Linking The Two Countries-A Success Story

I happened to be part of a project of international reputation linking the two countries. Rizzani de Eccher Spa, Italian General Construction Company designed and built the bridge between Tajikistan and Afghanistan over river Pyandzh during 2006 - 07. It was completed in time and with in budget inspite of several natural and manmade hinderances.

762 Mtr long Motorway Bridge over River Pyandzh dividing the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan was constructed under the tripartite agreement between US Government, Government of Tajikistan and Government of Afghanistan executed under the ownership of US Army Corps of Engineers, Afghanistan Engineering District (USACE-AED) Head Quartered at Kabul, Afghanistan.

The project was a part of US Aid and was strategically very important for the region as it will help in improving the business opportunities between the two countries and thus the economy of the two countries.

The Challenge

· Tight schedule of 24 months from Design to Commissioning & handing over of the Bridge.
· Sensitive working zone due to involvement of national territories of two countries.
· Pre-occupation of the border zone by the Russian and Afghani Troops.
· Potential threat of unexploded ordinances, land mines etc
· Obligation to follow American Standards in the work zone predominated by Russian standards (Tajikistan is Ex-Russian Federation Country) and dearth of resources compatible to project requirements.
· Wide variation in the river level, current and depth between low water level period (September – April) and high water level period (May - August)
· Wide variation in ambience temperatures (-20 to +50 0C)
· The Bridge location classified as Seismic Zone 6.
· Logistics issues as Afghanistan was already war trodden and Tajikistan was a very new country in the initial stages of its development.
· Client, US Army Corps of Engineers dedicated to religiously implement the American Standards and contract specifications.

The Plan

Broadly the plan was to set up the construction facilities in Tajikistan as Afghanistan still had the risk of suppressed insurgency and execute the project from Tajikistan side. Various phases / steps considered were:

· De-mine the whole construction area on both sides of the borders and between the two borders in no-mans land.
· Construct the temporary facilities including offices, camp, water treatment plant, Laboratory, construction facilities like Concrete Batching Plant, Tower Crane, workshop, Pre-cast & Reinforcement Steel Bars Yard, Fabrication Yard etc.
· Construct the Haul Road to go down to river from the Tajik side for the movement of manpower, material and equipment.
· Construct a temporary Causeway and Islands for each Pier during low water period.
· Construct the bored piles.
· Construct the cofferdam by installing the sheet piles and excavating to the bottom level of the Pile Cap during low water period.
· Construct the Pile Cap, Pier Column and Pier Head.
· Construct the Abutments on both ends.
· Fabricate & Assemble the Steel Girders and other components for the bridge.
· Launch the Bridge from Tajik side. (Launching is the technique for bridge construction in which set components are assembled on the plain ground surface and with the help of Jacks, they are pushed / pulled over the bearings setting and aligning them with each push. Finally when the complete bridge is pushed to the other end, it is aligned and lowered to the final position one section at a time)
· Construct the approach slabs.
· Construct the approach roads and Bridge Deck Surface in Asphalt.
· Install the lighting
· Complete and handover the bridge to the client.

What Went Wrong?

· Russian forces did not pull out till three months of the award of the job.
· Establishment of System for free access to the construction facilities took very long time. Bureaucratic requirements for permissions / gate passes etc were effort taking and time consuming.
· De-mining of the border zone was delayed.
· Construction of Haul Road was delayed.

Repercussions

· All these delays pushed construction of Bored Piles and Cofferdams to the high water level period.
· Construction of Pier no.09 was the most critical and challenging as it was in the deepest water. Even in low water period the river current was very strong for cofferdam construction. By getting pushed to high water period, things were worsened. The bridge can not be completed with a missing Pier.
· Project had a direct delay of 4 months and indirect delays potentially of one year as the low water season opportunity was taken away by the unavoidable eventualities. Pier No.09 posed the toughest challenge. Either complete it some how or delay the project by one year!

Other Impediments

· Non-availability of experienced and skilled manpower.
· Non-availability of various materials conforming to Project Specifications. Most of the items were imported from Russia or Russian Federation countries which comply with Russian standards only.
· No reinforcement steel bars in Tajikistan.
· Only one Cement plant in Tajikistan with insufficient capacity to meet the requirement. Three times the work had to be stopped due to non-delivery of cement. Every time the cement supply was resumed after the intervention of US Embassy in Tajikistan and USACE.
· No Asphalt Plant in vicinity of the project.
· Excessive Government interference and bureaucracy. As per the agreement between US Government and Government of Tajikistan (GOT), there was no need of obtaining any construction licence for the company executing the bridge works. But officials from GOT intervened and issued a notice to pay penalty on the value of works executed and to obtain the licence to avoid further penalty. The issue was discussed several times involving various GOT ministries and departments, US Embassy in Tajikistan, USACE, etc. Finally after six months of deliberations GOT issued a license without fees or penalty.

Alterations & Remedial Actions

· Construction of causeway and Pier islands was replaced by construction of a Temporary steel bridge over the pipe piles parallel to the main bridge in the area of deep waters and construction of the causeway and Islands as usual in the shallow waters. This allowed the water flow substantially during the high water season and the work could proceed also in the high level and the subsequent period.
· Steel girders considered to be site fabricated were diverted to be fabricated in Italy thereby allowing for parallel execution of the works resulting in better quality and time saving.
· Asphalt on the Roads and Bridge was replaced by concrete.


Recovery Measures

· Development of team spirit amongst staff and workers.
· Working extended hours and night shifts where ever possible. Working on week ends and holidays.
· Most of the staff renounced their vacations in the interest of work.
· Implementation of daily short co-ordination meeting at end of the day.
· Motivating the staff and workers by awarding bonuses and pay rise.
· Mobilising additional staff and workers.
· Close monitoring of the Critical Path activities. Conducting daily morning meetings for the most critical activities related to Pier-08 and Pier-09.
· Air freighting several materials originally scheduled for normal shipment.


Achievement

· Project completed in time meeting the required standards in the hostile environment within regional limitations with high Quality and Safety.


Gratitude

to all who helped in executing this project successfully:

· Tajik and Afghan workers and Staff,
· Tajik and Afghan security staff and officials for keeping the project and personnel safe.
· Border and Custom authorities of both Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
· Various Ministries and Government offices of Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
· US Embassy in Tajikistan for being ever ready for helping us out from the difficult situations specially related to Cement supply and Construction licence.
· US Army Corps of Engineers for working very closely with us for execution and helping us in achieving the high standards of quality and safety.
· Rizzani de Eccher Management who gave the right directions and freedom to do what was deemed right in the interest of the company.
· Rizzani expat staff who worked relentlessly to achieve this success without whom completion would not have been possible.The climate: highest water level reached during the high water season in 2006 was less than the average of last ten years! Normal highest level would have created more problems.