhou, Shenzhen at the Pearl River Delta region.

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Figure 3: Proposed Transport Network in Pingxiang

Source: Pingxiang Municipal Transport Bureau (from the Pingxiang Integrated Transport Plan, 2012)

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8. Due to rapid economic growth and improvement of living standards in Pingxiang, the flow of passengers and goods has been increasing. Trunk roads have been substantially improved and upgraded, and provisions for secondary and minor roads are catching up. The east-west corridor has strategic importance for passenger and freight flows. The transport corridor is transforming into an economic corridor. The industrial bases of iron, steel, and ceramic have been established along the corridor.

The flow of passenger and goods has been increasing year by year. Similar to other areas of China, highway and railway are the primary modes for transport in Pingxiang. Highways carry larger share of freight traffic compared with railway. In 2010, total volume of passengers on highway reached 57.83 million, annual increase by 12.3%; volume of goods on highway totaled 82.8 million tones, annual increase by 26%. The projected traffic demand for the main corridor is presented in the table below.

Table 1: Project Demand for Car, Passenger and Freight

2015 2020 East-west corridor 26,787 37,881 (pcu/d) North-south 11720 23060 corridor(pcu/d) Highway passenger volume 6380 8200 (0,000) Highway freight volume 9370 11500 (0,000 ton)

Note: pcu/d = passenger car unit per day

1.3 Proposed Road 9. The proposed road is a secondary highway in the network plan. It is located in the northeast of Pingxiang, in a mountainous and landlocked area. It is aligned northwest to southeast direction, cutting through the rolling hills, mostly on new alignment. The proposed road will complement the existing highway network, which basically consists of an east-west and a north-south highway.

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Figure 4: Proposed Road

10. The road would start from Jiguanshan in Shangli County in the northwest, end at Xuanfeng Town of Luxi County in the southeast. It will connect Shangli county and Luxi county directly and fill in a missing link between the areas. The project has been listed in the “Pingxiang Integrated Transport Plan 2012”. It will serve an important role in the overall rural transport network.

2. Proposed Road 2.1 Rationale 11. The existing county and township roads are generally in northeast-southwest direction, following the mountain ranges. These roads are narrow and wandering, width from 3 to 6m, and generally in poor conditions. Due to lack of maintenance, the roads are severely deteriorated in many locations and in need of repair. In addition, these roads were designed using low technical standards, have sharp curves and steep slopes. These have imposed incidence to road accidents and a great number serious accidents are reported each year1. Traffic safety for passenger and freight is under high risk. Figure 5 shows locations where accidents often occur. The proposed road would be designed with higher standards and safety issues fully considered. It will provide a faster and safer link for the locals.

1 PPTA requested data from PMO and from design institute to support this statement. Year, number of accidents, number of fatalities, and if available monetary damage. Not available.

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Figure 5: Black Spots of Accident on Existing Roads

LEGEND： Proposed Road alignment Accident Black Spot Existing Road alignment

12. Considerations have been given to improving the existing county roads rather than build a new road. However, many villages and activities have developed along the existing roads creating numerous constraints of right-of-way due to complexity of local conditions. Improving the existing roads is an option but it will cause a lot of resettlement making it more costly than building a new route2. The project road is intended to provide an alternative route for the locals. The existing roads remains to serve local access within the village.

13. The project will improve the level of local public services. To improve farmers’ living conditions, the primary task is to strengthen the road network and improve the travel conditions in rural areas. To improve the accessibility and mobility is to provide better access for local medical treatment, employment, and education.

14. Currently there are a large number of local primary and secondary schools in this area. Due to difficult terrains and substandard roads, parents and children have great difficulties to reach schools, especially during rainy season. The proposed road will improve the conditions and provide all-weather accesses for e.g. school, market, and hospital.

2 Similar to footnote #1, PPTA has requested data to support this statement.

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Figure 6: Locations of Schools in the Road Project Area

LEGEND： Proposed Road alignment School

15. The project would satisfy the needs of improving the capacity of regional disaster prevention and relief. The project area belongs to a typical mountainous and hilly terrain in northwest Jiangxi Province. The complex geological conditions have made it prone to natural disasters such as landslide, mudslide, and ground subsidence. Currently, the project area lacks emergency access. Large-size vehicles cannot reach disaster stricken areas. The project will ease the delay of rescue; safety of people’s lives would be improved; and property losses substantially reduced.

2.2 Traffic Demand Analysis 2.2.1 Introduction 16. Traffic demand analysis was performed as part of the Feasibility Study Report (FSR) by the Local Design Institute (LDI) on the basis of available traffic count and planning data. In the November 2014 version of FSR, a travel demand model was not established. Instead, an over-simplified forecast method---“indirect method”---was adopted. PPTA requested LDI to do a ‘four-step’ forecast, which is the norm for demand forecast for this type of highway.

17. Traffic count survey was undertaken at three critical locations under the guidance of the PPTA Consultant. Due to the tight project schedule, insufficiency of local data, and limited budget, a simplified model was set up. Traffic counts were surveyed on major highways. In order to identify trip diversion and induction, an origin-destination (O-D) trip survey will need to be carried out..

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18. The ‘four-step method’ is a standard for most proposals for road upgrades, bypasses, etc. that do not justify a full transport model. It is often sufficient to assess existing traffic and then make adjustments that reflect the fall in road user costs (RUCs) that the upgrade will bring about (one such adjustment is so-called generated traffic) on the assumption that wider traffic impacts will not be significant. An intermediate stage is to carry out an OD survey, which takes care of the trip generation and trip distribution stage. The survey results answer this kind of question: what is the passenger vehicle demand between Shangli center to Xuanfeng town? Assigning this flow to the network means identifying the route with the lowest perceived RUC. And, subject to capacity constraints, assuming this is the route the traffic will take. OD survey results are important whenever traffic diversion is expected to form a significant part of benefits.

19. A traffic count is a count of traffic along a particular road, either done electronically or by people counting by the side of the road. Traffic counts can be used to identify which routes are used most, and to either improve that road or provide an alternative if there is excessive amount of traffic. Traffic counts survey is essential for analyze diversion assumption and see whether the road is justified or not. A set of one day (data over 12 hours is sufficient) traffic counts is required at a number of critical sites.

2.2.2 Traffic Survey 20. Traffic count data has been collected for major relevant highways-G319, G320, and other county roads. According to the data provided by Pingxiang Transport Bureau, in 2010, AADT (annual average daily traffic) at Futian Station of G319 is 8,034 vehicle/day (absolute number of vehicles). This is converted to 6,241 passenger car units per day (pcu/day,) growing at 14.8% annual rate. AADT at Wupixia Station of G319 is 11,054 vehicle/day (absolute number of vehicle). This is converted to 8,823 pcu/day, annual rate of growth is 7.1%. AADT at Luxi Station of G320 is 13,550 vehicle/day (absolute no. of vehicle). This is converted to 10,331 pcu/day, growing at an annual rate of 14.8%.

21. National roads G319 and G320 are dual one-lane, Class II highway, 8m carriageway width, design speed of 40km/hour. Capacity of a Class II highway ranges from 5000- to 15000 AADT. As can be observed, traffic load on G319 and G320 are on their high side and congestion is prevalent during peak hours. And these roads currently carry relatively large volume of truck and lorry traffic. This has caused severe damage to pavement and incidences of road accidents. The proposed road is expected to divert part of the traffic from the national roads after open to traffic.

22. Traffic counts were carried out in October 2014 at selected road segments for 12 hours including morning and evening peak hours. Four counts plus one existing count (Luxi) were selected on G319, G320, and other local roads. See Figure 7.

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Figure 7: Location of Traffic Count

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Table 2: Location of Traffic Counts

No. Location Road Toll Segment 1 Lishuihe Bridge G319 no Pingxiang to Shangli Section of G319 2 Intersection of Dongyuan S313 no Dongyuan - Xiaojian -Xiaojian 3 Chishan Power Supply Station X121 no Dongyuan - Chishan 4 G319 bisects G320 G319 & no G319 bisects G320 G320 5 G320 Luxi Station G320 no Luxi County

23. The traffic counts results indicate that the largest share of traffic on national and provincial roads are motorcycles, followed by cars and light trucks. Heavy truck and lorry vehicles comprise only a small part of the traffic volume. This shows that urban-rural trips are largely completed on motorcycles and cars. Freight transport mainly relies on light trucks, which are led by low-level of rural economy. As a result of improved road conditions and advanced and intensive farming, there is likely to be a shift from motorcycle to cars, and small truck to lorry. These trends will need to be taken into account for modeling the demand.

2.2.3 Traffic Zoning 24. As presented in Figure 8, a total of 15 traffic zones were identified and trip generation and attraction among the zones are forecasted.

Figure 8: Traffic Zones

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2.2.4 Trip Generation 25. According to the traffic counts and turning movement observed, the base year origin-destination (O-D) matrix is developed; and future years’ O-D matrix are calculated based on assumptions of growth factors such as GDP and increase in number of motor-vehicles.

26. Total trips made among the zones are estimated at 44,803 per day. It is made up with internal trips of 9,857 per day; outbound trips of 32,706 per day, through trips of 2,240 per day. It shows that number of internal and through trips is relatively low. Outbound trips dominate the daily local trips. It indicates that the backward economy and weak infrastructure has resulted in currently less internal people and goods flows. Most of the interactions and exchanges are made with urban centers in the periphery.

27. With the provision of the project road, the situation will be improved. The internal links will be strengthened. It would see an increase of interaction among local rural villages and towns, and a growth of number of internal trips. As the process of trip distribution,

28. Figure 9 indicates the daily desire line diagram of each of the zone pairs.

Figure 9: Desire Line Diagram of Projected Daily trips

29. Trip demand is correlated with economic growth and automobile growth etc. Future traffic growth and average GDP growth rate are assumed as below. These assumptions are considered adequate for this type of highway.

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Table 3: Growth Projection

Domestic GDP Time Period (years) Traffic Growth Rate Growth Rate 2017 - 2020 13% 11.0%

2021 - 2025 11.5% 7.5%

2026 - 2032 8.5% 4.7%

2.2.5 Traffic Assignment 30. In this simplified demand model, the vehicular trip matrices were developed based on the defined modal share and trip generation and distribution models. The vehicular matrices were assigned onto the road network such that the predicted traffic volumes on the project road can be obtained. The traffic demand forecast results are presented in the Table below.

Table 4: Demand Forecast Results（pcu/d）

Road Section 2017 2020 2025 2032

Guanxia-Xiaojian 6479 6735 7436 8542

Xiaojian-Dongyuan 5582 5804 6407 7360 Dongyuan-Chishan 8742 9089 10035 11527 X121 Chishan X121-Chishan 7969 8285 9147 10523 x123 Chishan 6713 6979 7706 9493 X123-Gaokeng X155 Gaokeng 9199 9563 9995 11161 X155-Tongxing Road Tongxing Road-Yinhe 5406 5620 5647 6171 X160 Yinhe X160-Xuanfeng 2849 2962 3276 3783 G320 Source: Feasibility Study Report pcu/d = passenger car units per day

31. After the trip distribution, traffic flow will be assigned to future road network in the project area. The figures below present flow volumes in bandwidth for typical planning horizons.

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Figure 10: Traffic loading on 2020 Road Network

Figure 11: Traffic loading on 2032 Road Network

2.3 Natural Conditions 2.3.1 Regional Hydrology and Weather 32. The project area is in the upstream reaches of the Pingshui River and the middle basin of Yuanshui River. The proposed road is routed across the Pingshui River tributaries in Shapo and overpasses Yuanshui River at the Yinhe Town. The water flow of Pingshui River is gentle and the Yuanshui River rough with abundant water flow. The rest are small streams collecting water from the hills. The riverbed gradient is gentle; the water flow is sluggish and clear. The area is classified as subtropical humid monsoon climate.

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33. Areas in this region have sufficient sunshine, abundant rainfall, long frost-free period. The annual average temperature is 17.2 ℃, ranging from the 38 ℃ to 40 ℃ as the extreme highest temperature; lowest temperature reaches to -8.6 ℃ as the extreme. The average annual precipitation is 1630mm, mostly concentrated in March to June. The maximum annual precipitation is 2,083mm (rainfall of 255.6mm daily) and the accumulative sunshine hours throughout the year are 1600 hours.

34. The dominant wind blows primarily from northeast to the southwest wind. The average wind speed in a year could reach to 1.6m/s, there are 270 days that are in the frost-free period, in which only 4-5 days snows annually. The maximum depth of accumulated snows are 21 centimeters (cm).

2.3.2 Site Stability Assessment 35. For earthquakes, Pingxiang lies in a relatively stable area. According to the data provided by the seismic monitoring departments, the region has not had an earthquake greater than 4 magnitude in nearly two thousand years. The largest earthquake occurring in recent history was 3.0 magnitude in 1910. The characteristics of the base rock layer in this area are weak and highly plastic. It lacks the conditions that cause earthquake. High plasticity, weak deformation of fracture easily releases energy, thus hardly developing a damaging earthquake. Therefore, judging from the geological conditions, neo-tectonic movement, and the earthquake history, the region is not prone to earthquake, and seismic activity would be of low frequency and low intensity.

36. The site presents a typical hilly area in southern China, dominated with mountainous and hilly terrain. The survey data indicate that the site is featured with complex situation with mainly small locally developed fractures. The proposed road runs along the developed small folds. The anticline and syncline appear alternately, causing the formation of Permian and Triassic constantly repeated or defaulted. These may not be favorable to civil works and geological hazardous may occur. Therefore, measures would need to be taken to ensure the site stability.

2.4 Design Analysis 2.4.1 Field Visit 37. On September 23 and 24, 2014 the PPTA engineers conducted field visits together with the LDI and local officials. Sites visited included Yangqi Village (the start point), proposed tunnel entrance, Xiaojian Village, Dongyuan Township, Chishan Town in Shangli County; Expressway Connector S229, Gaokeng Town, Yinhe Town (the end point in Luxi County). Some sites could not be accessed by vehicles.

38. The engineers observed the surroundings and site conditions by walking. The area is generally sparsely populated with rural settlements relying mainly on farming.

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Hilly terrains are the barriers that impede communications and flow of people of goods among the villages.

39. Most of the roads are wandering and narrow with cement concrete surface that has deteriorated due to lack of maintenance. Villagers have no other access to urban center and neighboring villages besides these low class county roads.

40. The proposed alignment would cut through farmlands at some villages. Farmland is very limited in the mountainous area. It is a trade-off for the road aligning close to human settlement or further along the hills. At the beginning section, existing roads are severely damaged by truck traffic from/to nearby quarry. At the end section in Yinhe Town, a railway underpass is the only access for the township, and because it is an underpass it is often flooded during rainy season. Locals are deeply troubled. They expressed their concerns during public consultation.

2.4.2 Classification and Technical Standards 41. Technical Design Parameters have been selected in accordance with relevant national codes and design specifications.

Table 5: Technical Design Parameters of the Road

No. Parameter Unit Criteria 1 Total Length km 43.956 Route length/straight-line - 1.477 2 distance The Average Turning Point 3 - 1.840 Per Kilometer Minimum Radius For 4 m/section 130/1 Horizontal Curve Total Length of Horizontal 5 m 22735.846 Curve Percentage of Horizontal 7 % 51.657 Curve In Total Length 8 Maximum Linear Length m/section 1125.447/1 Maximum Longitudinal % 6 9 Grade sections 11 10 Minimum Slope Length m/section 220/1 Total Length of Vertical 11 m 19533.217 Curve Percentage of Vertical 12 % 38.771 Curve In Total Length Average Number of 13 － 2.155 Vertical Slope Change

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No. Parameter Unit Criteria Per Kilometer Minimum Radius of 14 m/sections 1500/3 Vertical Curve (Convex) Minimum Radius of 15 m/sections 1500/3 Vertical Curve (Concave) Source: FSR km = kilometer; m = meter; % = percent

2.4.3 Road Layout and Alignment 42. According to the LDI, during preparation of the FSR, township and county governments were fully consulted. The project aims to improve the local accessibility and mobility to locals and to maximize the benefits to various stakeholders. Considerations are given to current local conditions and local economic development plan, land use plan, etc. The alignment is designed to follow the principle ‘close to social and economic activities but distance itself to local settlements’. A balanced route in conjunction with cost, resettlement, social and economic benefits shall be achieved. The proposed road is routed passing through four township government seats, connects Gaokeng, Anyuan, and Luxi Town, Luxi Industrial Park, Shangli Industrial Park etc. It is aligned along valley, ridge and low-lying hillside to follow the landform, and avoid farmland and houses as much as possible.

2.4.4 Corridor study during Pre-Feasibility Study 43. During pre-feasibility study, two routes were proposed and carefully examined, as shown in Figure 12 with the South route in blue and the North route in red.

44. South route is preferred for the reasons that it connects the more developed Gaokeng Town (located in Anyuan District) and Luxi Town with less developed villages and towns; it is well- positioned in the highway network; and local employment and market activities can be better facilitated. Flow of farm produces, mineral and other materials can be greatly facilitated. This alignment has been reviewed and approved by local authorities during the panel review in March 2014.

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Figure 12: Alignment Alternatives Layout during Pre-FS

45. The proposed alignment starts from G319, towards Jiguanshan Village and Donyuan Village in Shangli County, the route runs a ridge line in middle of Dongyuan County and valley line in Chishan Town. It goes through the East Industrial Park in Chishan Town. Then it runs parallel to Hu-kun Expressway in Gaokeng Town, following a valley line it enters to Yuannan Village. In association with the Plan of Luxi Industrial Park in Yuannan, the road is routed along the edge of the Industrial Park. It cut through Yinhe Town, connects to the Agriculture Industrial Park. It overpasses Yuanshui River, entering Xuanfeng Town and ends at G320. Total length of the proposed road is 43.956km, including valley line 26.37km, ridge line 1.2km, hillside line 9.632km, and over passing ridge line 3.82km, 2.93km using existing road.

2.4.5 Alignment Alternative Comparisons 46. During FSR preparation, further alternative comparisons were conducted for the road alignment regarding the aspects of planning, engineering works, costs, land acquisition and resettlement, and environmental impact.

a. Section Overpass Hu-kun Expressway (K22+100~K30+682)

47. For the section overpass Hu-kun Expressway (K22+100~K30+682), two routes were analyzed: i) Route A connects through Chishan Town center and Yuannan Village and its industrial Zone. Alignment is smooth with higher technical standards, but resettlement may be higher. And ii) Route B is aligned along the hillside and

AECOM Asia Company Limited SD3-21 Asian Development Bank Jiangxi Pingxiang Integrated Rural-Urban Infrastructure Development Project valley, further from town settlements, alignment is poor and engineering cost is higher. Route A is recommended for the reasons that it is better integrated into the local road network, can be better utilized and benefit to local accesses. Details are presented in Table below.

Figure 13: Alignment Alternatives for the Section (K22+100~K30+682)

Table 6: Comparison for Road Alignments (K22+100 to K30+682)

Alternative A (recommended) Alternative B Alignment routing Connect through Chishan Town and Aligned on hillside, deep Yuannan Village and its industrial valley. Poor alignment. Zone. Alignment is smooth. Planning Aligned along town and villages, Cannot be better integrated perspective better access for locals. Also provide into local road network. access for Chishan and Yuannan industrial parks. Land acquisition Some farmland need to be acquired, Less resettlement. But much and resettlement number of buildings need to be higher engineering cost. removed. Environmental Less earthworks, less disruption to Extensive cuts and fills on impact natural environment. hillside, highest to 45m. Severe disruption to mountain and vegetation.

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Alternative A (recommended) Alternative B Beneficiary Routed through towns and villages, Much less beneficiaries

Table 7: Comparisons for Work Quantities and Cost

Indicator Unit Alternative A Alternative B

1 Total length Km 8.585 8.873 2 min. horizontal curve radius m 200 200 3 No. of turning points 18 16

4 Horizontal curve/total length % 56.965 51.661 5 Land acquisition Mu 154.53 160.44 6 Housing resettlement m2 3655.3 856 7 Earthwork fill 0,000 m2 73.9 57.8 8 Earthwork cut 0,000 m2 103.5 193.5 9 Pavement 1000 ㎡ 71.6 75.4 10 Bridge 座 2 1 11 Culvert 道 25 19 12 Intersection 处 16 20 13 Cost estimates 0,000 Yuan 7,792 12,079

b. The Section Bisecting Hu-kun (Shanghai to Kunming) Expressway Collector (K30+830)

48. The proposed road would bisect the expressway collector at K30+830. A comparison has been made between Scheme A (at-grade intersection) and Scheme B (grade-separated interchange) proposed road over-passing the collector road. (See Figure 14 and Figure 15). The collector is the only access for Luxi County to Hu-kun Expressway, the major artery for long-distance passenger and freight transport. The collector road is designed at a speed of 80km/h, current traffic volume is moderate. Both schemes would satisfy immediate traffic demand. In consideration of increasing traffic flow both on the collector road and proposed highway and safety issues, Scheme B the interchange was recommended in the draft FSR. The Consultant recommended to do more traffic analysis, as it may be difficult to justify the construction of an interchange, given the interchange would take more land and engineering cost is high.

49. During the ADB mission in December 2014, the two options were carefully reviewed. Scheme B-the grade-separated interchange would not be economically viable given its high cost and relatively low traffic demand anticipated. Scheme A (the

AECOM Asia Company Limited SD3-23 Asian Development Bank Jiangxi Pingxiang Integrated Rural-Urban Infrastructure Development Project at-grade junction) is recommended. Safety at the junction can be improved with proper traffic calming measures. At the next stage of design, safety concerns for the junction shall be appropriately addressed.

Figure 14: Scheme A—At-grade Intersection

[accepted]

Figure 15: Scheme B—Grade-separated Interchange

[not accepted]

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Table 8: Road Alignment Scheme Bisecting Luxi Expressway Collector

Scheme A (recommended) Scheme B Figure 14 Figure 15 Traffic demand The collector is the only access for Full interchange Luxi to Hu-kun Expressway, future traffic demand will be high Land acquisition Less land taken More land taken Engineering At-grade intersection Grade-separated Engineering cost is low. But may not interchange. Engineering be able to meet traffic demand, and cost is very high. Better may have traffic safety problem. meet traffic demand.

Table 9: Comparisons for Work Quantities and Cost Estimates

Scheme A (At-grade Scheme B Indicator Unit intersection) recommended (Interchange) 1 Length Km 0.562 / 2 Land acquisition mu 10.1 144.7 3 Housing resettlement M2 / / 4 Earthwork fill 0,000 m2 1.4 5.2 5 Earthwork cut 0,000 m2 2.8 6.7 6 pavement Km2 4.78 13.7 7 Bridge 座 / 1 8 Culvert 道 3 1 0,000 9 Cost estimates 402.6 1143.8 Yuan

CNY = Chinese Yuan; km = kilometer; m = meter; m2 = square meter; mu = land area

Source: FSR

c. The Section at the Ending Point

50. Two alignment alternatives were studied for the section near the ending point at Yinhe and Xuanfeng Town. i) Route A would use existing roads running through Yinhe and Xuanfeng Town; ii) Route B is aligned along hillside and valley and provides a bypass for through traffic for the two towns. Route A has the advantage that locals can easily access the road and there is less intrusion into the natural environment. More locals would benefit from the road and it would promote local economic activities. But it may cause some housing resettlement

AECOM Asia Company Limited SD3-25 Asian Development Bank Jiangxi Pingxiang Integrated Rural-Urban Infrastructure Development Project and the technical standards of road alignment may be at the low side. Route B would have less beneficiaries, take more farmland, and require more earthwork cut and fill. Scheme. Thus Scheme A is recommended despite having a slightly higher cost.

51. The recommended route A has been designed at the end section to avoid the frequently inundated railway underpass. After overcrossing the Yuan River, the proposed alignment underpasses the high speed railway and overpasses the Zhe-Gan Railway before joining G320 in the end. The proposed structures resulted in higher engineering costs (see Table 11).

Figure 16: Alignment Alternatives for Ending Section at Yinhe and Xuanfeng

Table 10: Comparison for Road Alignment Schemes (K38+440 to K43+956)

Alternative A (recommended) Alternative B Alignment routing Using some section of existing New route, higher standard road. Difficult to improve existing of alignment. poor alignment. Land acquisition and Number of buildings need to be More farm lands taken. resettlement removed. Cost estimates Higher engineering costs. Lower engineering costs. Traffic demand Routed through town centers, New route can complement which are populated. May not be the old road. Better meet able to cope with increasing traffic future traffic demand. flow. Structure overpass The alignment formed a sharp Smooth alignment at the Yuanshui River angle with the river, lead to poor bridge. alignment at the end of bridge.

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Table 11: Comparison for Work Quantities and Cost Estimates

Indicator Unit Scheme A Scheme B

1 Length km 5.574 5.434 2 Min. Horizontal Curve Radius m 130 250 3 No. of Turning points number 12 9 4 Horizontal Curve/total Length % 44.375 57.859 5 Land Acquisition mu 99.3 97.8 6 House Resettlement m2 42.7 548 7 Earthwork Fill 0,000 m2 8.48 13 8 Earthwork Cut 0,000 m2 17.9 38.7 9 Pavement km2 46.1 45.2 10 Bridge number 1 1 11 Culvert number 15 12 12 Intersection number 5 8

13 Cost estimates 0,000 CNY 5715 4671.2

CNY = Chinese Yuan; km = kilometer; m = meter; m2 = square meter; mu = Chinese measure of land area

Source: FSR

2.4.6 Road Cross Section 52. Cross section is designed with class II highway features. The proposed road cross section is dual one-lane, total width of 10m. The carriageway width is 2x3.5m; hard shoulder width 2x0.75m; earth shoulder width 2x0.75m. Side ditches will be provided for drainage. This configuration is considered adequate for this type of highway.

Figure 17: Proposed Typical Cross Section

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Figure 18: Proposed Cross Section at Bridge

2.4.7 Pavement 53. Asphalt concrete surface is adopted for pavement design because it is relatively easy to apply and repair and has lower level of traffic noise compared with rigid cement concrete. For pavement surface, a comparison was made among SMA (stone mustic asphalt), AC (asphalt concrete), and Superpave. AC was selected because it is widely used in China for lower class roads and its cost is relatively low.

54. A comparison was made for sub-course of the pavement between cement stabilized gravel and lime fly-ash gravel. Cement stabilized gravel is recommended because its early strength and water-resistance ability are relatively high. But it has disadvantages of relatively high cost and low capacity to resist cracking. In consideration of anticipated truck traffic load, adequate thickness and strength of sub-course material is crucial for pavement design. Table 12 shows the proposed pavement structure for the carriageway. The proposed pavement structure is generally adequate in meeting the projected traffic loading. However, AC-20 as a sub-surface would be more compatible with AC-13 than AC-16 given the variations of asphalt particular diameter. Particular attention needs to be drawn to account for the high precipitation in the area to avoid pavement surface soaking. Appropriate drain will need to be provided.

Table 12: Proposed Road Pavement for Carriageway

Pavement Thickness Structure Remarks Type (cm) Fine-graded asphalt concrete (AC-13) 4 Spread tack coat oil Medium-graded asphalt concrete 6 Spread tack coat oil (AC-16) Carriageway Spread prime coat Cement stabilized gravel 36 oil Cement and lime stabilized sand and 20

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Pavement Thickness Structure Remarks Type (cm) gravel Total 66

2.4.8 Drainage 55. Roadside open ditches are typically proposed with gravitational flow and discharge into nearby river or water bodies. In designing the drainage system, a number of factors including hydrological and geological conditions, sub-grade height, underground water table and cost are considered. Open earth ditches would apply for most sections of the road because it has low cost, is easy to build and to maintain. Where the road passes through towns and villages with build-up area and intense pedestrian activity, then concrete slab covered ditch is proposed to take less space taken and provide for pedestrian safety. This is compatible with the features of Class II road and local conditions. A comparison is made for different types of structure for drains as shown in table below.

Table 13: Comparison of Types of Drainage Ditch Structure

Type Earth ditch Mortar Pre-cast Concrete slab rubble stone concrete cover trapezoid trapezoid rectangular ditch ditch ditch Storm water Weak Strong Strong Relatively strong relief capacity Dimension 0.4x0.4m 0.4x0.4m 0.4x0.4m 0.4x0.4m plane-shape slope 1:1 slope 1:1 rectangular trapezoid trapezoid Cost 22.9 183.4 113.8 383 (thousand Yuan/km) Advantage Natural, easy to Roughness Roughness Roughness factor build, low cost factor is low factor is low, is low, can resist easy and fast traffic load. to fabricate. Disadvantage Roughness factor High cost Need pre-cast Need pre-cast is high, impede site, relatively site, high cost water flow high cost Suitability Suitable for typical embankment section Suitable for town and village area Recommended Alternative Alternative Recommended

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2.4.9 Existing Roads Bisecting Proposed Road 56. A number of existing provincial and county roads would bisect proposed road. Their features and current conditions are presented in Table below.

Table 14: Existing Roads Bisecting the Project Road

No. Name Chainage Class Width Status 1 G319 starting II 8m pavement Asphalt concrete pavement, point width (8.5m of good condition after overhaul in K0+000 sub-grade 2011 width) 2 X154 K0+300 III 6m pavement Cement concrete pavement with (7m of pavement damage rate of 30%. sub-grade) The road upgrading to asphalt is under preparation, and be constructed by the end of 2014 by Shangli County Government. 3 S313 K12+610 III 6m pavement Cement concrete pavement, (7m of good condition sub-grade) 4 X121 K16+900 IV 5m pavement Cement concrete pavement, (6m of very bad condition, most sub-grade) pavement damaged. The upgrading to Class III is under design, and will start construction by the end of 2014. 5 X123 K20+800 II 7m pavement Asphalt concrete pavement, (8.5m of good condition after upgrading sub-grade) to Class II in 2010 6 S229 K30+830 I 2*11.5m 23m Asphalt concrete pavement, and of sub-grade) good condition after upgrading K32+920 to Class I in 2010 7 X162 K36+710 III 6.5m (7.5m of Concrete pavement, good sub-grade) condition after upgrading to Class III in 2011 8 X160 K39+800 IV 5m pavement Cement concrete pavement, (6m of good condition sub-grade) 9 G320 Ending II 9m pavement Asphalt concrete pavement, point (12m of good condition K44+010 sub-grade) 10 Other IV Cement concrete pavement,

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No. Name Chainage Class Width Status rural mostly relatively good condition, not roads very busy, less truck traffic.

2.4.10 Sub-grade and Ground Treatment 57. The project area is dominated by gentle hills and farmland. Road embankment slope is designed at 1:1.5. For the cut section, the slope gradient is designed at 1:1. For embankments that are higher than 8 meter and 2 meter wide an apron will be built and geo-textile will be laid down to ensure stability. The embankment slope will generally be covered by grass. For sections where the embankment is higher than 2 meters, hollow bricks and other similar types of hard surface will be laid to allow for vegetation and strengthen slope stability.

58. In the FSR, ground treatment measures are proposed according to different ground conditions. As presented in the Table below, e.g. where ground surface is dominated with cultivated soil, topsoil will need to be removed and backfilled with earth. Where sludge and mud dominate, the ground will need to be dredged and backfilled with crushed stone or sand and gravel, preloading and geo-textile would be considered where necessary. Where ground water level is high and soft and damp section is deep, piling will need to be implemented for bridge and other structure. Costs were estimated in the FSR according to methods proposed based on limited ground information. During the next stage of the design, further detailed geological information for each of the weak sections should be analyzed to ensure that a proper ground treatment design is taken into account.

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Table 15: Ground Treatment Methods

Alternatives Descriptions Features Suitability Unit Cost Estimates Pre- Fill Use soil natural Simple construction construction period is not CNY 40/m3 loading (without drainage channel, with long urgent, sub-grade is stable, a treatment) and loading construction period. little settlement, and good Equal pressure to force Equal(over) drainage layer load consolidation preloading earth Over needs secondary loading transportation Replacing And Filling Substitute Simple construction surface soft soil is less than General Earth with low cost 3m thick, such as dredging soil:CNY backfill 25/m3 Lime soil: CNY 30/m3 Gravel soil: CNY 35/m3 Loading Berm Increase friction Simple construction, not enough stability of CNY 32/m3 torque, prevent low cost but with embankment, together with embankment sliding more land taken other treatment measures failure Embank- Light Use light materials in Construction is a Fly ash is commonly used. Fly ash: CNY ment weight order to reduce little complex with a Settlement is not obvious, but 65/m3 material weight and few resources exceeds standard. settlement and alongside and higher increase stability cost Rein- By tensile properties Simple construction Suitable for embankment Geo-textile forced of geo-synthetics stability is not weak, large grid:CNY and embedded and settlement section. implement 18/m2 occlusal function together with other treatment between soil measures particles to increase subgrade’s stability, reduce differential settlement Composite Powder Mixing machine fully Construction is Suitable for soft soil foundation CNY 40/m Ground mixing mixes cement complex with high treatment with high moisture Treatment pile/wet powder and soil to cost content for bridge and small jetting pile form composite structure. Pile diameter is foundation with generally 50cm. It can interaction between effectively reduce foundation pile and soil and settlement, reinforce final reduce settlement. strength, and maximum reinforcement depth up to 10-15m (not suitable for those more than 15m). Compact- Through the gravel Construction is Treatment of liquefied soil Gravel (sand) ed gravel (sand) compaction complex with high foundation of bridge. pile: (sand) and drainage effect cost Needs test pile. It may have CNY pile of pile to form significant adverse 55(45)/m composite environment impacts foundation with pile-soil interaction

2.4.11 Bridge and Tunnel 59. A total of 6 bridges consisting of 2 large-sized bridges and 4 medium-sized bridges are proposed as part of the road project. At the request of the Consultant, geological survey was undertaken in January 2015, however the survey results have

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not been incorporated into the latest FSR. The initial assessment indicates that there may be adverse geological conditions, e.g., landslides, karst caves, and mountain torrents. The results show karst may be encountered at the location of tunnel. Proper measures shall be proposed after detailed survey. Particular attention shall be paid for draining and shoring and support during construction.

Table 16: List of Proposed Bridges

length Span Width Area Sub-Structure River Angle Location Upper Structure (channel) (o) n×L （m） （m） （㎡） pier abutment Foundation （m） Existing Precast Fabricated 11+480 0 18.86 1x13 10 188.6 column Ribbed slab Bored pile channel concrete slab girder

Existing Precast Fabricated 18+235 -30 45.86 2x20 10 458.6 column Ribbed slab Bored pile channel concrete slab girder

Existing Precast Fabricated 21+760 0 25.86 1x20 10 258.6 column Ribbed slab Bored pile channel concrete slab girder Precast Fabricated Existing 22+900 0 125.86 4x30 10 1258.6 concrete small box column Ribbed slab Bored pile channel girder Hu-Kun Precast Fabricated 25+030 35 45.86 2x20 10 458.6 column Ribbed slab Bored pile Expressway concrete slab girder Yuan River (underpass 7x30+7 high speed Precast Fabricated x25+5x 43+264.5 railway and 30 690.86 10 6908.6 concrete small box column Ribbed slab Bored pile 30+5x3 overpass girder 0 Zhe-Gan Railway)

Total 953.16 8273

60. Two large-sized bridges are proposed for the road crossing: (a) an existing channel and (b) Yuan River (underpass high speed railway and overpass Zhe-Gan Railway as well) with span of 4x30m and 7x30+7x25+5x30+5x30 respectively. The supper structure is precast fabricated small box girder, sub-structure is columnar pier and foundation is cast-in-situ bored pile. Based on practice of similar projects, the proposed bridge form is considered appropriate. The cross section layout is shown below.

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Figure 19: Typical Cross-section of Concrete Small Box Girder

61. A tunnel is proposed at K1+091-K1+573, named Taohua Tunnel. The length of the tunnel is 482m. A single tube is proposed with internal dimensions: Height-5.0m; Width- 10m = 0.75m maintenance walk+ 8.5m driveway+0.75m maintenance walk.

62. The surrounding grade III-V rock is suitable for construction of tunnel. The site is relatively stable, with no earthquake or landslide reported.

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Figure 20: Proposed Dimension Limits of Tunnel

Figure 21: Open Cut Section of Tunnel

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2.4.12 Road Safety 63. Considering the appalling safety situation on rural highways in China, road safety concerns shall be appropriately addressed during detailed design. At the stage of feasibility study, only typical and standard safety designs have been provided. A road safety audit is recommended during preliminary design during next stage to ensure higher safety standards applied to project road including incorporating international best practices. Road accident data were requested by the Consultant, however in the absence of an official accident database, no detailed and reliable data are available. An approximate record for Shangli, Anyuan, and Luxi for the past ten years was provided by the Transport Bureau as presented in the table below.

Table 17: Road Accident Records

Year Fatality Injured Property loss (0,000 Yuan) 2013 2 101 10 2012 4 108 9 2011 1 90 4 2010 1 42 9 2009 Nil. 70 6 2008 1 102 8 2007 2 91 10 2006 2 80 6.8 2005 1 103 6 2004 Nil. 41 2 2003 Nil. 39 1.2

64. The proposed road would bisect a large number of county and village roads. Where a lower standard road joins a higher standard road, travel speed is significantly different, so safety concerns should be addressed. Those intersections will need to be carefully treated. Safety perceptions for Class II highway would help to identify constraints and to help guide and tailor the potential solutions. Figure below is an example of PPTA Consultant recommendations on intersection treatment improvement.

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Figure 22: PPTA Example Recommendations for Intersection Improvement

(1) Reduce the radius in order to reduce turning movement speed; (2) Increase the size of refugee island; (3) Traffic yielding sign to alert driver yield to traffic on primary road; (4) Traffic calming strip to alert driver approaching intersection.

65. Marking and signage shall be provided properly to warn/remind of road users. The figure below shows examples of warning signs that fit the circumstances of the proposed road.

66. Following the ADB mission held in March 2015, LDI improved design and updated drawings of intersection treatment by following ADB and PPTA consultant’s suggestions. The typical intersection design drawings are shown as below. These shall serve as paradigms for next stage design with regards to road safety aspects.

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Figure 23: Example of Intersection Improvement (1)

Figure 23: Example of Intersection Improvement (2)

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Figure 23: Examples of Warning Signs

67. Key road safety issues for the project road are outlined below:

 Speed and truck overloading are common and severe on rural highways. Enforcement measures shall be strengthened in coping with the problems. Also, public campaign shall be organized to raise public awareness on aspects of road safety.

 Traffic calming measures shall be taken at junctions, particularly where speeds vary from slow to fast.

 Where the project road joins a primary (higher standard) road, safety elements e.g. safe crossing, speed alert sign, channelization, refuge island shall be fully considered.

 Where the road vertical gradient is steep or/and sharp turn exists, speed control measures will have to be considered, especially for the road segment near industrial parks where truck and lorry traffic prevalent.

 Sufficient pedestrian crossings and warning signs shall be established where schools or other anticipated high pedestrian flow exist.

 Light provision or reflective sign/marking shall be considered at road junctions

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to alert travelers in evening.

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2.4.13 Rural Public Transport 68. The project road is intended to help spread the benefits of improved accessibility by expanding the availability and improving the efficiency and affordability of rural bus services. Currently, members of the average village household hardly ever travel beyond the nearest township center, and the poor travel even less. Many rely on informal services that are much more expensive. Village roads are in poor condition and sometimes impassable.

69. Formal passenger services in rural areas are mostly by mini-buses. They are licensed to stop only at designated places and terminals. But there is a lack of terminals, even simple stops. Generally bus services are good along the routes between county and town centers, but do not exist between villages and are rare between villages and townships.

70. Requested by the TA Consultant, Pingxiang Transport Bureau has made an initial bus route plan, adding/improving bus routes by taking into consideration of the proposed road. As presented in the tables below, five new bus routes would be added, and four bus routes would be improved.

Table 18: New Rural Bus Routes

Daily No. Terminates Routing turnaround 杨岐--万龙山 关下、东源、赤山、高坑、芦溪、万龙山 1 Yangqi-Wanlongs Guanxia,Dongyuan,Chishan,Gaokeng,Luxi,Wan 4 han longshan 东源、赤山、高坑、芦溪、万龙山、武功山 杨岐--武功山 Dongyuan, 2 Yangqi-Wugongs 4 Chishan,Gaokeng,Luxi,Wanlongshan, han Wugongshan 上栗镇、杨岐、东源、赤山、高坑、源南、银河、 上栗--宣风 宣风 3 Shangli- 8 Shangli Town, Yangqi, Dongyuan, Xuanfeng Chishan,Gaokeng,Yuannan, Yinhe, Xuanfeng 上栗镇、杨岐、东源、赤山、高坑、源南 上栗--源南 4 Shangli Town, Yangqi, Dongyuan, 4 Shangli- Yuannan Chishan,Gaokeng,Yuannan, 源南--宣风 源南、银河、宣风 5 Yuannan- 4 Yuannan, Yinhe, Xuanfeng Xuanfeng

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Table 19: Existing Bus Routes Improvement

Daily No. Terminates Routing turnaround 上栗镇、杨岐、东源、赤山、高坑、源南、 上栗--芦溪 芦溪 1 4 Shangli-Luxi Shangli Town, Yangqi, Dongyuan, Chishan, Gaokeng, Yuannan, Luxi 上栗镇、杨岐、东源、赤山 上栗--赤山 2 Shangli Town, Yangqi, Dongyuan, 4 Shangli-Chishan Chishan 萍乡--小枧 萍乡、赤山、东源、小枧 3 4 Pingxiang-Xiaojian Pingxiang, Chishan, Dongyuan, Xiaojian

71. As requested by ADB mission, the DI provided a map of proposed bus stops presented with existing schools, villages and county and village roads. However, the proposed locations of bus stops are only indicative and have not been consulted with transport bureau. Bus stops shall be located at near school, hospital, town center and road junctions where trips are expected more often, in other words, responding to local needs. For next step, the plan shall be refined correlated with overall public transport plan based on thorough public consultations.

72. For next stage, more investigation shall be done to better understand local needs. And the plan will need to be further elaborated in a holistic manner. It is recommended to provide more bus stations, improve amenity at terminals and change route licensing. Some flexibility should be allowed in issuing regional rather than fixed-route licenses and permitting variations from assigned routes. These would benefit passengers through time savings resulting from more frequent and reliable services;

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2.4.14 ITS in Traffic Management and Public Transport 73. The scope of the proposed Intelligent Transport System (ITS) component will need to be defined. An ITS TA may be proposed to review current conditions and constraints of the project area, suggest a suitable ITS component for ADB financing through identifying more appropriate ITS strategy and design, and provide innovative idea, management approach and technology to effectively contribute to the designed project impact an outcome. The ITS component should comprise two systems for traffic management and public transport management. The potential ITS component consists of i) establish an accountable ICT system for bus operator and traffic police; ii) violation processing system to strengthen traffic enforcement; iii) set up real-time traffic information and a unified traffic database to provide better data service; iv) introduce the systems to bus service network and service planning; iii) rationalize rural bus routing, dispatching, and scheduling based on actual passenger demand and travel pattern; iv) transmit real-time information about bus locations to passengers and bus operators etc.

ITS TA would be undertaken through literature review, field study and interview with local government, traffic police and rural bus operators etc. to identify existing problems and proposed interventions. An initial assessment Identified main tasks for short-term include smooth traffic order, preventative measures to be taken to traffic violations and accidents on the proposed highway as well as strengthening of public transport serving capacity. For a medium and long term, solutions shall be sought to deal with traffic congestion along with traffic growth and energy conservation etc.

74. Given the backward economy in Pingxiang rural area, low level of management for traffic control and bus services are anticipated. It is observed that traditional Traffic Police management methods are inefficient and involve a great deal of manpower with little assistance of information technologies. Thus, traffic police cannot make rapid responses to traffic violation and accidents and effectively manage traffic flow. And it may be difficult for traffic police to obtain real-time traffic condition information, especially in rural area. On public transport management, manual dispatching is still adopted which can hardly meet the demand of passenger services. Passengers have limited access to travel information. It is difficult for passenger to know bus arrival time, route adjustment and other timely information during travel. Long waits at bus stops often bring complaints, which have negative impact to rural bus service image.

75. A typical traffic police management system comprises of an operation center; signal control system; video surveillance system; electronic police system; dynamic

AECOM Asia Company Limited SD3-43 Asian Development Bank Jiangxi Pingxiang Integrated Rural-Urban Infrastructure Development Project violation monitoring and recording system. The current traffic management system under Pingxiang Traffic Police Brigade may need to be upgraded by integrating traffic operation platform to achieve comprehensive traffic management and control. An integrated traffic database shall be established to better serve the public and to support emergency responses. Traffic enforcement will need to be strengthened through better processing system.

76. The institutional structure of the local rural bus operators and their type of operating system utilized are not clear. A typical public transport management system include bus operator control center; IC card system; GPS positioning system; on-board bus stop announcement system; scheduling and dispatching system. As the core of public transport ITS, the integrated operation and information platform can achieve automatic data collection through on-board GPS of the status of driver, vehicle, stops, depots and road conditions. Transport information dissemination devices include WEB, Electronic Bus board, VMS (vehicle monitoring &management system), mobile WAP, call center. These technologies have been implemented in many cities in China. The best practices shall be studied and adapted to actual needs in rural area. Phased plan shall be made in response to level of economy and social development. In sum, the initial assessment would provide thoughts and outlines for future development in this area.

2.4.15 Major Work Quantities and Costs 77. Civil work quantities and costs for the recommended scheme in the FSR are provided in the table below. The estimates are generally in accordance with domestic feasibility study preparation requirements. Unit prices are reviewed and compared with those for other projects and market prices. The overall estimates are considered adequate.

Table 20: Summary of Work Quantities and Costs

Item Unit

1 Class Class II Highway

2 Sub-grade width m 10

3 Length km 43.956

4 Land acquisition mu 791.2 building 5 m2 12731.8 demolition 6 Weak Ground treatment km 13.1

7 Sub-grade earthwork

Earthwork fill 0,000 m3 1,734

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Item Unit

Earthwork cut 0,000 m3 3,697

8 Weak ground treatment km 13.1

9 Pavement 1000 m2 361.729

10 Bridge & culvert

Large Bridge m/座 816.72/2

Medium and small bridge m/座 136.44/4

culvert 道 124

11 At-grade intersection 处 42

12 Cost estimates 0,000 CNY 50898.4

13 Cost/km 0,000 CNY 1157.94

CNY = Chinese Yuan; km = kilometer; m = meter; m2 = square meter; mu = Chinese measure of land area

Source: FSR 3. Key Issues and Next Steps 78. The engineering design at this stage is considered adequate and the level of details are sufficient and in line with domestic FSR preparation guidelines. The FSR has undergone several rounds of revisions and updating by incorporating the comments from local government, ADB, and PPTA Consultants.

79. The DI submitted updated road FSR on 15 January. The amended FSR includes the updated alignment and cost estimates, layout plan of soil disposal sites etc. The rationale for this proposed road is strengthened with a relatively elaborated demand forecast. However, a few points especially road safety and rural public transport will need to be addressed.

80. The key issues identified at this stage are summarized as follows:

Geological Survey. Requested by the PPTA Consultant, an initial geological survey has been undertaken for the tunnel (480m) and bridge (690m) to investigate any adverse geological conditions and its impact on cost estimates. The Pingxiang Municipal Transport Bureau engaged a professional entity to do the survey in December 2014. Survey results were provided to the Design Institute but not in sufficient time to incorporate into the January 2015 FSR. DI should prepare a memo summarizing the impacts of the Geological Study on the bridges and tunnels and these impacts can be handled during Preliminary Engineering Design.

Entrance at Yangqi Mountain Scenic Area. The proposed alignment at the northern beginning of the road would use part of a new existing road (200m long), which leads to the scenic area. The issue of an entrance gate to the scenic area is under discussion between the Pingxiang PMO and the Yangqi Scenic Area Management Committee. A Loan Covenant will require agreement before preliminary design.

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Railway overpass at Yinhe Town (Km43+160 - Km43+840). In the original design, before joining G320, the proposed road will take an existing railway underpass at Yinhe Town. However, this tunnel is the only access road for Yinhe Town and the tunnel is prone to flooding every year during rainy seasons. Local authority of Yinhe Town is keen to have an alternative route for local access. The alternative was studied for an elevated (total length of 690m) bridge all the way over-passing Yuan River, under-passing High Speed Rail and over-passing Zhe-Gan Railway. Other possible routes were studied but discarded for the reasons of heavy resettlement required or the difficult levels when crossing the railway. Elevated bridge would be costly but still a better option in the opinion of the PPTA Consultant.

Intersection treatment. Intersection design in the FSR is provided only for major intersections. However the proposed road would bisect a large number of county and village roads. Where a low standard road joins a higher standard road, travel speed is significantly different, safety concerns should be addressed, and traffic calming measures shall be taken in the design at the next stage. Those intersections will need to be carefully planned during preliminary design.

Soil disposal site. The proposed road will require a large amount of earthwork cut and fill. After balancing cut and fill, there will be surplus of soil, which requires disposal sites. The DI selected some sites along the proposed route. These sites will need to be confirmed with the county local authorities during detailed design.

Road safety. There are no detailed safety design provisions in the FSR. Given the mixed traffic in rural area, motorcycle and electric-bike travels are prevalent. Road accidents occur very often and particularly on rural class II road, making the conditions severe. A road safety audit3 on preliminary design is recommended. This may be considered a condition for loan disbursement for the road and included as a loan covenant in the Project Agreement. A public campaign on road safety in the project area is included in the Social Development Action Plan.

Public transport. Public transport in rural area is important in terms of improving local accessibility. As a green transport project, rural bus services shall be promoted in innovative ways to attract more locals to take buses. The FSR has not given much consideration to public transport. The Consultant requested a public transport plan during the December 2014 ADB mission. The Transport Bureau provided an initial bus route improvement plan for the project area. Further work will need to be done during next stage of design to come up with a more elaborated action plan.

===end of report===

3 2004. PRC Ministry of Transport “Safety Assessment Manual for Highway Projects” guides the use of safety audits. The manual recommends safety audits, but does not make it mandatory.

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