Brief Summary of the Project The Government of Uttarakhand has taken up programme for up-gradation and improvement of State Highways. Uttarakhand Public Works Department (UKPWD) has been entrusted with the assignment of Preparation of Feasibility study and Detailed Project Report for selected corridors of State Highways in Uttarakhand under Uttarakhand State Highway Improvement Project (USHIP). Public works Department plans to develop hilly state highway roads to intermediate lane facility in a sound technical and most economical manner, taking into consideration the environment and social aspects of the area, quality audit and safety audit requirement in design and to carry out through the financial analysis for the implementation.
UKPWD has appointed M/s SM Consultants as consultant for carrying out the feasibility study and preparation of detailed project report of three state project highways under Uttarakhand State Highway Improvement Project Package 3. Uttarkashi Ghansali Tilwara Motor road (SH 15; Length: 166.730 km) is one of the state highways which is proposed for the improvement and upgradation from single lane to intermediate lane standards.
NEED OF THE PROJECT
The project area lies in Garhwal Region (Division) of Uttarakhand having divisional head quarter at Pauri, covering the districts of Uttarakashi, Tehri, Chamoli and Pauri. Project roads are connecting Divisional and Districts head quarters providing outreach to the local administration for the people of the area and vice-versa and access to the people to main markets of major towns. Four famous pilgrimages centres, Gangotri, Yamnotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath known as Chardham are situated at high altitude in Uttarakashi and Chamoli districts. The project roads facilitate the main Yatra routes by providing links or alternative to main arterial roads. Uttarakashi – Ghansali – Tiwara road connects NH 34 (Gangotri route) in Uttarakashi to NH 107(Kedarnath route) in Tlwara. The road being in boarder district (international) is also important from strategic point of view. Thus improvement of the project road will provide enhanced facilities to the Yatries, to the local inhabitants, to the administration and also to the Army for their activities on the international border Garhwal region of Uttarakahnd with China. Up gradation of road will add into the economy of the area and the State.
Project road description: The project road (SH 15), starts from junction with NH 34 in Uttarakashi and ends at Tilwara on NH 109. The road lies partly in the district of Uttarakashi, Tehri and Rudraprayag. The entire road lies in mountainous steep terrain ranging from height of 788 m to 2382 m from msl. Road portions traversing above 1800 m height in 62 km length experiences seasonal snow falls. First 19 km of length passes through echo sensitive zone (Gangotri National Park).
Salient Features:
a) The entire stretch of the project road comes under hilly terrain and traverses through Uttarkashi, Tehri and Rudraprayag district. b) The project road has single lane configuration with earthen shoulders. The road passes through the main Cities/ Towns of Uttarkashi, Ghansali and Tilwara besides 50 number village settlements. c) The existing project road has 85 culverts, 699 scuppers, and 60 causeways and 35 bridges. d) First 19 km of the project road passes through Bhagirathi Eco-sensitive zone. e) Tentative length of affected reserve forest area along the proposed alignment is about 46.000 km. Chainage wise distribution of the forest area is given in table below:
Table: Forest Area alongside the proposed alignment of Uttarkashi Ghansali Tilwara Motor road (SH 15) S. Approx. chainage Approx District Division name Circle Reserved forest No. length name (km) 1 5.000 7.000 2.000 Uttarkashi Uttarkashi Bhagirathi Nirakot RF Forest Div Circle 2 14.000 19.000 5.000 Uttarkashi Bhagirathi Baragari RF Forest Div Circle 3 19.000 29.000 10.000 Uttarkashi Bhagirathi Phold RF Forest Div Circle 4 29.000 38.000 9.000 Uttarkashi Bhagirathi Jalkurgad RF Forest Div Circle 5 61.000 63.000 2.000 Tehri Tehri Forest Div Bhagirathi Naulan RF Circle 6 63.000 65.000 2.000 Tehri Forest Div Bhagirathi Marwari RF Circle 7 111.000 113.000 2.000 Tehri Forest Div Bhagirathi Bhilangna RF Circle 8 123.000 128.000 5.000 Tehri Forest Div Bhagirathi Bhilangna RF Circle 9 128.000 135.000 7.000 Rudra- Tehri Forest Div Garhwal Alaknanda RF prayag Circle 10 146.000 148.000 2.000 Tehri Forest Div Alaknanda RF Total length 46.00 *Approx length measured on the basis of SoI maps. Exact length of affected forest area shall be calculated after joint inspection with forest dept. during detailed designing.
0.2 PROJECT PROPONENT: The project proponent is Uttarakhand Public Works Department, Government of India.
0.3 PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS The project road will be upgraded to intermediate lane standards as per the IRC. Proposed development will be as per latest IRC Guideline with an aim to provide maximum safety in the design of the highway geometry, pavement, shoulders and other pertinent components for an uninterrupted flow of through traffic along the project stretch with the provision of road junctions. The overlay thickness to be provided is to be decided with respect to the conditions of the existing road. Salient features of the improvement are given as below:
1) Major Bridge over river Mandakini in Tilwara in km 170 is to be replaced by constructing a new Steel truss 2 lane class a loading bridge. Besides, minor steel truss bridges, which are of 11 in numbers, are to be replaced by new steel truss bridges by constructing new bridge. 2) Total existing culverts are 85 numbers. Existing RCC culvert of span 1.2 or more shall be widened to roadway width of the road. Such culverts are 27 in numbers; proposed for widening. Rest 58 HPC or RCC culverts shall be replaced by 1.5 m x 1.5 m RCC box culverts. 3) There are 699 numbers scuppers on this project road. All these scuppers are proposed to be replaced by 1.5 m X 1.5 m RCC box culverts. 4) There are in total 60 surface causeways on this road. As far as possible as per site conditions, causeway will be replaced by the 15 m x 1.5 m RCC box culverts and rest shall be rehabilitated. 5) As per Hill Code, there should be 5 to 6 cross drainage in each km for adequate drainage of sill side storm water. At present there are existing 35 bridges, 85 culverts, 699 scuppers and 60 surface causeways. Thus there are 879 cross drainage structures; while for 170 km of road 1040 CDs are required for proper drainage. Therefore approximately 161 numbers new culverts are required. These 161 culverts will be of 1.5 m x1.5 m RCC Box culverts.
1) Road marking, road sign, kilometer stone, Delineators and objects markers, Guard post and Crash barrier will also be provided at the appropriate locations.
0.4 TOTAL COST OF THE PROJECT Estimated cost of the construction of project is 851.50 crore.