Zila Roads Maintenance and Improvement Proje(:t (USAID PROJECT NO. 388-0056) PROGRESS REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST'84 By Wilbur Smith and Associates I n association with Bangladesh Consu Itants Ltd. and Public Administration Service ZILA ROADS MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENT PROJECT USAID PROJECT NO. 388-0056 PROGRESS REPORT August 1984 TABLE OF CONTENTS Subject Page No. List of Exhibits iii List of Appendices . iii 1.0 General . 1 2.0 Organization And Management . 1 3.0 Maintenance System And Supervision ...•............... 2 3.1 General ...............................•....... 2 3.2 Sylhet District ...................•..•........ 2 3.3. Rangpur District . 3 3.4 Faridpur District . 3 4.0 preparation of Technical Specifications . 7 4.1 Bridges . 7 5.0 T.l:'aining . 7 5.1 General . 7 5.2 On-The-Job Training . 7 5.3 Domestic (In-Country) Training . 9 5.4 USA/Third-Country Training . 9 5.5 Report Preparation . 10 6.0 Construr.tion System And Supervision . 11 6.1 GenerLl1 . 11., 6.2 Sylhet District . .LoL 6.3 Rangpur District . 15 6.4 Faridpur District . 20 7.0 Procurement of Equipment . 21 7.1 Local Procurement . 21 7.2 International Procurement . 21 H.O Personnel . 21 8.1 General . 21 9.0 Problems and Proposed Solutions . 21 - i ­ Subject Page No. 9.1 General .......................................• 21 9.2 Organization and Management .....•....•.......... 21 9.3 Maintenance System and Supervision •............ 21 9.4 Preparation of Technical Specification3 .••..... 21 9.5 Training ..........•..•..........••........... 21 9.6 Construction System and Supervision ..........•. 21 9.7 Procurement of Equipment .................•..... 21 9.8 Personnel .........................••.•......... 21 9.S Mi,scel1aneous .....................•..•........• 21 10.0 Miscellaneous .........................•.....•......... 22 10.1 Monthly Financial Statement .....•.....•........ 22 - ii ­ ZILA ROADS MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENT PROJECT USAID PROJECT NO. 388-0056 PROGRESS REPORT August 1984 Subject Page No. List of Exhibits Exhibit I - Map, Sylhet District.....••..•.•.......• 4 Exhibit II - Map, Rangpur District .......•.......... 5 Exhibit III - . Map, Faridpur District .........•..•.... 6 Exhibit IV - ZRMI Project Training Program Schedule And Current Status .............•......•..•... 8 Exhibit V - Proposed 1984 - 1985 Construction Program, Rangpur District . 17 List of Appendices Appendix A Photos of Maintenance Activities, Rangpur A-I and Faridpur Districts Appendix B Laboratory Activities - Sylhet, Rangpur and B-1 Faridpur District .......••....•........... Appendix C Photos of Construction Activities, Rangpur C - 1 and Faridpur District ....•...••....•....... Appendix D Current Status of Personnel D - 1 Appendix E Statu:> of Project Activities, Sylhot diotrict. E - 1 - iii ­ ZILA ROADS MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENT PROJECT USAID PROJECT NO. 388-0056 PROGRESS REPORT August 1984 1.0 GENERAL Heavy rainfall and accompanying floods continued to hamper work progress in all three Districts during the month of August. Weak­ nesses in the maintenance and construction systems continued to b~' identified. One example was the dispatch of a project supervising engineer for temporary duty elsewhere without first arranging for a substitute supervisor. The result was an unexpected delay in project progress. However, these weak points in the system, once they are identified, can be corrected. All three Districts report that an imp~ovement in Contractor procedures has oeen noticed. This is a positive development. Another positive action was the mitigation of the contractor payment reimbursement bottleneck in Sylhet. Work on material salnpling and testing was able to proceed almost normally, in bpite 0f the adverse weather. The tests reported from all thrt';e la':-urCl':.cries were mostly routine in nature. Both the second-cyc18 in-~ountry training program and the second AIT third-coufI,:ry +:-rai:ll.ng p:-ogram were approved. It is estimated that about 125 te.;hnlr:-i wn wL:.I participate in the second-cycle sessions. The dUl1Ib('r to be nominated to attend the second AIT course will be the ~ams n~ last year - 15. The additional improvements in reporting techniques planned for introduction in this report had to be delayed until next month. The preparation of the baL charts to show both scheduled and achieved progress for all segments of the ZRMI Project is taking more time than anticipated. 2.0 ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT No new developments to report. 1 2 3.0 MAINTENANCE SYSTEM AND SUPERVISION 3.1 General The ZRMI Pro:~ct maintenance work is being handled under the concept of a Pilot Maintenance Scheme initiated aarly in 1984, and which has a separate and independent component in each of the three Districts. The locations of the roads involved in the individual maintenance schemes are shown on the respective District maps as follows o Exhibit I Sylhet District o Exhibit II Rangpur District o Exhibit III Faridpur District Photos of maintenance work in Rangpur District may be found in Appendix A. In the July Monthly Report, it was mentioned thdt bar charts showing scheduled and achieved progress on the~aintenance schemes would be included for all three Districts. Unfortu~ nately, these charts have not yet been prepared hy the Districts, so their inclusion will have to be delayed until the September report. The unseasonable heavy rainfall and accompanying flooding conditions once again were obstacles to significant progress during this reporting period. 3.2 Sylhet District 3.2.1 - Hatimganj - Dhakadakshin Road (Earth Road) Work on this rond had been halted due to depletion of the revolving tund. However, arrangements were made to alleviate the bottleneck in the timely submission of payment vouchers and other documents for review by the Consultant and Subsequent action for reimbursement by USAID. Following this positive development, work was initiated on this project. 3.2.2 Badarghat - Bariberbazar Road (Paved and Earth Road) Aggregates, shingles, and peagravel have been stock­ piled in preparation for the initiation of the main­ tenance work on the paved portion of the road. 3 3.3 Rangpur District 3.3.1 Rangpur - Mahiganj Road Progress was slow on this project due to the com­ bination of adverse weather and lack of foresight on the part of the Zila Parishad Office. (The SAE in charge of the project was dispatched to Dhaka to attend a training course and no arrangements were made for interim supervision). It is expected that the progress will improve when the supervising SAE returns to his post in the near future. 3.3.2 Rangpur - Badarganj Road Last month it was reported that the estimated completion date for this project wa3 August. However, no additional work was noted during this reporting period, so that total accomplishment still stands at 90 percent completion of shoulder improvement work. 3.4 Faridpur District 3.4.1 Rajbari - Baliakandi Road Breaking of bricks for patching work was the only activity observed on this site during the reporting period. It was observed that the first-class bricks stockpiled at the site were not sufficient to complete the replacement of H.B.B. in the damaged areas. Arrangement for one or two additional fire pits would help to expedite the work. 3.4.2 Talma - Nagarkanda Road Activity on this scheme was confined to patch work on the existing bituminous pavement. This operation was being performed without first cleaning the shingles. The brick abutments of one bridge on this road need immediate maintenance. Vegetation which has taken root should be removed. The erosion damage to the embankment that was reported last month was not repaired and now a portion of the pavement has suffered some damage. Such erosion damage should be repaired immediately, or it will 7 get progressively worse. Patching work, shoulder dressing, and brush cleaning has Deen completed from the start of the project to the grade level crossing. 4.0 PREPARATION OF TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 4.1 Bridges Work continues in the Dhaka office on the preparation of typical plan and superstructure anC foundation sections for bridges of 40-ft span, or less. It is estimated that thi~ work will be =ompleted by mid-September. 5.0 TRAINING 5.1 General 5.1.1 By memo No. S-IV/2R-4/82/20g, dated 20/08/1984, the Local Government Division confirmed that the tour of duty of the Training Advisor had been ex­ tended for a period of six months. 5.1. 2 As can be seen from Exhibit IV, the overall progress of the ZRMI Project Training Program as of the end of August 1984, was about 54 percent, compared to a scheduled progress of 56 percent. 5.2 On-The-Job Training This is an on-going effort on the part of each District RE and the individual members of his staff. At the end of this report1ng period, it is estimated that this activity is about 70 percent complete. 5.2.1 Material Sampling And Testing Th~ activities of c~~ three District Soil Labora­ tories are summari~ed in tabular fashion in Appendix B. 5.2.2 The RE's continue to work closely with the XENl s and their staffs in the planning and programming of a viable maintenance system for rural roads. It is expected that this planning work will produce results in the 1984-1985 programs. - 8 ­ -- o ... 0 g ... ~ ... :i ~ g ... ~ ~ ... ~ ~ =: IJ 2 ~ t, 8 .. '" ......._,­ I I \J . I I I I I I I I I ,­ ._­ .. .. .._--­ ........­ --­ § ~ !C • ...0 ii IQ 8 - § 0 ;­ : :­ • :i: 8 ".. !C. 'lI: .. ~ § .. 8 .. 0 .. .. - ...0 .. ..• • • "U Q • ~ .. "0 :>.... .. ..u" ..oJ IC • ~ ~ • " U • 0 \ .. • \ .. \ -y. U " \ 1 " ~ III 8.. .." I I 3 3 .. 1I 1I U .. .. .. .,.. ·• ..• ..• ..• U • ... .. Ii .. 8 u IC ~ i " · .. o· i I ~ 1 " ! ! ..· ..r ..r ::: l..---:-::~---l...-,---------==========:--------=H:-..------ _ 9 5.3 Domestic (In-Country) Training 5.3.1 System Assessment This secondary activity is 100 percent complete. 5.3.2 System Design This secondary activity is abnut 78 percent complete. No further activity of any consequence will take place until after the completion of the second-cycle sessions.