How avoidance of detailed ground study resulted in failure of road infrastructures

As usual, I always begin by thinking whenever I see failure in road infrastructures; road construction in Bhutan has already passed half a century after its inception in the early 1960s. Exactly, at this time, mule tracks and footways are mere history to track back. Roads replaced all those detour tracks for transportation that touches high mountains and deep valleys. Slope failures on those tracks were out of the question since these don’t have one except the natural slope. But the road construction comes with designs that require cut and fill that develop another slope in addition to the natural slope, which is called the "cut and fill slope." The failure mechanism of these slopes must be addressed and learned. Despite engaging in road construction and maintenance for decades, are we enough with the trend? We have many questions to ask and things to do. Let the custodian of the road not bounce from one agency to another.

The Department of Roads, in the 11^th five-year plan and in the beginning of the current plan, Geog Connectivity roads with the department. Planning and budgeting works were mandated for the department. Finally, those roads were handed over to Local Government. Inconsistency in the decision of springing the custodian has left those improved roads further deteriorated and damaged.

We are adequate with road coverage. Every nook and corner of the country is connected. We are done with the length. The length of roads has outnumbered the technology involved. Now, what we need is advancement of technologies with the change.

 

Bailey Bridge subsided under the catastrophic slope failure.

Construction techniques of the road, starting from formation cutting to pavement strengthening, have improved with the advancement and introduction of new machinery and methods. An environment-friendly road construction technique was started in the late years of the 9th five-year plan, and now the time has triggered and reminded us to start preparations to integrate the construction of climate-resilient road infrastructures.  

Indeed, the monsoon has taught us valuable lessons. The change, we see, is through more destruction and damages in road infrastructures than before. We feel the change through roadblocks.

How is it possible to overcome the change, especially the climate change? What are differences in failure we observe between then and now? Are those failures due to climate change or something else?

Pavement or the road fails because of the failure of permanent structures—walls, drains, cross drainages, slopes, etc. Bridges usually fail because of overloading and slope failure. Otherwise, bridge failure due to other reasons is the least that we usually counteract immediately.

Let me explain one simple example—provision of both sides camber on pavement in any category of roads. Our Primary National Highways are wide enough to provide camber on both sides, and so are likely the Secondary National Highways. But is it really possible on Dzongkhag and farm roads? And our standards say that the camber should be on both sides. The standard carriageway width is only 3.5 meters. From my personal experience, there is a constructability issue. Even if there is no constructability issue like in the aforementioned category of highways, providing camber on both sides is unnecessary considering the different nature of soil conditions on downhill slopes. We must avoid infiltration of runoff from the pavement, prevent saturation of the slope, and let the slope fail grossly.

And why do our walls repeatedly fail in the same location?

 

Pavement failure due to excessive infiltration.

Likewise, are our standard design road drainages or cross-drainages adequate? Or do we need to revise?

The evidence of aggravating damages year after year on road infrastructures and restoration works that cost us dearly must be felt by every individual responsible and, indeed, must be felt by the end user as well. Or else we wait for the catastrophe that is looming large before us.

Therefore, road infrastructures designed and constructed decades ago may not suffice for the change now. We may need to revise the design criteria and focus more on slope stability studies. Much more information and awareness about slope engineering are indeed felt necessary in addition to the training provided for construction quality and more effective road asset management.

Tunnel Roads – the next phase of transport system in Bhutan

Department of Roads as parent agency for highways in Bhutan under Ministry of Works and Human Settlement has galloped a long journey since the start of first highway construction in early 1960s. Beyond highways, in the 11^th fifth year plan, department was ushered responsibilities for construction and maintenance of whooping networks of Geog Connectivity (GC) roads. At the inception of 12^th fifth year plan and thus far, almost all surface roads construction and improvement were completed; overall the adequacy of road networks have been accomplished under the dynamic farsighted leadership of the department. After successful completion of blacktopping of 182 GC roads out of 205, those roads were handed over to Local Government (LG), leaving the department mandated to focus only on highways.

Nonetheless, journey of further enhancement and development of transportation system in the country must travel far to the world standards for enhancement of socio-economic development.

For that matter, as reflected in the current plan document, the next stage for the department to get engage is in tunneling and underground space engineering works. Best for the country like ours that is geologically challenging and mountainous, start of tunneling works shall gear the department in accomplishing the mission statement of reducing travel time.

The first ever underground/tunnel road (1.50 km) (Video published by Bhutan Tube)was constructed on Tsirang – Wangdue National Highway by Punatshangchu Hydro project II and successfully opened to traffic on 25^th June 2014.

Since the start of hydro-power plants construction to meet the target to harness 20000 MW by 2020, Bhutanese in general have seen tunnel construction in hydro sector only.

 

Highway tunnel on Tsirang - Wangdue National Highway. Photo from PHPA-II website

Tunneling roads will not only help in reducing travel time, it will also reduce the current setback triggered by unusual monsoon. Though the initial construction expenditure will be huge as compared to surface roads, operation and maintenance costs will be minimum; thereby, the best judgment to invest in the tunneling works considering the Life Cycle Costing and also the climate change effect on the roads such as now will be meager.

For that matter, it is time for the government and department in particular to start groundwork for the tunneling and underground space engineering knowledge. Ultimately, with tunnel roads that are best suited for country like ours, transportation system will be in the next level.

Therefore, as an introductory process to tunneling, short course on tunneling is scheduled on 24^th to 27^th September at Druk Hotel, Thimphu. Dr. Manoj Verman, Tunneling and Rock Engineering Expert, President, Indian National Group of ISRM (International Society for Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering) is organizing the course. The course fee is Nu. 17,000.00 (Seventeen thousand only).

I aspire, interested engineers of the nation would participate in the short course to originate light in future tunnel roads and underground space engineering.

Life Cycle Cost Awareness in Bhutanese Construction Industry

A book published. Self-authored. Go through the abstract. Thank you. 

Significant knowledge gaps exist in the knowledge of Life Cycle Costing and the alternative selection of building materials in the construction industry. In order to fulfill the gaps a questionnaire survey was developed for 319 respondents using the Life Cycle Costing for the Bhutanese construction industry. Life Cycle Cost Analysis of selected components of the selected building was done taking into account relevant economic factors: initial costs, maintenance, and operational costs.

The maintenance and operation expenses are generally ignored in the building industry, especially in the design stage. For this research, the method of LCC, the present worth cost approach, was evaluated with a projection of building service life as 60 years, an inflation rate as 9.07%, and a discount rate as 0%.

A book published by Lambert Academic Publishing 

About 52% of the respondents do not have an idea about LCC when making investment decisions, nor do they take maintenance, operation, and replacement costs into consideration. The lack of significant input-cost data and lack of experience appear to be the most important problems, supported by 78% who responded lack of experience and 62% who responded lack of significant input-cost data.

The LCC analysis showed that ceramic tiles, pre-painted CGI sheets, and LED lamps have the lowest life cycle costs among the many material alternatives available in the market, that is, 16% for LED lamps, 13% for ceramic tiles, and 64% for pre-painted CGI sheets.

Click the link to buy if anyone wishes to use it for academic purposes or any related research reference. 

Shingkhar GC Road

It is almost two years since the construction of the Therang–Shingkhar GC road, with a total length of 11.32 km with Nu. 48 million funded by the Government of India (GoI). It has become the most controversial road construction in the history of the Department of Roads (DoR). Much unfolding history and important happenstance has to be told and learned. Yet within a year of my handling the project in the capacity of project engineer, it has progressed with a few hundred meters left to reach the termination point, the Gewog center.

There were countless hindrances and misgivings from the public. Nonetheless, I am content to share the good news.  

Not only does the project management deserve significant applause, but also nearly all relevant agencies, from grassroots organizations to the primary ministry.

Road construction reached Shingkhar village. Image date: 31/01/2016

Most probably by the middle of March, construction will be completed, and as per the work plan, within this fiscal year, the project shall be completed. It is indeed good news for the people of Upper Kheng and mostly for the people of Shingkhar gewog. The hardship days of walking shall be history hence. And the first-ever road project in the community is yet again a history to remember.

The Therang–Bardo–Khomshar GC road (27.1 km) will take another year for completion, and the progress to date is good despite encountering tough geological terrain for both trace cutting and formation cutting.

The Buli–Nimshong–Therang GC road (49.6 km) is under maintenance, and the road stretch from Nimshong until Therang has improved.

A budget for various constructions of permanent structures and bridges along the aforementioned roads under the Nimshong sub-division office has been proposed and submitted for fiscal year 2016–2017.

Thank you, public, for the support and giving me vast opportunities to learn numerous tactics in my professional life, and I shall remain grateful forever. 

My update~~ (Life Cycle Costing in Bhutanese Construction Industry)

I was away for long. Final semester kept me busy. Yet, worth it! The research project titled; “Life Cycle Costing for Building” was completed successfully. I have to prepare final conference paper and left with presentation for the external examiners which are due after exams.

Exams are going on. Last paper is due on 14, Saturday – Hydraulic Structures and Water Power Engineering. 

If I have to swear, I should swear that I won’t be doing research on Bhutanese construction industry again. Nothing is maintained in the industry. Not even a single data is available. Anyways the research was worth accomplished. Better I don’t complain!

I want to share abstract of my research project.

Significant knowledge gaps exist in the knowledge of Life Cycle Costing and the alternatives selection of building materials in the construction industry. In order to fulfill the gaps a questionnaire survey was developed for 319 respondents in using the Life Cycle Costing for the Bhutanese construction industry. Life Cycle Cost Analysis of selected components of the selected building was done taking into account relevant economic factors: initial costs, maintenance and operational costs. The maintenance and operation costs are generally ignored in building industry especially in design stage. For this research, the method of LCC, present worth cost approach was evaluated with projection of building service life as 60 years, inflation rate as 9.07% and discount rate as 0%.

About 52% of the respondents do not have idea about LCC when making investment decisions nor do they not take maintenance, operation and replacement cost into consideration. The lack of significant input-cost data and lack of experience appears to be the most important problem supported by 78% responded lack of experience and 62% responded lack of significant input-cost data.

The LCC analysis showed that ceramic tiles, pre-painted CGI sheet and LED lamp has the lowest life cycle cost among the many material alternatives available in the market, that is, 16% for LED lamp, 13% for ceramic tiles and 64% for pre-painted CGI sheet.

Life Cycle Costing comparison

I would love to share the document for educational purpose if anyone wishes to go through. 

Need for Long Term Development plan of Waterworks in Bhutan

Once upon a time, people in Bhutan depend on the streams nearby their village for daily consumption of water. Looking behind more than a decade it is the history of water works in Bhutan that has galloped a long way. Water supply system of Bhutan is a small business because most of the people use water from natural sources to consume. When maximum of its population are in rural area, people are benefited and supplied water through Rural Water Supply Scheme (RWSC). The very source of the supply is perennial streams and rivers. 

Due to the introduction of five years plan and the democratically elected government almost all the nook and corners of the country is supplied and facilitated with pure safe drinking water supply. 

With the increase in population in the urban areas, the need of water plant was then born. Cities like Thimphu and Phuntsholing has water supply which is limited to commercial premises such as hotels and factories. Water plant of Thimphu has a capacity of 6,500 cubic meters per day. And still Samdrup Jongkhar town doesn’t have the facilities of water treatment plant.

However the source of raw water in the country obtained from the mountains are clean and pure. It is not necessary to go through process of filtration, sedimentation, or the use of chemicals in the treatment process. 

The crisis of water is still a big question. Recently villagers of Mongar district are in court for the damaging and deflecting their water source by another village.

 

from google

Most of the towns and cities are now complaining and crying foul over shortage of water supply. The size of the cities and the types of gentry and habits of people are increasing which demand huge quantity of water which are required for maintaining clean and healthy environment. If the cities are provided with flush system, water consumption will be more than the old conservation system of latrines is adopted, which directly deal with development of sewerage facilities. 

Water demand for industries will be huge considering the plan of up-coming industries in the country. And in the thickly populated and industrial areas, fire generally breaks out, which requires huge quantity of water for firefighting squads. 

The quality of water and pressure in the distribution system determines the amount consumption too. Better the quality more the consumption will be. If the pressure in the distribution pipe is high and sufficient to make the water reach at 3^rd or even 4^th story, water consumption will definitely be more. And also due to the daily variation of temperature which always keeps on increasing leads to increment of more usage of water because more bathing, cleaning, air coolers, air conditioning etc are involved.  

The very critical issue is the perennial streams and rivers that are used in the villages as direct sources for supply are getting dried up. Their volume decreases yearly accounting water shortage even in the homes of the far away villages. 

The knowledge and training to improve water treatment process, training to develop the management waterworks skills both the water quality and technology in the laboratory to determine water quality, consulting ground water, innovation of small waterworks, preparing a master plan for waterworks in city, knowledge of water meters and water storage costs, the expansion of production capacity of the plant, using GIS applications in the pipeline system and management the loss of water etc should become the real need of long term water development of water work in Bhutan.

Bureaucrats and Politicians Vs Engineers!!

“hey man can u come up with an articles which mainly beats around "how challenging to an engineer" initially struggle with the studies, once in service it’s even more challenging to face all sort of bureaucrats and politicians, where nobody appreciates the efforts engineers put in instead we bear brunt of everyone...”

Firstly, let me thank Mr. Phunthso Wangdi, Chota Don, for having suggested the topic on my Facebook page.  Because maybe he is afraid of bureaucrats and politicians, or maybe he finds engineering too difficult and challenging while in study, plus in the field that’ll nullify his effort when bureaucrats and politicians get involved.

Engineering in Bhutan is associated with all hype and popularity. The only college in the country offering an engineering degree admits only the top students from various high schools. Only a few students are sent out of the country for various engineering courses to meet the market demand. Still the demand is so high, and the benefits and satisfaction that the rank offers are excellent. 

Students opt for engineering, basically for two reasons. One reason is the parent’s insistence on a greater choice of career. No parent desires to witness their child merely surviving on a meager existence. The number two reason is self-interest. If someone has joined an engineering college because they love engineering, they will be well informed about the future and the enormous effort they will make to substantially contribute to the growth of the country. 

Pursuing engineering isn't as easy as you sometimes may expect. There are loads of burdens of analysis, research, projects, etc., that you have to bear, and sometimes you get buried under them. Scoring the highest possible in high school and expecting the same in the engineering college won’t suffice for your survival in engineering studies. But we should definitely be good at math, though not necessarily geniuses. We should have logic for solving problems scientifically. 

Since Bhutan is in the developing stage, most of the students choose the traditional engineering—civil engineering. Everywhere we go, we can see construction blossoming in the country. The fresh green forest is revolutionizing the concrete jungle. A civil engineer is responsible for using their civil engineering background to plan and oversee various construction efforts in many different areas of this field. They will apply civil engineering principles to ensure that structures are constructed in the safest, sturdiest manner.

On a daily basis, civil engineers engage in many general responsibilities. They analyze various factors concerning a construction job. They analyze the proposed construction site location as well as the entire construction job, which is to be done and completed at the site. They will analyze the process for completing the construction job every step of the way.

The civil engineer must also plan the construction project that will be taking place in conjunction with the results they found due to their analysis of the proposed project. During the process and at the end, the civil engineer must inspect the product to ensure that all rules, regulations, and guidelines have been explicitly followed. 

When a country develops, there are always conflicts between bureaucrats, technocrats, and politicians. The need for bureaucracy results primarily from modernization. Due to the progress of bureaucratization, it encourages democracy. And now we are a democratically elected monarchy. It is a well-known fact that the government accomplishes its precision, speed, and consistency through well-trained staffs of bureaucracies.

In the practice of civil engineering, government bureaucracies’ main function is to ensure fairness, prevent procedural lapses, and shield the negative externalities of development. However, in the process of maintaining fairness and equity through bureaucratic processes, administrators end up processing a high amount of discretionary authority. Citizens too have the right to investigate alternatives and to participate in the decision-making process about how to go about the agenda, which ultimately affects their environment, which is the democratic standard.

There are instances where the effort of the engineer is never appreciated, and they have to ‘bear the brunt of everyone.' It may be because we don’t have the form of government in which experts in technology control decision-making—technocracy. Engineers are tagged corrupt. People say engineers are corrupt because they get more money and are well-off compared to other professions. Their incentives are good. Their work outside the office paid them well. They use more energy, time, and skills to get work done. What is there when someone uses more effort for the benefits of others? 

In the eye of the bureaucrat, whatever visual inspection is possible will not be technically feasible. Their visual possibility of judging may prove wrong technically and scientifically. The technical possibilities and stability for the safety and welfare of people are essential for engineering works; in fact, politicians and bureaucracies should not be blamed for the work done by technocrats. Administrators should not at least wish to get engineering work done according to their lame excuse of authority they possess. 

Yes, everyone has the right and responsibility if the structure or anything that is the result of engineering fails before the stipulated time and causes nuisance instead of mitigation. Whatever is burnt and whatever consequences there will be, engineers should be responsible and questioned for it. And we all should have the fact intact that, through cooperation, we can move ahead for the betterment of our promising tomorrows. 

So, we should never forget that civil engineers work hard. Hours can be long, government funding cuts can destroy a project, deadlines are firm, and weather can throw projects off schedule. If the timetable degenerates, an engineer has to overcome scheduling obstacles with ingenuity. Most of the engineers who are employed in the government sector must be ready for bureaucratic delays, political stalls, and lots and lots of paperwork. Satisfaction is strong; most wouldn’t trade their occupation for any other.

Don't Fear to Cross it!!

Technology isn’t new at all. The problem is people are still unaware of its worth functionalities. Most of the people crossing Omchu Bridge near the bus terminal here in Phuntsholing seem panic the moment they step the bridge. All are sly to say the structures are weak, old and about to collapse. But it is not.

Omchu Bridge

Structures can be designed to vibrate when heavy loads ply on it or when the nature trembles, like earthquake. For example in Japan, most of the buildings are designed in such a way that it vibrate about its toe when there is an earthquake.

walls built to channelize water

In the Omchu Bridge we can see cracks being developed mainly near the abutment. These cracks are caused by earthquake last year. These cracks will not affect the main structures since it is not part of it. It was constructed to protect the pressure of river flow when the level of water rises in summer.

The RCC Walls were constructed to channelize the water flow to prevent scoring and erosion of the banks that takes place every summer.  Previously there were plain cement concrete and gabion walls.

Moreover the capacity of the bridge is 40 metric tons.

When heavy vehicles and machineries ply over it, it is subjected to vibrate. And I know it vibrate pretty violently but it is not going to happen anything instead cross it cool. I could see people increasing the pace the jiffy they are on bridge.

If anybody by chance crossing the bridge with heavy machines and vehicles, no need to panic instead enjoy the little vibration so that we prepare ourselves for the heavy vibration of earthquake. Lol!!... 

Defining Engineers

::: > I am not blowing my own trumpet if any body read this.

funny tooo..

Difference between Architecture and Civil Engineer (Structural Engg)

On Saturday Ugyen, my friend who is pursuing B. Arch at Delhi University came here at CST to meet us, Rangjungpas. We shared few ideas of what is architecture and in what respect it differs from civil engineering, in particular structural engineering.  


Here are those points.

By the time we are in high school, most of us have heard the terms "architect" and "engineer". If you work in the construction industry, had college friends who studied architecture or engineering, or paid for the construction of a building, you may have also learned that design (planning) is an essential part of the building process.

However, even if we know something about architects and engineers, most people tend to "see" only the act of building.

The two functions of design and construction are required to build all except the simplest buildings.

Most people can easily grasp the basic role that an architect plays, since the results of architecture tend to be visible. However, the role of a structural engineer is a mystery even to those who are aware that engineers are involved in the building process.

In general, engineers use the results of science and mathematics to design a wide range of physical elements and systems. There are numerous types of engineers, such as mechanical, chemical, electrical, aerospace, civil, and structural.

A "structure" is any physical element built (constructed) by humans. The universe of structures is the complete set of physical elements constructed by people, also described as the "built environment".

Buildings are a subset of structures, which include a very wide range of physical elements, such as bridges, lighthouses, tunnels, dams, cranes, and even airplanes.

Effective use of science and mathematics is required to provide competent design of buildings and other structures that we depend on every day. Appropriate use of artistic imagination results in buildings and structures with pleasing appearances that enhance our existence.

Design of a building or structure involves several steps, including visualization and development of the overall concept. However, the designer (or designers) must eventually develop a set of instructions (plans, specifications) to define the physical parts of the building to be constructed by the builder.

Architects and structural engineers often work together, particularly for design of buildings. Though schooling and responsibilities overlap, each profession is unique.

Key Differences between Architect and Structural Engineer

Differences between architects and structural engineers are best explained by describing the role and practice of each professional. However, key differences are summarized;

1. Architects are generally responsible for design of buildings used primarily for everyday use by people. Structural engineers are responsible for design of a wide range of structures, such as bridges and power plants, for which an architect is not usually involved.
2.  Architects are responsible for design of the building shape, layout and appearance. Structural engineers are responsible for design of the building elements (foundations, columns, beams) that support all other building elements.
3. In general, the results of architecture are visible when the building is completed. In general, the results of engineering for buildings are not visible after construction.
4. When the owner hires an architect, the architect manages the overall design process. For buildings, structural engineers most often works for the architect. In general, the architect defines parameters (criteria) that the structural engineer must use for design of the structural elements.
5. The structural engineer uses relatively complex mathematics and computer software for design. The architect uses graphical techniques primarily, along with basic math.
6. In college, much of architectural education is derived from art and art history. Coursework for the structural engineer is based almost entirely in science and mathematics.