SRI LANKA

Established 1906

ENGINEERING NEWS

The Newspaper of The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka Vol. 50, No 06, November/December 2014
Registered at the GPO as a Newspaper No. QD/48/News/2014

IESL Rajarata Chapter

Creates History

he IESL Rajarata Chapter became the first ever provincial branch of the IESL to
have its own building facility when IESL President, Eng. S.B.Wijekoon declared
open its new office premises at No.55, Puttalam Road, Pandulagama,
Anuradhapura, completed under the first phase of construction, on Thursday, 20th November, 2014. Construction work was begun in January, 2013 on a plot of land obtained
from the government. Members of the chapter provided the design and layout, while the
IESL head office donated a sum of Rs 2 million towards the cost of the construction.
Funds were also solicited by the chapter from sponsors.

PRESIDENTS CORNER

Dear Members,
ts with pleasure that I bring this mes
sage in the midst of hopes and ex
pectations of yet another new year.
Looking back, year 2014 marked perhaps
the most significant achievement for the
institution in the international arena, becoming a signatory to the Washington
Accord and successfully retaining its
membership in the International Professional Engineers Agreement which are two internationally recognized agreements for mutual recognition of engineering education and practice respectively. Together they marked a giant
step for the institution in its mission to be the apex national
body of engineers in Sri Lanka which ensures internationally
recognized and locally relevant standards in the professional
practice and education in engineering, while actively supporting national development and diligently serving its members
and the society at large.If achieving them were challenges of
the year in 2014, maintaining those statuses would be a more
difficult challenge for the coming years, and especially in the
2014 / 2015 session.

The year 2014 also saw the IESL extending its global reach
establishing overseas chapters in Western Australia, New
Zealand and Qatar in quick succession responding to the demands of its globally dispersed membership. As you know the
IESL NSW Chapter in Australia established in 2009 is already
doing yeoman service towards the professional development of
engineers of Sri Lankan origin domiciled in Australia.

The ceremony began with the unveiling of the plaque and ribbon cutting by the President of IESL. This was followed by the lighting of the Traditional Oil Lamp and National
Anthem. The large audience comprised of members, distinguished guests and invitees
were welcomed by the Hony. Chairman of the chapter, Eng. Sujith Jayasuriya. This was
followed by the address by the Past President of IESL Eng. Tilak De Silva. The
keynote speech was delivered by Prof. Madduma Bandara Former Vice Chancellor of
the University of Peradeniya and Eng. Nihal Rupasinghe Chairman CECB delivered the
guest speech for the event. This was followed by the address by President of the IESL,
Eng. S.B. Wijekoon. Thereafter Eng. (Ms.) Lalani Wijesekera Hony. Secretary of the
chapter proposed the Vote of Thanks before refreshments concluding the ceremony.

In the local arena, during the year , due recognition has been
given to IESL members along with the other professionals in
the recently passed Act on Construction Industry Development
and the president of the IESL appointed as a member in the
National Advisory Council on Construction. Furthermore, the
IESLeffort to make the Engineering Council Act passed in to
law showed progress. The Final Draft of the Act had been prepared and the Hon. Minister of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities along with Hon. Minister of Power and Energy jointly submitted a cabinet paper for
approval and hopefully the related Act will be passed in the
coming months of the new year after the dust settles in the
current political situation.

That the Rajarata chapter achieved this distinction is not surprising as it is a reflection
of the enduring pioneer spirit in the engineers of the North Central Province where the
predecessor of the IESL, the Engineering Association of Ceylon, was first established
in 1906 by a few Government Officers serving in the province.Eng. Wimalasena Gamage
President Elect, Prof. (Mrs.) Niranjanie Ratnayake Vice President, Eng. Arjuna
Manamperi Council Member, Eng. (Ms.) Arundathi Wimalasuriya Executive Secretary, IESL and Eng. (Mrs.) Badra Jayaweera Deputy Executive Secretary, IESL also
graced the occasion with their presence.

Meanwhile strengthening its reach-out to its members within

Sri Lanka the IESL Rajarata Chapter became the first of the
eight provincial chapters of the IESL to have its own building
facility. I had the honour of declaring open its new office premises at No.55, Puttalam Road, Pandulagama, Anuradhapura,
completed under the first phase of construction. Further, two
new IESL District Centres, one in NuwaraEliya and the other in
Puttalam were also established in the year.

CALL FOR PAPERS FOR

IESL ANNUAL SESSIONS 2015 GOES
DIGITAL
The Call for Papers for the IESL Annual Sessions 2015 will be done through an online
submission and review system using the EasyChair conference management system. The call for papers notice simultaneously carried in page 3 of this newsletter
gives details of deadlines for acceptance of abstracts, full papers, etc.of the process.
The adoption of this web based documentation management procedure is part of the
policy of productivity enhancement through introducing more and more ICT to the activities of the IESL Secretariat envisaged by the President of the IESL, Eng. (Dr.) S.B.
Wijekoon and is a direct result of the concerted efforts of Eng. (Dr.) K.E.D.Sumanasiri,
the Editor, Technical Papers for the Transactions of the IESL for the 2014/2015 session.

The image boost that we received, both here and abroad through
these achievements has raised expectations among all stakeholders of very high level of performance, better or improved service The Institution of Engineers
Sri Lanka
and enhanced benefits from the
120/15,
Wijerama
Mawatha
IESL. It is to deliver these expecColombo 7, Sri Lanka
tations that I have embarked on
strategies for service excellence, Tel: 2685490,2698426, 2699210
Fax: 2699202
productivity improvements through E.mail:ed@sltnet.lk/
enhanced use of ICT and an out- iesl@slt.lk
reach drive to embrace senior en- Website:http://www.iesl..lk
gineers who are still outside the influence of the IESL and whose
in this issue
knowledge and expertise could
benefit the IESL. The three Task Are You Ready? 2014.........2
Forces appointed to develop strat- Prevention of Disputes
egies are already on the job.The in Construction
membership management system Contracts.............................3

Contd. on page 4...

Editorial..................................4

Sri Lanka Engineering News - November / December 2014

IESL NEWS

ARE YOU READY? 2014

TENTATIVE
ANNUAL EVENTS
CALENDAR
2014 / 2015
Event

Dates

Engineers Night

Saturday-March 14, 2015

IESL Event Launch

Friday-March 20, 2015

New Year Family

Saturday-May 09, 2015

by Ms. Radhya Gamage

Co-Editor, Rotaract Club of University of Moratuwa

Get Together

National Engineering

Saturday, July 04, 2015

Engineering Excellence

Friday-August 14, 2015

Conference
Awards

Induction and Graduation Friday-August 28, 2015

Ceremony

Techno Exhibition
Inauguration of the
Annual Sessions

Friday - Sunday, 09, 10, 11

October 2015
Friday-October 16, 2015

Annual Sessions Seminar Saturday- October 17, 2015

Annual Sessions Site Visit Sunday- October 18, 2015
Annual General Meeting Saturday- October 24, 2015
Techno Awards
Ceremony

Friday- October 30, 2015

he Official Careers Fair of the University of Moratuwa, Are You Ready?, that was
held for the 19th consecutive time concluded on the 29th of December 2014. This
event that claims a prominent place in the university calendar, was organized by the
Career Guidance Unit in collaboration with the Rotaract Club of University of Moratuwa and
was attended by an approximate 800 undergraduates and 60 companies with 80 interview
panels. The prime objective of Are You Ready? is to bridge the gap between the soon-tobe graduates and the corporate sector. While improving professionalism of the undergraduates and preparing them
for recruitment in the industry, it also gives an opportunity for the corporate sector
to avail themselves of the talent that the University of
Moratuwa has to offer.

The event spanned from the

4th to the 29th of December
and was tailored to encompass all areas critical for the
success of an undergraduate
through its five sessions; The
Resume, The Careers Forum,
YOUTM, The Exemplar and
The Dining Etiquette and
Grooming Workshop. The
highlight of the event was the
Flagship Day held on the 19th
of December where an approximate 800 final year undergraduates were interviewed by companies for recruitment.
The first session of Are You
Ready? 2014, The Resume,
was held on the 4th of December, its objective being to offer proficiency in the preparation of a CV that sets them
apart from the crowd. The
session was a huge success
with over 400 participants.
The second session, The
Careers Forum, featured a
panel discussion by two leading figures of the corporate
sector on the current trends
of the field of engineering. The
third session YOUTM focussed
on Personal Branding and
Professional Networking. The
Exemplar is the session that

focussed on educating the

participants on how to face
an interview and professional behaviour that is expected of them once theyre
involved in the corporate
sector. The series of sessions concluded on the 29th
of December with the Dining Etiquette and Grooming
Workshop at the Hilton
Residencies. The last
sessions focus was on improving the professional image, poise and confidence
and consisted of a fourcourse dinner tutorial as
well as an illuminative session on professional grooming.
With the recognition of the
corporate sector, the acclaim of the Rotaract District and ten consecutive
winnings of the Rotaract
District award for the Best
Professional Development
Project to recommend it,
Are You Ready?, has now
reached a stage where it is
a name synonymous with
quality, effectiveness and
professionalism.

Sri Lanka Engineering News - November / December 2014

IESL NEWS

The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka

Prevention of
Disputes in
Construction
Contracts

Call for Papers

for the
Annual Sessions 2015

by Eng. G. H. Lawrence

Call for Papers

(Chartered Engineer / Attorney-at-Law)

The Institution is pleased to call for technical papers to be presented at the Annual
Sessions to be held in October 2015, which will provide a forum for engineers to share
their experiences and is aimed at general advancement of science and practice of
engineering in all disciplines.

Details of Papers
The papers are invited under the following categories to be presented at the Annual
Sessions and published in the Volume I of the Annual Transactions of the Institution;
Engineering theory/research (academic) oriented technical papers,
Technical papers based on Engineering practice/design /projects/ techniques.
The paper should be of value and interest to Engineers and aimed at making a contribution
to the advancement of the Profession of Engineering. It must be based on review of past
practice, information of current interest, or probing into new fields of engineering activity.
It should be a presentation of thought provoking study contributing to planning, analysis,
design, construction/fabrication/production, management or maintenance of Engineering
works. In this context, practical papers are strongly encouraged. Wherever possible,
theoretical papers should include a section on practical application or additional research
areas to be pursued for effective technology transfer.

Prevention is better than cure is a premise of universal

acknowledgement. Disputes are inherent in construction
situations and the need for prevention of such cannot be
over-emphasized. Express provisions in this regard are embodied in the FIDIC Conditions of Contract-For Building and
Engineering Works Designed by the Employer- 1999
Edition(FIDIC New Red Book) onwards.
Besides, when one examines the standard forms previously
practiced, ICE/ FIDIC model for instance, it would be revealed that preventive measures were intrinsically available
there within.
The following provisions in the FIDIC (Old Red Books) contribute towards prevention of disputes;

Submission of Papers

Intention for submitting a paper under any category should be conveyed to the IESL on or
before 16th March 2015 with an abstract of the proposed paper, not exceeding 300 words.
The abstract can be submitted in electronic format at the URL https://easychair.org/
conferences/?conf=ieslas2015 with a copy by email to iesl.sessions@gmail.com

This abstract will be used by the Editorial Board as a guide to take a decision on calling
for the proposed publication (full paper), which will be intimated to the corresponding
author by 06th April 2015. Full technical paper/s with recommended modifications on
the accepted abstract, in the stipulated format for full papers* should be submitted on or
before 15th May 2015. This shoud be in the form of a word-processed soft copy at
URL https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ieslas2015 in MS Word and pdf formats,
to be subjected to the refereeing process. Authors are also required to give their agreement
to present the technical paper at the Annual Sessions, by sending the duly completed
agreement form*.
All full papers will be double blind refereed by at least two subject specialists. The decision
of the Editorial Board on the acceptance of the Paper for publication shall be final.
Please note that it is mandatory for the authors (at least one of whom should be a member
of the IESL) of all accepted papers to present them at the Annual Sessions of the Institution,
held in the month of October 2015.

Express provisions for prevention of disputes have been introduced in the FIDIC New Red Book (1999) and in Pink
Book (MDB Harmonized Edition- 2005) onwards. An impartial body named the Dispute Board has been introduced,
and the following provisions serve in the direction of prevention of disputes.

Schedule of Key Dates

Last date for receipt of abstracts
Notification of acceptance
Last date of submission of full paper
Proposed dates for Technical
Paper presentation at the Annual Sessions

- 16th March 2015

- 06th April 2015
- 15th May 2015
- 19th to 20th October 2015

Best Paper Award

Best paper based on the marks given by referees and judges at the presentation, will be
entitled to the prestigious Prof. E.O.E. Pereira Award.

Mailing
All correspondences should be addressed to:
Eng. (Dr.) K.E.D. Sumanasiri
Editor, Technical Papers for Annual Sessions,
The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka,
120/15, Wijerama Mawatha,
Colombo 7.
Tel: 011-2698426 Ext. 232, 207
Fax: 011-2699202
Email: dir.pub@iesl.lk

iesl.sessions@gmail.com

* available at the IESL website: www.iesl.lk or can be obtained on request from Manager Publicity:
dir.pub@iesl.lk

Engineer is identified as the Professional Contract

Administrator, who has to inspect, examine, approve/ disapprove the works, issue instructions,
make determinations, initiate/ take measurements,
certify payments etc.
The Contractor should receive instructions only from
the Engineer
In case the Engineer has to obtain Employers approval in exercising his functions, such have to be
stated in the Particular Conditions.
Engineer ought to consult both parties in making
decisions/ determinations in view of securing their
mutual agreement (prominent in FIDIC 4)
Engineer should act impartially when the mutual
agreement is not reachable (prominent in FIDIC 4)
Contractor is required to serve notifications to the
Engineer in respect of entitlements for additional
time and money (prominent in FIDIC 4).
Engineers instructions are required to be in writing; oral instructions are permissible but should be
confirmed in writing (prominent in FIDIC 4).

The Dispute Board (DB) should undertake periodical site visits to get/ remain acquainted with the
progressing of the works and to endeavour to prevent potential problems or claims from becoming
disputes [Procedural Rule No. 2- MDB Harmonized
Edition]
Parties may at any time jointly refer a matter to the
DB for it to give its opinion. [Sub-clause 20.2; seventh paragraph]
The DB member/s have to be available for giving
advice or opinions when requested by both the Employer and Contractor [Sub-clause 4(k) of the GCC
of the DB Agreement]

Hence, it is important that the Parties as well as the members of Dispute Boards recognize the role of the Dispute
Boards in prevention of disputes. It is submitted that the
Sub-clause 20.2 which provides for the Parties to jointly
refer any matter to the DB can be effectively used to avoid
disputes. The Procedural Rule No. 2 of the MDB Harmonized Edition provides that one of the objectives of undertaking sites visits is to prevent potential problems/ claims
becoming disputes.
Accordingly, the Parties are well placed to submit jointly,
any matters of difference to the DB at the Site Visits for its
opinion or advice. What is of prime importance is that they
can make such reference at any time: This can conveniently
be done, by making the reference to the DB by one Party
through the other Party. The DBs will do good by giving its
opinion/ advice at its earliest convenience; and it will be
always prudent for the DBs to promptly acknowledge such
Contd. on page 10....

Sri Lanka Engineering News - November / December 2014

IESL NEWS

Sri Lanka
Engineering News

Do you Use Credit Cards? Be

mindful
by Eng. Thushara Dissanayake (M- 4943)

Happy
New Year!

hen you read this edito

rial, it is probable that
the new year is already
born. You may have millions of targets to be achieved and
hopefully few are there as realistic targets for the year
2015.
Shall we reflect the things we had in the year 2014? Are
we in a position to celebrate the victories or in a disappointed mood as we could not achieve our tasks planned
in the last part of the previous year of 2013?
As IESL, we all should be proud and be responsible for
being a signatory of the Washington Accord. There were
lot of achievements, but it was the icing on the cake. More
activities were completed and more to be done.

Department of Irrigation

ccording to the Wikipedia Edward Bellamy has introduced the concept of the credit
card in his novel Looking Backward in 1887. Today, it has become an indispens
able item in the wallet of most of us.There are approximately 2 billion credit cards in

use across the globe at present.The reasons for such popularity can be some or all of the
followings depending on the user.
1. We do not have to carry money with us and we are safe
2. Certain credit limit is available with credit cards and we can meet our expenses
during a financial difficulty
3. Some merchants offer discounts when purchasing with credit cards
4. Easy to pay bills with figures which are not rounded off as we do not need change
money
5. Credit cards help us to maintain high social status
Still, the question is whether most of those implied advantages work in favor of us. Can we
accept afore said reasons with a considerable level of objectivity? In fact, we should not take
the advantages of credit cards for granted. This article is about some blind spots associated
with the use of credit cards which can cause considerable loss to the user often without his

However, I was just thinking about our responsibilities as

the engineering community. Have we contributed enough?
Sri Lanka has been receiving unusual heavy rains for few
months now. There was a devastating landslide in
Meeriyabedda and lot of other areas are too unstable.
Anuradhapura area was flooded and it was the severest
flood since 1957. When I searched about our engineers
contribution in mitigating disasters, it was not that praiseworthy.

knowledge.

We, as engineers, must play a considerable role in the

disaster mitigation in the country. It has to be a whole
hearted much enthusiastic holistic approach with all disciplines in engineering. We rarely observe a joint effort by
all the disciplines of engineering to solve a national problem. I personally feel the disaster management is a national commitment that everybody has to contribute. Have
we given our consent to use our expertise for engineering
predictions? Are we in a position to assist the Meteorology Department with our expertise?

irrationally when we do this type of calculations. The fact we overlook while calculating above

At the dawn of a new year, I urge the engineering community to form a joint group of expertise from all disciplines
to assist the government agencies in mitigating disasters.
IESL can do this; I sincerely hope that the engineers who
are willing to form this group will write to me. I am waiting
for them in the dawn of the New Year.

At the end he compared the loan value and paid value, and came to the conclusion that

I wish all the engineers a Very Happy New Year 2015!

Some credit card companies introduce many varieties of credit cards. The main varying

Udeni Nawagamuwa
nawagamuwa@gmail.com

First, let us consider the available credit limit. The most important advantage of a credit card
is the availability of a certain limit of credit facility according to the opinions of most users.
No doubt, this should be the prime motivating factor for using the credit card by the public.
Suppose a certain card has got a monthly credit limit of Rupees fifty thousand. In this case
we may feel that its annual credit availability is Rupees six hundred thousand, i.e., the
multiplication of fifty thousand by twelve. What really happens is we come to conclusions
figure is that we have to settle our credit card bill every month on a recurrent interval. Therefore, the effective credit amount available for the whole year is only Rupees fifty thousand the
equivalent of monthly limit. If we can keep a balance of Rupees fifty thousand in our bank
account at the beginning of the year we really do not need to have a credit card, provided the
main purpose of using it is to utilize available credit facility.
I can remember a similar incident where a bank officer came to promote their loan schemes.
He presented all the calculations how we had to resettle the loan with monthly installments.
obtaining a loan is financially advantageous. Most of the audience left the room happily after
the presentation might be with the idea of obtaining the loan. What really happened was that
the officer did not apply the appropriate time value of money for the calculations. As a result
of this mathematical manipulation the audience was misled.

factor among them is none other than the credit limit. They give their credit cards specific
names like Gold, Platinum, Premier and so on. According to those firms having a credit card
is a prestige for the card holder. Not only that the different categories of cards associated
with different levels of social status. According to my personal experience one agent from a

Contd. from page 1....

PRESIDENTS CORNER
introduced in 2012 / 2013 session has proved to be an effective tool in boosting the capacities of many functions of the
Secretariat and I have no doubt it will be even more effective
with the technological enhancement I hope to introduce during my tenure.
Therefore, while wishing our members and their families a
bright and prosperous new year I invite their cooperation and
support to implement the strategies I have planned to introduce during the new year, that would enable the higher level
of performance, better or improved services and enhanced
benefits from the IESL. Happy New year to all. Thank you.
Eng. (Dr.) S. B. Wijekoon
President

credit card firm recommended me the type of the card to be used as an Engineer. Is there
any logic in this statement that it is a prestige to have a credit card? We purchase with a
credit card when we do not have sufficient money with us. Then by what means becoming a
debtor is prestigious?
Some merchants offer discounts for certain credit cards.However, there is a strategy followed by each business firm when offering discounts. For instance, if we consider super
markets all supermarkets will not offer discounts for credit cards of bank X. When supermarket A offer discounts for credit cards of bank X, supermarket network B will offer
discounts for credit cards of bank Y. This strategy by those firms limits our freedom of
choice forcing us to purchase from a certain supermarket. Ultimately, we are unable to
compare the prices and may end up in paying higher prices than those prevailing in the
market.
According to the payment rules of credit card companies we have to make a monthly minimum payment unless the total outstanding balance is not settled on or before the due date.
Contd. on page 10...

Sri Lanka Engineering News - November / December 2014

IESL NEWS

Sri Lanka Engineering News - November / December 2014

IESL NEWS

IESL Qatar organized a Lecture on

Metro Rail Systems
He presented a well versed
lecture on ongoing mega
project, Doha Metro, perhaps the largest metro
project currently under construction in the region. He
also opened a discussion
on the evolution of metro
rail systems worldwide .

ESL Qatar chapter orga

nized a CPD session for its
members on 31 October
2014 on metro rail systems
presented by Eng. Shantha
Weerasinghe B.Sc.Eng.,
C.Eng. MIHT, AMIESL. He is
an active member of IESL
Qatar and currently working as
the Principal Engineer, Rail
MEP at Hyder Consultants
Qatar.
After graduating in Electrical
Engineering from University of
Moratuwa in 1990, Eng
Shantha has served in a private firm and CEB until leaving Sri Lanka for Hong Kong
in 1994. His 20 years overseas
career since then has primarily been spent on mega transportation
construction
projects. In Hong Kong, he

has been working as a senior project engineer for

Balfour Beatty in the New
Hong Kong Airport project
and KCRC West Rail
Project.
Upon joining Parsons
Brinkerhoff International in
Taiwan, he has provided
MEP design support to Taiwan High Speed Rail
Project for 4 years and later
joined
the
British
consultancy W S Atkins in
Dubai to lead electrical designs
of
Dubai
Metro,Makkah Metro,
Kolkata Metro UG stations,
Lusail LRT prelim designs,
Etihad Rail, UAEs Al Ain
MRO Aircraft Maintenance
Facility, Jeddah New Airport
(KAIA) etc.

A Public speech
on
Northern Expressway
(Link to Kandy
Colombo Expressway)
by IESL Chapter - Central Province

The Doha Metro is a rapid

transit system under construction in Doha, the capital of Qatar, as well as some
of its neighbouring municipalities. Upon completion,
it is expected to comprise
211.9 kilometres (132 mi) of
route across four lines serving 85 stations. It will be an
integral component of the
larger Qatar Rail network,
which will include long-distance high-speed rail
across Qatar, and local light
rail and people mover services within Doha.
Eng. Shantha also mentioned on conceptualized
metro rail projects in Sri
Lanka and impressed on
his capacity to provide high
level consultancy service for
such projects on behalf of
IESL, if required.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

CENTRAL PROVINCE CHAPTER
by : C.D.Narasinghe
Editor, IESL Chapter - Central Province.
IESL Centre Central Province Annual General Meeting was held in grand style with the
participation of 300 Engineers on 26th September 2014 at Mahaweli Reach Hotel, Kandy.
The President of the IESL Central Province, Eng. B M U S Bandara delivered the welcome
address, while the Chief Guest was Eng. Shavindranath Fernando, President IESL. He addressed the gathering through Skype. The Guest of Honor was Eng. S B Wijekoon and the
key note address was done by Eng. R W R Premasiri, Secretary, Ministry of Highways,
Ports & Shipping, Chairman RDA & NWSDB. Though four Technical sessions were planned
only two carried out due to time restriction.

Assessment of Aged Cement Silos

By Dr. Ranjith Dissanayake, Chaminda S. Bandara, Suranga Karunanayake

Investigation of lightning surges on public switched telephone network

By B.T. Hemamali, H.M.T.M. Kumari, D.G.A.R. Lakmali, M.A.R.M. Fernando, J.R.S.S.

IESL Chapter - Central Province organized a public speech

on Northern Expressway on 11 th November at E.L.
Senanayake Childrens Library Hall in Kandy.
The target group included Engineers, other professionals,
interested parties and general public of Kandy to let them be
aware about history, present status and outlook of the above
road construction project. Eng. L.V.S. Weerakoon, Project
Director (Northern Expressway) Road Development Authority presented the proposal to the gathering.
Distinguished guests including Deputy Mayor of the Kandy
Municipal Council and Council Members, District Secretary,
High court Judge, University Lecturers, Organisational heads
of government as well as private companies, members of traders associations and dwellers of Kandy city have participated
in the programme. The total number of participants exceeded
the seating capacity of 300 available in the hall, necessitating many to stand for whole two hours to listen to the speech
and the discussion session.

Kumara.

It became a good forum of awareness creations aware, giv-

Disposal of Water Treatment Plant Waste Sludge : Trials in Brick Manufacture

ing feedback, seeking clarifications and to voice the concerns of participants regarding this proposed highway. The
discussion was very lively with lot of participants raising their

By Eng. W.K. Ilangasinghe, Dr. D.R.I.B. Werellagama, Eng. S. Antony

Landslide Disaster Protection Project of National Road Network in Sri- Lanka

By Project Director Landslide Disaster Protection Project Eng. K.P. Kodituwakku
New office bearers for the Year 2014/15, Committee Members and representative members
were elected and requested to under take the responsibility of maintaining & growing the
IESL Centre Central Province.
Eng. (Mrs.) W.K. Illangasinghe was elected as the President of IESL Centre, Central
Province for the year 2014/15.
At the end of the proceedings the event concluded with the buffet dinner.

concerns about the forthcoming project, where it was evident

that people from very faraway villages like Galagedara,
Pothuhara and Aladeniya etc. are also present in the gathering.
It was a great experience for all the Engineers to get the
feedback from the public on this kind of a mega project, as
well as a good platform for the public to have first hand information and a stage to raise their concerns.

Sri Lanka Engineering News - November / December 2014

IESL NEWS

Sri Lanka Engineering News - November / December 2014

IESL NEWS

CONTROL OF MOISTURE DURING CONSTRUCTION OF ROAD

PAVEMENTS
(PREVENTS / MINIMISE EARLY PAVEMENT FAILURES! EXTENDS
DESIGN LIFE !)
by : Eng. Ratnasiri Rupasinghe
Eng. Ratnasiri Rupasinghe has worked with State Development and Construction Corporation, Road Development Authority, and Road Development Department,
Northern Region in Sri Lanka on road and bridge projects
nearly 13 years. He also worked with Main Roads Western Australia over 17 years, and was instrumental in design & construction of over 200kms of National and State
major highways involving construction of pavements
using naturally occurring granular material, and manufactured crushed rock base (aggregate base course).
1. Introduction
With the increasing scarcity
of locally available quality
naturally occurring granular
material and suitable rock
sources for manufacturing aggregate base course material extensive research has
been undertaken in Australia with most significant
aspects to increase design
life of pavements at reduced pavement depths.
Another key factor for this
is to avoid huge environmental damages done by
clearing natural vegetation
during borrowing and harvesting materials.
The current Engineering
Road Note 9 Procedure for
the Design of Road Pavements specify that the permanent deformation of
flexible pavements must
have a minimum design
life of 40 years unless the
Principal specify otherwise. This has been
achieved making improvements to design concepts
(Appropriate longitudinal
slope, pavement height
and drain depths etc), the
quality of material (using
high quality crushed rock
base or improved material
such as stabilised and hydrated cement treated
crushed rock base), workmanship of construction
works (maintaining camber
from sub grade level, appropriate compaction and
moisture control), quality
control tests during construction (Improved test
methods and use of test
frequencies related to the
lots with traceability from
the resources to the finish
products, rather to quantities.
2. Effect of Moisture
The stability of unbound
pavement materials generally decreases with increasing moisture content
or the Degree of Saturation
(DOS). The DOS is a measure of the ratio of the volume of water to the combined volume of air voids
and water within a mate-

rial. A material with a DOS

of 100% is fully saturated
and has a very high pore
pressure and high instability under load. As the DOS
reduces, the reduction in
pore water pressure also
reduces with a corresponding increase in stability.
It has been shown that
high pore water pressures
will develop within pavement materials where the
DOS exceeds 80%. The stability of the majority of
unbound pavement materials, significantly improves when the pavement
is dried back to a DOS of
70% or 60% in the case of
very moisture sensitive
materials such as crushed
rock base.
The presence of excess
moisture in a pavement can
cause following failures by
the construction loading of
upper layers, bituminous
layer or traffic loads.

Shearing or bearing
failure resulting in extensive cracking and shape
loss;

Premature rutting
due to the material becoming unstable when too wet.

Lifting, blowouts or delaminating of

the road surfacing due to
positive pore pressure.

Embedment of the
cover aggregate of the chip
seal or aggregate primer
seal into the soft underlying pavement base resulting in severe loss of surface texture.

Premature fatigue
cracking of any asphalt
surfacing due to inadequate pavement stiffness.
3. Preventative Measures

To help prevent build up of

excessive moisture in a
pavement during construction, the following preventative measures should be
undertaken:

test, particularly
crushed rocks.

for

(i) Consider in the design

providing appropriate subsurface/soil drains or
drainage layers.

(a) Allow time for the

pavement surface to dry
back
Ensure that the contract
duration and/or works
program has provision to
allow the pavement to dry
back to the specified
moisture requirement or a
stable state prior to bituminous surfacing.

(b) Program the works to

minimise exposure to
rain
During the wet season,
fully construct short sections of pavement up to
and including the bituminous surfacing, rather
than the construction of
the whole of the subbase, then the whole of
the base and surfacing.

mixed with water using a

pug mill to produce a homogeneous product
suitable for placement
into final position.

(f) Minimize the amount

of water required for
surface preparation
The addition of water to
a pavement after placement should be just sufficient to produce a tight
cohesive surface suitable
for bituminous surfacing.

(g) Seal off the pavement

surface as soon as possible
Prime or primer seal the
prepared surface as soon
as the pavement has
dried back.

4. Drying Back of
Pavements Prior to
Surfacing
Most construction specifications express the moisture content of a pavement
material in terms of Moisture Ratio (MR). MR is the
moisture content expressed as a percentage of
OMC. An Accelerated
Loading Facility (ALF) trial
(APRG Report 16) was undertaken at Beerburrum,
Queensland in 1996. This
trial indicated that by drying back a pavement from
a MR of 75% to 70% (a DOS
of 85% for the material type
used), resulted in about a
400% increase in pavement
life under accelerated loading. (See Figure below.)

(c) Reduce the exposure

of pavement
material stockpiles to the
entry of water
Construct stockpiles on a
drained site with a minimum grade of 1 in 20,
preferably with two-way
cross fall, and shape and
track roll stockpiles to
assist with shedding of
water.

(d) Minimise the period,

loose or not fully
compacted pavement
material is left in the
roadbed
Only sufficient pavement
material for each days
operation should be
spread out on the pavement. Windrowed material
should not trap water on
the surface of the pavement layer, and boxing
drains should always be
provided to remove surface water.

(e) Reduce the moisture

content used for compaction
Construct the pavement
at the lowest moisture
content necessary to
achieve the specified
density. Main Roads
specify that Crushed rock
base shall be thoroughly

Comparison of pavement life with relative moisture

content (150mm crushed rock base on CTSB)

h) Permeability and
moisture sensitivity
Materials used for the
shoulders and pavement
base should be relatively
impermeable to ensure
that most surface water
runs off rather than infiltrating into the pavement. Further, use of very
moisture sensitive materials should be avoided in
wet environments. Moisture sensitivity can be
checked by CBR, Repeated Load Triaxial or
wheel track testing at
varying DOSs to produce
plots showing the effect
of moisture on strength
and/or permanent deformation. The latter tests
are preferred over the CBR

This difference may not be

as pronounced at lower
moisture contents but it
demonstrates the importance of allowing pavements to dry back to
maximise the service life.
Also, observations indicate
that a pavement material
that has been allowed to dry
back will also tend to remain drier (thus stronger
and stiffer) in the long term
than a pavement material
that has never been allowed
to dry back.
Drying back also improves
the performance of the bituminous surfacing by allowing satisfactory penetration of the primer or
primer binder into the surface.
Contd. on page 9...

Sri Lanka Engineering News - November / December 2014

IESL NEWS
Contd. from page 8.......
CONTROL OF
MOISTURE ......
5. Specification, Measurement and Assessment of Drying Back
To assess whether or not a
pavement base has been
dried back sufficiently prior
to bituminous surfacing,
one or more of the following techniques can be used.
5.1 Moisture Content
at a Specified Degree
of Saturation
Specification and measurement of the moisture content of the pavement base
is considered the most reliable way of ensuring that
the pavement surface has
been satisfactorily dried
back.
Some works specifications
include a maximum MR for
the pavement base prior to
sealing although this can be
misleading for some materials as the MR does not always provide a good indication of stability. For this
reason, it is preferable to
specify a maximum DOS
prior to surfacing. If the
material is relatively uniform, an equivalent maximum MR (or actual moisture
content) can be calculated
from the DOS to make
moisture assessment simpler on site.
For major highways and
freeways with a traffic loading in excess of 5x106 ESAs,
a maximum DOS of 60% for
the base pavement prior to
bituminous surfacing is recommended. For other roads
the maximum DOS may be
increased to 65%.
For any material, the DOS
for a given moisture content
or alternatively, the moisture content for a given DOS
can be calculated by:
DOS = [1 / (w / d - 1/
APD)] x w, or
w = DOS x (w / d - 1/
APD)
where:
APD
= Apparent
Particle Density (t/m3) as
determined by the AS
1289.3.5.1;

DOS
= Degree of
Saturation (%);
w
= moisture
content (%);
w
= 1.0 t/m3
(density of water); and
d
= Dry Density of the Material (t/m3).
Care should be taken when
determining the APD in
situations where the material comprises blends of different materials or porous
aggregates.

The most convenient way to

measure the moisture content is with a nuclear
gauge although oven drying methods can also be
used for greater accuracy
for thicker layers. The
Characteristic MR is determined from 6 to 10 randomly selected test sites in
a similar way to the Characteristic Density Ratio.

5.2 Clegg Impact Value

(CIV)

In conjunction with checking the dry back moisture

content, or, if weather conditions do not permit the
pavement to be dried back
to the specified DOS prior
to bituminous surfacing,
the stability of the surface
can be checked with a 4.5
kg Clegg Impact Hammer.
This is a portable device
consisting of a drop hammer fitted with an accelerometer that has been suitably calibrated to provide
an indication of the
strength at or near the surface of the pavement.
If the Characteristic CIV
calculated from of 6 to 10
randomly-selected test
sites is 50 or greater, then
the pavement base should
have sufficient stability to
avoid delaminating of the
surfacing or excessive deformation shortly after
opening to traffic. The
Clegg Hammer can also be
used to detect isolated areas that may not have dried
back sufficiently. There are
other types of impact hammers in the market place
but the Clegg Impact Hammer is the most common
device used in Australia.
( Bouncing of a pickaxe
handle on the surface of
finished pavement layers
for a good bounce and a
metallic/drumming sound
is also an indication of
achieving drying back, and
widely used as a quick test
to locate wet patches.)
5.3 Test Rolling
In conjunction with the
suggestions in 5.1 and 5.2
above, a specified test rolling procedure can also be
used to provide an indication of the stability of a
pavement prior to surfacing. Assessment is made
on whether or not visible
movement of the pavement.
5.4 THE SPECIFICATION
USED BY MAINROADS
WESTERN AUSTRALIA IS
GIVEN
BELOW
AND
SHOWN IN ITALICS.
ONE SHOULD NOTE
THAT SOME OF THE
TEST MATHODS ARE AS
PER WESTERN AUSTRALIAN (WA) TEST METHODS.

CRUSHED
ROCK
BASE
BASECOURSE
FOR
PAVEMENT
CONSTRUCTION."

GENERAL
1. All crushed rock
base shall consist of a
uniformly blended
mixture of coarse and
fine aggregate.
2. Coarse aggregate
(retained 4.75mm
sieve) shall consist of
clean, hard, durable,
angular fragments of
rock produced by
crushing
sound
unweathered rock and
shall not include
materials which break
up when alternately
wetted and dried.
3. Fine aggregate
(passing 4.75mm
sieve) shall consist of
crushed
rock
fragments
or
a
mixture of crushed
rock fragments with
natural sand or clayey
sand. Crushed rock
fine aggregate from
each source shall,
except as to size,
comply with all the
provisions specified
for coarse aggregate.
LIMITS OF
ACCEPTANCE
1. The mixture of fine
and coarse aggregate
forming the rock base
shall be free from
vegetable matter,
lumps
of
clay,
overburden, or any
other deleterious
matter.
2.The
The Particle Size
Distribution of the
crushed rock base
material when tested in
accordance with Test
Method WA 115.1 shall
comply with the
requirements shown in
Table 5A below. The
grading of material
passing the 37.5mm
sieve shall vary from
coarse to fine in a
uniform
and
consistent manner.
The material shall not
be gap graded as
represented by the
grading crossing from
the maximum limit for
one sieve size to the
minimum limit for
another sieve size, and
shall conform as
closely as possible to
the specified target
grading.
3.
The
Dust
Ratio, defined as the
ratio
of
the
percentage passing
by
mass
the
0.075mm sieve to the
percentage passing
by
mass
the
0.425mm sieve, shall
be within the range
0.35 to 0.60.

TABLE 5A
AS 1152
Sieve Size
(mm)

% Passing
by Mass
Target Grading

% Passing by Mass
Minimum and
Maximum Limits
General CRB
100

26.5
19.0

100

95 100

13.2

82

70 90

9.5

70

60 80

4.75

50

40 60

2.36

38

30 45

1.18

25

20 35

0.600

19

13 27

0.425

17

11 23

0.300

13

8 20

0.150

10

5 14

0.075

5 11

THE CRUSHED ROCK BASE BASECOURSE SHALL

ALSO MEET THE OTHER LIMITS AS SHOWN IN
TABLE 5B BELOW.
TABLE 5B
Test

Limits

Test Method

Liquid Limit
(Cone
Penetrometer)

25.0% Max.

WA120.2

Linear

2.0% Max.

WA123.1

Shrinkage

0.4% Min.

Flakiness

30% Max.

WA 216.1

35% Max.

WA 220.1

1.7MPa Min.

WA 140.1

Index
Los Angeles
Abrasion
Value
Maximum Dry
Compressive
Strength
California Bearing100% Min.

WA141.1

Ratio (Soaked
4 days) at
99% of MDD and
100% of OMC
Wet/Dry Strength 35% Max.

AS1141.22

Variation
Secondary

25% Max.

AS 1141.26

94% Mini.

AS 1141.29

mineral content
in basic igneous
rock
Accelerated
soundness index
by reflux

Contd. on page 11...

10

Sri Lanka Engineering News - November / December 2014

IESL NEWS

The following article extracted from "The Nation" (www.nationalmultimedia.com) of Septem-

Contd. from page 3....

Contd. from page 4..

ber 30, 2014 have been sent to the SLEN by Eng. M.K. Chandrasekera for its relevance to

Prevention of
Disputes...

Do you use credit

the article on "ManMade Disasters and the Way Out" authored by him and published in the
previous issue of the SLEN.

Overpopulation is everybodys
sin, isnt it?
by Achara Deboonme
In dangerous times, there
is no sin greater than inaction.
This line from Italian poet
Dantes 14th-century masterpiece The Divine Comedy is used repeatedly by
Dan Brown in his latest
novel, Inferno. As the
American author points out
in his novel, the quote
should not be taken lightly
as it involves everyone on
earth.
Inferno, named after one of
three parts of Dantes Divine
Comedy, takes as its
theme the worlds incessantly-growing population.
Apparently, Brown is concerned at the sharp growth
in the past few centuries and
what this might mean for our
future.
It is indeed alarming. The
world is now home to over 7
billion people, about seven
times more than in 1804,
says the UN. By 2050, that
figure is projected to surpass 9 billion.
Dig deeper into the global
statistics and you discover
there were about 19 births
for every eight deaths in
2013, a mismatch fuelled by
advances in medical technology.
In the character of Bertrand
Zobrist, a geneticist, Brown
comes up with a solution to
save mankind from overpopulation: the sterilization
of one third of the people on
earth. Dantes line crops up
when Zobrist condemns global organizations for their
inaction in controlling the
population rise.
Browns theme is hardly
new. Released in cinemas
last year, The Purge depicts a future world in which
population is artificially controlled by declaring that one
night a year, all crime is legal - including murder. The
horror ratchets up when,
during one of these free-foralls, a family is besieged in
their home.
Could overpopulation turn
out to be that dreadful?
Maybe.
Nowadays, some of us (including me) refuse to visit
shopping malls at the week-

end. Meanwhile, over long weekends some opt to stay in

Bangkok rather than heading to
popular destinations, knowing
they would have to fight for everything from road space to a seat
at a restaurant. The rising population also means todays parents are making more effort to
ensure their kids have a good
education as competition for jobs
intensifies.
More importantly, natural resources are being depleted at a
faster rate. By one estimate, the
current global population is already two to three times greater
than the sustainable level. If European standards of living are
applied, the earths resources
could only sustain about 2 billion
people. Imagine if all 9 billion had
mobile phones - which needed to
be recharged every day. How
many new power plants would we
need?
Theres no doubt that technology
needs time to catch up with demand. Scientists recently
brought us good news with the
possibility that nuclear fusion
(rather than fission) could produce clean and plentiful electricity sooner than we think. Yet they
conceded that a safe fusion
method is still at least 50 years
away. Fossil fuels and conventional nuclear, topped up with alternative energy, are still what
powers the planet.
And in this scenario of limited
resources, what is the existing
population doing? Individually, we
breathe and eat, struggle through
our daily lives and dream of bettering ourselves. Thais are often
considered a kind and helpful
people, but it was only recently
that a spirit of social responsibility was systematically introduced in Thai society. After public pressure plus measures by
the authorities, some Thai companies are being more responsible for society and the environment. Thai governments meanwhile send mixed signals, with
policies focused on promoting
consumption, but too little done
to tackle problems like overpopulation.
One glaring problem is unintended pregnancies.
Each year an estimated 123 million women give birth after
planned pregnancies, says the
World Health Organization. But
about 87 million more become
pregnant
unintentionally.
Thailands problem is complicated by the high rate of teenagers becoming pregnant. Of every

1,000 births in Thailand,

about 54 are to mothers
aged 15-19. This rate is
among the highest in the
world, and 10 times higher
than Singapores.
Many pregnant Thai teens
end up at abortion clinics.
If they do decide to have
the baby, the childs care
often becomes a problem.
Ever visit an orphanage?
Most operate through government funding and donations, offering basic
care. Needless to say,
few orphans ever make it
to university. Handicapped from the beginning, they find themselves
competing with wealthier
and better-educated peers
in the fight for a slice of
precious resources.
Thais have actively criticized governments for
spending poorly on education, but they have put little
pressure on targeting
spending directly at students. The Revenue Department has also conceded that despite a 200per-cent tax deduction on
donations for education
purposes, few Thais do
so.
Most of us would agree
that improving education
is the priority in tackling
problems like income inequality and uneven access to information and
opportunity. Whats blocking agreement on action is
that, in arguing over this
issue, people are relying
solely on the words of others. Instead, we need to
do our own research and
find verifiable information then, maybe, Thailand
could tackle the issue
and become a role model
for the entire world.
Everybody can do his or
her own bit to make their
society and the world a
better place to live. A good
reminder is that we are not
the last generation. Our
children will live on after
us, and they shouldnt
have to fight for everything,
when our actions today
could make their lives
easier.
We shouldnt wait. As
Dante said: There is no
greater sorrow than to recall our times of joy in
wretchedness.

references and indicate the

time required for giving its
response. It is suggested
that electronic communications can well be used
to add efficacy to these
transactions.
It is pertinent to mention
that the preventive measures are only possible
with the standing Dispute
Boards that are specified
in the FIDIC New Red
Book/ Pink Book. It is observed that the Yellow
Book (Plant and DesignBuild), and Silver Book
(EPC/ Turnkey Contracts)
specify Ad-hoc DBs, envisaging the possibility of substantial fabrication and
manufacturing works which
are carried out away from
actual construction sites.
However, it is found that
there are instances where
the contractual provisions
for standing Dispute
Boards have been altered
in the Particular Conditions, adopting the provisions for Ad-hoc Dispute
Boards. This militates
against the object of prevention of disputes and
also disturbs the mood and
regime of the FIDIC New
Red/ Pink Book.It is respectfully submitted that
modifications to industry
standard forms must be
attempted with extreme
care
and
caution
only:Although such might
be effectuated in negotiated contracts, should
best be avoided in contracts secured through
competitive bidding.
Last but not the least, it is
to be stated that the FIDIC
New Red Book/ Pink Book
does not displace any of
the avenues of prevention
that were hitherto available
to the Engineer. The Conditions require that the Engineer should consult both
Parties and act fairly in
making determinations.
These are the basic requirements of Natural Justice. It is paramount that
any administrative functionary who decides upon
rights and obligations of
others must observe the
principles of natural justice,
act reasonably, in good faith
and in accordance with the
law. Therefore, it is prudent
for the personnel in the
Engineers Organizations
to direct their minds to the
possibilities for prevention
of disputes and act
righteouslyas the party of
the Professional Contract
Administrator.

cards?
As it seems, it can be a measure to prevent card owners
debt getting bigger beyond his
paying capacity. However, according to new research this
compulsory minimum payment
has lead card holders to pay
off less of their due balance
than they would have done.
Thus, the card holders have to
pay more interest being long
term debtors. By the way,
credit card interest rates are
much higher than average
lending rates of financial institutions. The researchers say
that this behavior is caused by
the psychological bias known
as anchoring. The effect of
minimum payment information
acts as a psychological anchor and the card holders
monthly repayments decrease.
There is another powerful reason, often most of us are unaware, that motivate us to use
credit cards. In psychology it
is known as pain of paying.
Suppose you had the lunch in
a restaurant with your family.
When you pay the bill you will
feel the pain of paying.If you
can settle the bill either with
cash or credit card which one
you will feel worse. According
to the findings of research
those who pay cash will feel
worse than those who use
credit cards. As it hurts us
more to pay cash for the things
we purchase most of us prefer
to use credit cards. Generally,
we settle the credit card bill at
the end of the month andonly
during that moment we feel the
pain of paying. In the meantime, if we are predetermined
to pay with credit card when
we purchase something this
can prompt us even to overspend. Thus, using the credit
card more often will make it
difficult for you to control the
expenditures.
There are some positive sides
of paying with credit cards as
well. If we pay cash after having meals from a restaurant the
agony of parting with our
money will reduce the enjoyment we had with the meals.
In situations like this if we want
to keep our enjoyment undiminished we can go for the option of paying with the credit
card.
The objective of this article is
not to discourage you from using credit cards. As busy individuals we may lack objective
reasoning and often get used
to spending behaviors which
are detrimental to us. Being
aware of the facts already discussed relevant to credit cards
will help you touse this technological innovation prudently.

Sri Lanka Engineering News - November / December 2014

IESL NEWS
Contd. from page 9...
CONTROL OF
MOISTURE ......

MOISTURE CONTENT
1. Crushed rock base shall
be thoroughly mixed with
water using a pug mill to
produce a homogeneous
product suitable for
placement into final
position
2. Crushed rock base shall
be pre-wet to greater than
95% of the Optimum Moisture Content as determined by Test Method WA
133.1.

CONSTRUCTION
DRYBACK
REQUIREMENTS
SUBGRADE
1. Pavement construction
shall not commence until
the layer 150mm below
the subgrade surface has
dried back such that the
Dryback Characteristic
Moisture content (dmc) is
equal to or less than the
proportion
of
the
optimum
moisture
content as shown in the
Table 5C below as
determined by test method
wa 133.1 or test method
wa 133.2 as appropriate.

be compacted to the
Characteristic Dry Density
Ratio shown in Table 5D or
greater. Each pavement layer
shall be dried back to the
Dryback Characteristic
Moisture Content shown in
TABLE 5C or lower.
MAINTENANCE
SUBGRADE, SUB BASE AND
BASECOURSE

1.
Completed subgrade,
Sub-base and basecourse
construction shall be maintained to the specified standards of surface shape, level,
and dryback and compaction
up to the time of construction of the overlying subbase, basecourse, and time of
application of bituminous
layer.
2.
Watering shall be
continued as necessary to
prevent, dusting or loosening of the surface of each
layer.

BASECOURSE
1.No binder shall be
applied to a basecourse
lot until it has dried back
such that the Dryback
Characteristic Moisture
Content of both the upper
half and lower half of the
basecourse layer is less
than or equal to the
proportion
of
the
Optimum
Moisture
Content (OMC) as shown
in the Table below as
determined by WA 133.1
or 133.2. Where no such
proportion of OMC is
shown in TABLE 5C below,
the Dryback Characteristic
Moisture Content of the
basecourse shall be dried
back to 85% of OMC or
less.
ACCEPTANCE
COMPACTION AND DRY
BACK
1. Each pavement layer
shall be constructed to the
dimensions and details
shown on the Drawings
and to the requirements of
the Specification and shall

6.0 References

Austroads Pavement Research Group

(APRG) Report No 16/
June 1996, Performance
of
unbound
and
stabilised pavement
materials under accelerated loading.

TABLE DRYBACK ON SUBGRADE OR

SUBBASE LAYERS
TABLE 5C
Subgrade or
pavement Layers

Maximum
Dryback
Moisture
Content (DMc) as
a % of OMC

Layer 150mm below

Subgrade surface

85%

Sub-Base

85%

Basecourse (final
surfacing sprayed
seal)

85%

Crushed Rock Base

(all surfacing types)

60%

SUB-BASE
1 . B a s e c o u r s e
construction shall not
commence until the subbase has dried back such
that
the
Dryback
Characteristic Moisture
Content (DMc) is equal to
or
less
than
the
proportion of Optimum
Moisture Content as
shown in the Table 5C
below as determined by
WA 133.1 or 133.2.

sub grade and pavement

construction of expressways and other
highways on high embankments, which will
not be affected by ingress of external water
will remain drier (thus
stronger and stiffer) in
the long term, and have
significant benefits in
the current design, construction and maintenance strategies for the
National road network
and lead to more costeffective pavement designs and increased
pavement life reducing
the life cycle costs, perhaps more than 50%.

Basecourse (final
surfacing asphalt)

TABLE 5D

Minimum
Characteristic Dry
Density Ratio %(Rc)

Sub-Base

94%

Basecourse
(final surfacing
sprayed seal)

96% or 98%

Basecourse
(final surfacing
asphalt)

98% or 99%
(Select
appropriately)

Crushed Rock Base

Basecourse

99%

(Select appropriately)

However application of dry

back requirements in road

Dear Sir / Madam / Colleague,

As briefly conversed with some of you some time ago, I
was always contemplating myself that I have a duty and
responsibility to contribute for improvements to work procedures and practices in Sri Lanka with the knowledge and
experience I accumulated during working with Main Roads
Western Australia more than 17 years. I am pleased I could
be instrumental, when I was the Bridge/Structural Consultant Engineer of Outer Circular Highway in Sri Lanka, to
introduce need for CONTROL OF HYDRATION HEAT IN
MASS CONCRETE CONSTRUCTIONS to avoid DEF formation in concrete.
Observing and hearing early deformation on newly constructed road sections at early stages of its construction,
CONTROL OF MOISTURE DURING CONSTRUCTION OF
ROAD PAVEMENTS was also another requirement that
was in my mind.
I had the opportunity to be instrumental in investigation of
failures, involve in study of remedies, and then implementing in National and State Highway projects in Western Australia. The attached Article, I composed includes firsthand
experience and knowledge I gained, and merits and successes of its applications. The facts given in the Article
have been extracted from the published authenticated
sources in Australia. With the blessings of the executive
committee of Highway Engineering Society, Sri Lanka a
shorter version of this Article was published in the News
Letter August 2014 Volume 4 Issue 2 (http://hesoc.lk/
Default.aspx)
Control of moisture during construction of the pavement
was a key factor among other quality control measures
taken that resulted in the road section to be one of the best
30km segment of the National Eyre Highway constructed
within Goldfields Esperance Region preventing early pavement failures incurred in adjoining similar 20km road section constructed using similar design and material.

You may contribute with your experience and knowledge

to improve the work practices and Specification within your
institutions or to a forum of discussions to be organized
appropriately.

Pavement Layer

Application of dry back requirements in general specification for road construction

in low level pavements where
external water ingress in the
pavement may require further
considerations depending on
climatic and geographical
conditions prevailing in Sri
Lanka and its cost implications.

Author's Note

I disseminate this to you expecting teaming up to collate

the details of known early pavement failures and to investigate the merits of the facts, aiming appropriate application
to our road construction works.

70%

6.0 Conclusion

11

(http://
www.arrb.com.au/
admin/file/content13/
c6/

ARR%20286%20Performance%20of%20
unbound.pdf)

Austroads Pavement Research Group

(APRG) Technical Note
13/November 2003,
Control of Moisture in
Pavements During Construction.

Road Construction Technical Specification, Main Roads

Western Australia.

Data may be collected and collated to verify demerits and

merits where moisture may have contributed to pavement
failures or satisfactory performance. If excessive moisture
had been in the pavement it remains there for a longer period and moisture content can be tested even some time
after construction. Testing could be done in failed and satisfactory sections where similar material and work processes had been used for comparison and elimination.
Collection of following parameters also will be useful.
1.Locations of road sections affected by early pavement
failure.
2.Design details of the section
a.Thickness of subgrade, sub base and base course
b.Quality of above material
c.Depth of drains and level of water expected in drains in
relation to sub grade level.
d.Possibility of water ingress in to the pavement from the
surrounding
3.Construction Details
a.Particle size distribution and other properties of pavement materials,
b.Possibilities that pavement construction was subjected
to rain or high moisture.
4.Any other appropriate data.
Best Regards
Eng. Ratnasiri Rupasinghe. (Mobile: 071 111 5149, 077
391 6547, email:ratnar77@gmail.com)

12

Sri Lanka Engineering News - November / December 2014

IESL NEWS

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