TRANSNEPAL Freight Services (P) Ltd.

ICD Complex, Bhairahawa Custom Office, Belahiya Siddharthanagar, Rupandehi, Nepal

A Field Report on

Evaluation of Pavement Condition inside ICD in Bhairahawa

Pokhara University
Faculty of Science & techniology School of Engineering Kaski, Nepal

July, 2011

Field report on ICD pavement condition/ School of Engineering, Pokhara University

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Name of the Project: Evaluation of pavement inside the I C D at Bhairahawa The assignment was arranged by the Trans Nepal Freight services Pvt. Lt. Location: Bhairahawa (at the Border ) Date of the field observation: 25th June, 2011 Name of the field observation team: a. Prof. Dr. Padma Bahadur Shahi, Transportation Engineer b. Er. Buddhi Raj Joahi, Geotechnical Engineer

6. Objective of the site observation: a. To assess the pavement conditions inside the ICD b. To observe the traffic loading conditions; c. To visualize the drainage system inside and outside of the ICD; d. To identify the fundamental causes of pavement deterioration inside the ICD; e. To recommend preliminary corrective measures of the damaged ICD pavement; 7. Methods of study: a. Site was visited by the Pavement expert and Geotechnical engineer on 25th June, 2011. The following activities was carried out by the expert tem: The general observation of the ICD area was visually observed. The sizes of drainage structures and entrance pavement width were measured with the help of measuring tape. The different site specific photographs were taken the team. The traffic loading of the heavy trucks were measured on the weight bridge available inside the ICD. The discussion and interactions were carried with the employees working inside the ICD. The working procedure of ICD, and organizational structure was studied. b. Meeting: Date and venue: 25th July, 2011at Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board (NITDB), Basundhara, Kathmandu. Participants of the meeting: Mr. Sarad B. Rana (executive Director, NITDB), Ananda B. Shrestha (Consultant, TransNepal Freight Services Pvt. Ltd), Prof. Dr. Padma B. Shahi. Agenda: Discussion on the previously submitted reports by the Usha Engineering Consultancy and Prof. Dr. Padma Bahadur Shahi. The future perspective on the operation of Bhairahawa ICD

8. General observation: a. The overall area of the ICD site is lower in elevation than surrounding land. In the opinion of expert, it was not thoroughly designed or constructed. The huge area with lower elevation can easily be affected by ground water. The general requirement of the ground water table under any pavement structure was not maintained during its design. b. The vehicles with the importing goods (manly three-axle fully loaded) are waiting inside the ICD space. Similarly, the heavily loaded trippers with the stone aggregates are waiting in long queue form the back side gate of the
Field report on ICD pavement condition/ School of Engineering, Pokhara University 2

ICD. The vehicles from both directions are moving along the some specific path for carrying customs formalities. It may create the special concentration of wheel loads to that section of the pavement. c. In general observation (field study) the structural as well as surface conditions of the pavement is critical it needs immediate rehabilitation or reconstruction. The technical conclusions as well as recommendations made by the Usha Engineering Services (P) Ltd. are appropriate. 9. The ICD has major functions: a. Export operations: all the goods export to the abroad is conducted through this space of the ICD. Therefore all the vehicles should pass the formal procedure of the export clearance. b. Export of stone aggregates: presently the large volume of stone aggregates is exported to India through this ICD. The processing of revenue collection and other border formalities are held inside the ICD. The separate gate is assigned to enter these heavily loaded trucks into the ICD. c. Import of all goods should be processed through this area. The import revenue is collected and customs formalities are carried out for each vehicle inside the ICD area. 10. Major issues: the field observation of the team noted down the following issues regarding well functioning of ICD: a. The existing flexible pavement more than 50% area of the ICD is in critical condition or it has been structurally failed. Surface depression and water accumulation occurred inside ICD. b. Existing drainage system is not adequate, damaged, and out of function. c. Traffic loading (axle loads) are very high. d. The Road side drains (Belhiya Butwal Raod) are also in very poor condition in terms of functional and structural aspect. The level highway pavement if higher the ICD it may cause water accumulation inside ICD from the highway. 11. Review of previous study report: in 2007, a study on the pavement condition was conducted by Usha Engineering Services. 11.1 The study was focused on the following facts: a. Drainage problems: Visual observation and conclusion made by the study were: i. Improper outlet: the ICD does not possess its defined outlet. It does not have channelization of drains beyond the boundary of ICD. Generally, such complex should manage its drainage system beyond its boundary up to the nearest natural stream system. ii. Compatibility Road side drains and ICD drains: the cross sections of Bhelhiya-Butwal Road side drains and ICD drains are not compatible, i.e. the discharge from the roadside could not be accommodated by the ICD drains. It causes the overflow along the ICD drains. iii. Overall level of ICD complex: the level with respect to the surrounding topography is lower. It is the main cause for water logged problem in the sub-grade of the ICD pavement. iv. Structural defects of the drain cover for ICD drains. b. Deteriorating factors: The study highlighted the following probable factors for the failure of structural as well as surface condition of the ICD pavement. i. Dripping of water from the sand carrying trucks: it is caused due to the wet sand. Water absorbed by the wet sand is dripped inside ICD causes failure of the flexible pavement. ii. Heavily loaded trucks: the trucks loaded from the both direction of flow are very heavy. Most of the trucks are loaded beyond the axle load limit to the pavement. iii. Greater traffic volume: the rate of traffic growth is higher than that of projected during the design of the pavement. This results to the higher number of repetition of standard axles.

Field report on ICD pavement condition/ School of Engineering, Pokhara University

iv. Parking duration of loaded trucks: Detention of loaded trucks for longer period also may cause the structural failure of the pavement courses. v. Ground water table: higher water table is the major cause of the structural failure of the sub-grade soil. c. Construction defects i. Construction of ICD lower than the Highway level: layout and leveling of the ICD was not properly considered during the initial design of the ICD complex. It could be done with earth filling during the construction of ICD. Due to the lower level of the ICD it is difficult to manage drainage system. ii. Lack of outlets: The drainage system is not managed in outer side of the ICD. iii. Suitability of pavement: the nature of the traffic loading and ground water level, it would be better to propose rigid pavement in ICD. iv. Improper compaction: the site investigation by the study team found the evidences of improper compaction of ICD area. v. Drainage discharge of the highway drains: discharge from highway drains id greater than the capacity of ICD drains. vi. Size of drains: the drains inside the ICD are very small in its size. vii. Structural defects in designing of drain cover: the weak drain covers were broken by the heavy trucks. Latter they caused the blockage of the drains. viii. Vehicular movement along and across the drains inside the ICD. d. Checking adequacy of the existing pavement section: consultant conducted the following activities on this topic: i. Traffic load estimation ii. Soil properties testing (Compaction, CBR, gradation) iii. Pavement design using IRC methods. 11.2 Comments on the report: The study conducted by the Usha Engineering Services contains some technical aspects to evaluate the existing pavement. Conclusions mentioned in the report are based on the general concepts instead of technical data or analysis results. However, the facts about the conclusions are seems to be truthful and very relevant. Besides the methods adopted in the technical assessment of the existing pavement, other methods of the pavement evaluation could be adopted for more specific conclusion and recommendations. This report lacks the following matters regarding the specific job of pavement evaluation: i. Pavement evaluation by Benkleman Beam (deflection test); ii. Analysis of the ground water table; iii. The leveling of the ICD and the surrounding area; iv. Existing pavement structural analysis (mix design) by core cutting 12. The team noted the following issues in ICD (June 25th, 2011): a. The most critical issue for ICD is the water management inside as well as outside of the ICD area: i. Crossing drains inside the ICD are very small and structurally very weak. Most of them have been smashed. ii. ICD area is lower than the surrounding area. iii. Ground water table is high in monsoon season. b. The whole territory of the ICD is very critical in terms of its functional capacity. The pavement structure in most of the part of the territory is deteriorated.
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c. The vehicular flow: this context is vital in two ways: i. The traffic volume is significantly increased after the construction and commissioning of ICD; ii. The most of the trucks passing the ICD exceed the axle load limit for flexible pavement. 13. Recommendations: There is very challenging to manage the proper functioning of the ICD in long run. However, the Government has planned the concepts of ICP in Bhairahawa. a. At the immediate and short term improvement of the ICD operation should be done as: i. The drains which are damaged should be reconstructed. Concrete cover should be immediately replaced by the new covers (with proper design). Otherwise, it may create serious problem to the functioning of the ICD. b. The long term improvement strategy should be planned taking consideration of the following issues: i. The drainage problems are major to improve before any rehabilitation or reconstruction works at ICD. The drainage system of surrounding topography and Highway should be properly studied and greater care should be given to the water management in ICD. The ICD level should be raised to some extent considering surrounding topography; ii. The major factor for the pavement deterioration is wheel load. The anticipated wheel load to the pavement structure must be calculated by conducting traffic analysis before any new design of the pavement; iii. The whole territories should be divided into some corridors for purpose vehicular movements. The channelization of the movement and reconstruction of the pavement would be optimum solution. iv. The design and construction of rigid pavement along the movement corridors (vehicle paths) might be appropriate for ICD pavement. v. The other parts (except movement corridors) of the ICD area could be strengthen by the design of flexible pavement. Report prepared by Prof. Dr. Padma Bahadur Shahi Email: pb_shahi@yahoo.com

Field report on ICD pavement condition/ School of Engineering, Pokhara University