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BACKGROUND

Article 13, clause no. 13.2 of the Concession Agreement states that:

13.2 Inspection

“During the Construction Period the Independent Engineer shall inspect the Project

Highway at least once a month and make a report of such inspection (the “Inspection

Report”) stating in reasonable detail the defects or deficiencies, if any, with particular

reference to the Scope of the Project and Specifications and Standards. It shall send a

copy of the Inspection Report to the Authority and the Concessionaire within 7 (Seven)

days of such inspection and upon receipt thereof, the Concessionaire shall rectify and

remedy the defects or deficiencies, if any, stated in the Inspection Report. Such

inspection or submission of Inspection Report by the Independent Engineer shall not

relieve or absolve the Concessionaire of its obligation and liabilities hereunder in any

manner whatsoever”.

To comply with the requirement of the above clause of Concession Agreement, a Joint Site

Inspection program of the Project Highway was planned for 22-09-2015 by a joint team

comprising NHAI, IE and EPC Contractor and the same was informed to the Concessionaire

vide this office letter ref. no. LASA/BK/IE/73426/2015-1035, dated 19/09/2015. During site

Inspection, NHAI Representative Mr. Shailendra Sambhu, whole team of IE, Representative of

EPC Contractor Mr. Veer Naidu (Project Manager), Mr. V. Ratnam (Deputy Project Manager,

Highway), Mr Adi Narayan (Material Engineer) and other site engineers were available during

site Inspection. Concessionaire’s representative ignored to join the Joint Inspection. This Joint

Site Inspection Report is based on the findings during site inspection by the whole team of IE

(TL, B/SE, SQME, QS, AHE-2, ABE-2, AQME-2 and Survey Engineer).

Project Brief

The NH-34 Barasat to Krishnagar Section in the state of West Bengal is located in the

northern part of Metropolitan city Kolkata. It is part of the proposed Barasat to Raiganj section.

The NH-34 is an integral component of the National and Regional road network. The project

highway described in this report is under construction and runs from Km 31.000 to 115.000

between Barasat to Krishnagar on NH 34 in the state of West Bengal.

The completed NH-34 will connect the traffic from Kolkata to Siliguri as well as facilitating the

movements between the State highways (SH), Major district roads (MDR) and other district

roads (ODR). The increase in car ownership, changes in land use and travel patterns have

resulted in congestion on many parts of the State road network including NH-34. The NH-34

currently not only functions as a main corridor to Nepal and Bangladesh but as an urban

collector/distributor between communities, employment and shopping centres.

The alignment traverses through two Districts: North 24 Parganas and Nadia. The terrain

along the project road is generally plain. The predominant land use along the project road is

agricultural with ribbon development near human settlements. At certain locations,

encroachments within the ROW have been observed in the form of Shops, Hotels, Dhabas

and various other commercial establishments. The road passes through towns of Santoshpur-

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Starting point of the Project Highway (2246’33””, 8830’13”), Kamdebpur (2247’13”,

8830’13”), Amdanga (2234’06”, 8830’27”), Gadamara (2254’00”, 8832’22”), Barajaguli,

Chakdah (2304’52”, 8832’35”), Ranaghat, Phulia, Shantipur (2315’59”, 8826’50”),

Govindapur and Krishnagar(2322’40”, 8829’10”) and end point of the Project Highway

(2355’47”, 8828’08”) etc.

Map Showing Road Alignment of NH-34

I. SCOPE OF WORK

The scope of the Access Controlled Highway Project as detailed in the concession Agreement

shall be broadly classified as follows:

Construction of Four Laning of NH-34 from km 31.000 to km 115.000 (Existing

chainage) or 115.341 (Designed chainage) in the state of West Bengal.

Construction of 2 nos of Major bridges, 5 nos of Minor Bridges, 134 nos of slab culverts

and 17 nos of Pipe culverts on main carriage way under New/widening/ Reconstruction

Scheme as per Schedule B of Concession Agreement.

Construction of 4 nos of ROBs, 1 no of RUB, 2 nos of Vehicular Underpass, 12 major

junctions, 14 nos of minor junctions, 1 no of toll plaza and others Schemed as per

Schedule B and Schedule C of Concession Agreement

During the entire construction period, the Project Highway is to be maintained by the

Concessionaire at his own cost from the appointed date.

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Traffic Management and Safety of workers and the road users shall be maintained at all

times in accordance with the relevant IRC and relevant Codes as stipulated in the

Concession Agreement without any deviations.

The scope of the work for the Project Highway also includes but not limited to the following:

Road side furniture

Pedestrian Facilities

Highway Lighting Systems

Junctions(Major & Minor)

Tree plantation and landscaping

Truck lay byes & Bus lay byes with bus shelters.

II. SITE INSPECTION

Joint Site inspection was conducted on 22nd September, 2015 by the team comprising IE (TL,

B/SE, SQME.QS, AHE-2, ABE-2, AQME-2 and Survey Engineer); the Representative of NHAI,

and EPC Contractor were present during site Inspection. The visit was started from Km 115

+000. As there is virtually no Road work at site, some structural works are in progress. The

inspection program started at 10:30 AM and concluded at Km 45 +000 on the same day at

5:30 PM.

III. FINDINGS IN JOINT SITE INSPECTION

There is virtually no highway work due to rain, except dumping of sand/sandy soil in some

location and GSB, WMM and DBM work in some stretches during dry spell. Some structural

works like piling works of ROBs, return walls of box culverts and concreting work of RUB are

in progress, but work progress is very slow (Snail speed) due to rain. The compliance of

comments given by the Independent Engineer in the Reports of previous Joint Site Inspections

was reviewed during this inspection. The works which are under progress were inspected. The

following are the findings:

1. Project Information Board/Safety Boards

Information board at the end of the Project Highway has been installed and corrections in the

information board installed at starting point of the project Highway has been done after long

time.

Some safety and direction boards are installed at some places which are not sufficient. EPC

Contractor is advised to install more safety boards, use safety tapes at work site and cordon

work area to avoid accidents

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Project end Point Km115+317 Information Board fixed

Information sign board on Project Highway

2. Box Culvert (Km 115+020) RHS

Full width of this culvert is already constructed except return walls. During joint Inspection; it

has been observed that the box of the culvert is totally inundated under water by the flood in

this monsoon. The opening of the culvert seems to be insufficient to cope with HFL.

Therefore, Concessionaire is advised to seek advice of the designer and Hydrologist of IE and

the Concessionaire for the solution of this problem.

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Box Culvert at Km 115+020 during High Flood, new culvert inundated under water

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Opening of the new constructed box culvert & existing culvert

at Km 115+020

3. Km 113+528 (Jalangi Major Bridge)

The work of this bridge has been stopped since 27-07-2015. Till date, 32/64 piles have

been completed. At present no contractor at site. Kamar infra (contractor) has removed all

their equipment and machineries. At present there are some Sheet pile materials and

some liners are lying at site. EPC Contractor representative said that work in this bridge

will be restarted from 1st week of September after engaging new contractor. But from the

condition of site, it is more or less impossible to start the work within one week.

Concessionaire is instructed to re-start the work of this bridge at the earliest as the site is

dry now.

When ask about the maintenance of deck slab of existing bridge, EPC contractor

representative said that the maintenance of highway is in progress and the deck slab will be

repaired when the road maintenance team reach this location.

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Site clear but no work, no equipment @ Km 113+528 (Jalangi Major Bridge)

Reinforcement and liner lying at site (MJBR @ Km 113+528)

4. Km 112+ 247 (RUB)

I. 8 units (6 units for left and 2 units for right tunnel) of tunnel have been

completed.

II. CRS approval for pushing tunnel under Railway track has been obtained.

III. 3 m pushing of left side tunnel by jack pushing method under the Railway track is

targeted in this month.

IV. 11m side pushing of a box was already done previously for clearing space to

cast tunnel.

V. It is expected that speed restriction (Caution) will be put by railway on 23rd

September.

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Preparation for pushing of the box under railway track

Boxes of tunnel at RUB are ready for pushing

5. Km 111+345 (Krishnagar ROB)

Pile no. A2-04 cage lowering was in progress and piling work of P1 and A1 at this location

has been completed.

One temple is obstructing the piling work of P2 which is to be shifted for smooth

construction of this ROB

Cage lowering at location A2-04 in progress

Temple

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Temple at Work site of Krishnagar ROB ,Km 111+400

Checking of bore depth

6. Km 111+201 (Minor Bridge)

Casting of slab has been completed on 09.09.2015. At present, curing is in progress.

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Inspection of Minor Bridge at Km 111+201

7. Km 109+040 –Km 110+140

Priming work from Km 109+880 to 110+140 has been completed. EPC Contractor is

planning for DBM and complete remaining portion of median kerb casting in the location.

Tree plantation has been done on the shoulder by “Zilla Parishad “(MG-NREGA) without

any intimation to the Concessionaire which will disturb the construction of Project Highway.

Concessionaire is advised to request the concerned Authority to remove the plantation.

Plantation on shoulder and primed surface

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8. Highway Work from Km 97+930 – Km 98+150

Concessionaire has raised RFI for application of Prime coat at this location but bed is not

ready. Median Kerb is not yet casted. Concessionaire is instructed to make proper

planning prior to raise RFIs and advised to re-submit RFI after field is ready to receive

prime coat.

RFI rose but bed not ready (cleaning or casting median kerb to be done)

9. QC Laboratory

Concrete cubes from site having strength of M-3, M-25, M-20 and M-15 grade of age 7

days and 28 days age were tested and found satisfactory. Result of tests are enclosed as

Appendix: 1A, 1B,1C and 1D)

Site Concrete cube testing at QC Lab

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Site cube testing at QC lab

10. ROB at Km 90+640(Shantipur Bypass)

Work started on 13.02.2013 and work up to cap level of abutment and pier has been

completed on 02.09.2014. Since then there is no work at this site. Representative of EPC

Contractor reiterated that the drawing of bearing is with Railway authority for approval.

Concessionaire is instructed to follow up the matter with Railway authority to expedite the

work.

ROB at km 90+640 LHS under construction

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11. ROB at Km 75+955 (Ranaghat)

Piling work of A1-02 was in progress; about 20 m depth has been achieved. Density of the

Bentonite mixture has been checked and found only 1.02 gm/cc. Concessionaire is

instructed to maintain proper (required) density of the Bentonite solution (mix) during piling

work.

Preparation for load test on test pile was in progress.

Preparation for load test on test pile @ Km 75+955 (Ranaghat ROB)

Testing of density of Bentonite mixture in piling

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Piling work in progress

12. Km 66+360 (Chakdah VUP)

Test piling completed on 19-08-2015. One set of machinery for piling is at site. No further

progress can be seen at this location. Representative of EPC Contractor said that the work

is stopped due to overhead electric transmission line and said shifting of electric line will

take about 10 days.

Concessionaire is instructed to talk with local authority to resolve the problem.

Preparation for piling work @ Km 66+360 (Chakdah VUP)

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Preparation for piling work @ Km 66+360 (Chakdah VUP)

13. Km 59+740 (Minor Bridge)

There is no work at present in this bridge. Some excavation was done long back (on

21-01-2015) for foundation, but not completed. EPC Contractor said that work can be

started in this bridge only after completion of temporary diversion.

14. Km 58+717 (Minor Bridge)

Work started on 20-02-2015, 2nd lift of wall is completed in this month. Reinforcement

and shuttering work for slab is in progress from long time. Work progress very slow.

Concessionaire is instructed to re-start the work of this bridge at the earliest as water

level at this location lowered a lot and concreting work of slab now can be executed.

Reinforcement binding work in progress @ Km 58+717 Minor Bridge

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15. Km 55+933 (Birohi Minor Bridge)

Work started on 08-01-2015 and stopped on 18-06-2015 due to water logging. Two

numbers of crane, 1 no. DMC and MAT machine is available at the site. EPC Contractor

said that work can be started only on October.

Km 55+933 (Birohi Minor Bridge)

16. Road Maintenance

From Km 53+560 to 53+760 – pothole/patch repair was in progress. The Concessionaire

is repairing the potholes from Km 51+000 to Km 54+000, Km 58+450 to Km 59+740, Km

96+500 to Km 97+500 and Km 108+000 to Km 115+000.

Maintenance work at Km 53+560 – Km 53+760

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17. Chainage Pillar

The Concessionaire was instructed to fix the reference chainage pillars at regular intervals as

per MORT&H specification and other relevant codes in our previous Joint inspections and the

same was reported in the Joint Inspection Reports.

But till date, no action has been taken by the Concessionaire in this regard. It is found that

Concessionaire has written chainage at existing road surface, existing electric poles, culverts

and houses adjacent to project highway but no chainage pillars are fixed along the Project

Highway.

18. Safety

During joint inspection, it is found that the Concessionaire has adopted some safety measures

at site but not sufficient for the safety of workers and safety of road users. Concessionaire is

instructed to install sufficient sign boards at work site as well as along the Project Highway

showing “Work in Progress”, “Man at Work”, “Road Narrows”, “Accisent Prone Zone” etc,as

recommended by safety consultant.Some new safety signboards are installed.

Newly installed sign board

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Cordoning of work site during piling work at Km 111+345 (Krishnagar ROB)

IV. RECOMMENDATION:

The concessionaire has not yet fully addressed/responded/complied the instructions /

comments / suggestions given by the Independent Engineer in previous Joint Inspection

Reports. It is again recommended to address the issues raised by Independent Engineer in

this Joint Site Inspection Report along with previous reports and correct/rectify the deficiencies

at the earliest to achieve the quality works.

Similarly, it is recommended to adopt proper and adequate safety measures for construction

zone as well as construction labours. Similarly, it is advised to strictly follow Safety Manual

submitted by BKEL on 16/02/2013 vide their letter ref. no. BKEL/NH-34/LASA/TL/2013/066

and recommendation of safety Consultant and safety expert.

It is also advised to expedite the work as lot of encumbrance free land (64 Km) is available for

four lanning.

CONTENTS

Background ........................................................................................................................................... 1

I. Scope of Work ............................................................................................................................... 2

II. Site Inspection ............................................................................................................................... 3

III. Findings in Joint Site Inspection ..................................................................................................... 3

1. Project Information Board/Safety Boards ....................................................................................... 3

2. Box Culvert (Km 115+020) RHS .................................................................................................... 4

3. Km 113+528 (Jalangi Major Bridge) ............................................................................................... 6

4. Km 112+ 247 (RUB) ...................................................................................................................... 7

5. Km 111+345 (Krishnagar ROB) ..................................................................................................... 8

6. Km 111+201 (Minor Bridge) ........................................................................................................... 9

7. Km 109+040 –Km 110+140 ......................................................................................................... 10

8. Highway Work from Km 97+930 – Km 98+150 ............................................................................ 11

9. QC Laboratory ............................................................................................................................. 11

10. ROB at Km 90+640(Shantipur Bypass) ........................................................................................ 12

11. ROB at Km 75+955 (Ranaghat) ................................................................................................... 13

12. Km 66+360 (Chakdah VUP) ........................................................................................................ 14

13. Km 59+740 (Minor Bridge) ........................................................................................................... 15

14. Km 58+717 (Minor Bridge) ........................................................................................................... 15

15. Km 55+933 (Birohi Minor Bridge) ................................................................................................. 16

16. Road Maintenance ....................................................................................................................... 16

17. Chainage Pillar ............................................................................................................................ 17

18. Safety .......................................................................................................................................... 17

IV. Recommendation: ........................................................................................................................ 18

National Highways Authority of India

(Ministry of Road Transport & Highways)

Government of India

Four Laning of Barasat-Krishnagar Section of NH-34 from Km 31.000 to Km 115.000 in the State of West Bengal under

NHDP Phase-III on DBFOT (Annuity) Basis

MONTHLY JOINT SITE INSPECTION REPORT

SEPTEMBER, 2015

LEA Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi