UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA

Faculty of Engineering

Non-GPA Module 3992: Industrial Training

TRAINING REPORT

Road Development Authority

From 25/07/2016 to 11/11/2016

Date of submission: 28th November 2016

Randil O. P. C.

130500L

Department of Civil Engineering

PREFACE

CE 3992, Industrial training is a compulsory NGPA module that every student has to complete,
which had a duration of 16 weeks, commencing from 25th July 2016 to 11th November 2016.
The training program is organized by the industrial training division of University of
Moratuwa. With the assistance given from National Apprentice and Industrial Training
Authority (NAITA), and from the industry itself, undergraduates from semester 6 are facilitated
in trainee positions of the industry.

Industrial training gives a vast opportunity for the undergraduates to witness and experience
many things including how the theory is applied in sites, problems occurring while executing
the planned work etc. This report is a brief summary on the experience I gained during my
apprenticeship period in Road Development Authority, Sri Lanka. Needless to say, this helped
me in gaining a big lot of experiences and field practices.

Chapter 1 of this report summarizes an introduction to the training facility and a SWOT
analysis of the training facility.

Chapter 2 contains the experiences I was able to grab during the apprenticeship. It is mostly
loaded with technical details and procedures, and experiences on non-technical aspects are
included too.

Chapter 3 concludes the overall experiences gained in the industrial training period, with
comments on training establishment and training procedure.

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AKNOWLEDGEMENT
In the industrial training period, from start to the end, there were many people who were
dedicated to ensuring that an undergraduate gets a successful training. This is the opportunity
to appreciate the efforts of all of them.

First I would like to thank Eng. N. A. Wijewickrama, Director, industrial training division of
University of Moratuwa and the associated staff who planned and executed the training
program and who helped it. Then my sincere thanks go to Eng. Plnr. Ananda Gamage, Senior
lecturer of University of Moratuwa for guiding me from the beginning of the industrial training
period on various hurdles arouse, as well as visiting me in the training period and guiding me
on various aspects.

Then I would like to thank Professor J. M. S. J. Bandara, HOD of department of Civil

Engineering, and Dr. Baskaran for coordinating of the program for department of Civil
Engineering. Then I'd like to thank Dr. H. R. Pasindu, who was the academic superviser
assigned for me, and Dr. Dimantha De Silva for visiting me and guiding me in the period of
industrial training. Then, I do appreciate the effort taken by NAITA by providing the
undergraduates with training establishments and assisting them within the time of training.

Moving on to the training establishment side, there are many people who helped me in making
the training period a success. First of all, I have to thank to Eng. N. R. Suriyarachhci, Chairman,
RDA for providing training facilities for undergraduates

Then I'd like to thank the director of Local Bank Funded Projects division, Mr. W. R. A. N.
Pemathilake, for appointing me for Colombo LBF projects, and the Resident engineer (Chief
Engineer, Projects (Colombo)), Mr. D Sutharshan for appointing sites for me and providing
with necessary facilities and opportunities to maximize my knowledge and experience on field.

I had the opportunity of having my training in 2 sites, Improvements to roads related to defense
headquarters, Pelawatta site and Kelanimulla Mulleriyawa Koswatte road project. I'd like
to thank Mr. T. Ravishankar and Mr. K. Nilaksan, the respective site engineers of the mentioned
sites for guiding me on technical aspects, evaluating me on progress and providing me the
necessary facilities and opportunities to make my knowledge and experiences reach the sky.

Finally, my heartful thanks go to all the officials in RDA as well as in NEM constructions and
Sierra constructions who assisted me throughout the training process in many aspects.

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CONTENTS

PREFACE I
AKNOWLEDGEMENT II
1. INTRODUCTION TO THE TRAINING ESTABLISHMENT 1

1.1. Main functions of RDA 1

1.2. Organizational Structure 1
1.3. Hierarchical Levels at RDA 3
1.4. SWOT Analysis on RDA 4
1.4.1. Strengths 4
1.4.2. Weaknesses 5
1.4.3. Opportunities 6
1.4.4. Threats 7

2. TRAINING EXPERIENCES 9

2.1. Information on work placements 9

2.1.1. Information on Widening and improvements to road network associated with
development of defense headquarters, Pelawatte 9
2.1.2. Widening and improvements to Kelanimulla-Mulleriyawa-Koswatte road phase
01, Kelanimulla 10

2.2. Construction procedures had exposure to 10

2.2.1. Road construction 11
2.2.1.1. Construction up to sub base layer 11
2.2.1.2. Construction of ABC layer 14
2.2.1.3. Prime coating 14
2.2.1.4. Tack coat 15
2.2.1.5. Binder course 16
2.2.1.6. Wearing course 17
2.2.1.7. Finishing of road surfaces 18
2.2.2. Widening of existing roads/Improvements to existing roads. 19
2.2.2.1. Widening of existing roads 19

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 2.2.2.2. Improvements to existing roads 19
2.2.3. Culvert construction 19
2.2.3.1. Steps of construction 20
2.2.3.2. Problems encountered at culvert construction. 21
2.2.4. Piling 22
2.2.4.1. Pile boring 23
2.2.4.2. Insertion of reinforcement, flushing and pile concreting 29
2.2.4.3. Tests on piles 32
2.2.4.4. Failed piles and rectification of faulty piles. 34
2.2.5. Tests on material 35
2.2.5.1. Tests on embankment soil, sub base soil and ABC 35
2.2.5.2. Tests on aggregates and rocks (Rubble and boulders), and on rock samples
found on pile drilling. 36
2.2.5.3. Tests on asphalt 36
2.2.5.4. Tests on bentonite 36

2.3. Documentary and financial procedures got exposed to 36

2.3.1. Breakdown of a contract document 36
2.3.2. Breakdown of a BOQ 37
2.3.3. Billing practices 38
2.3.4. Problems in billing procedures. 39

2.4. Co-operating with parties outside RDA 40

2.4.1. Co-operating with CEB 40
2.4.2. Co-operating with NWSDB 40
2.4.3. Co-operating with security forces 41
2.4.4. Co-operating with general public (Social issues) 41

2.5. Visits to mix plants 42

2.5.1. Concrete mix plant 42
2.5.2. Asphalt mix plant 43

2.6. Safety and risk management at site 44

2.7. Exposed survey work 45

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3. CONCLUSION 46

3.1. Summary of training experience 46

3.2. Training establishments ability to provide useful training 47
3.3. Overall assessment 47

ANNEX 1: DRAWINGS DONE BY ME: for the road section of 0+080 km to 0+120 km
in Ambatale road, Kelanimulla junction, KMKR project. VIII
ANNEX 2: DRAWINGS, LAYOUTS AND DETAILS OF SOME STRUCTURES. XX

2.1 Types of kerbs xx

2.2 Road Setting out for bridge at 1+908 km, KMKR project, Kelanimulla. xx
2.3 Drawings for bridge at 1+908 km, KMKR project, Kelanimulla xxi
2.4 Bridge details from DHQ project, Pelawatte xxiii

ANNEX 3: SAMPLE MIX DESIGNS XXIV

3.1 Concrete Mix design used for G30 concrete xxiv

3.2 Asphalt mix designs used by the plant xxv

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List of figures

Figure 1.1: Logo of Road Development Authority 1

Figure 2.1: Cross section of a newly constructed road 11
Figure 2.3: Rubble pack, ABC, quarry dust, geotextile and embankment
filling layer sequence 13
Figure 2.4: Priming of road, and a tray test is being held 15
Figure 2.5: Sensor which guides the paver for pavement thickness 16
Figure 2.6: Pneumatic roller for compaction (left, green), Pneumatic roller
for smoothing (yellow) and paver (right) 17
Figure 2.7: Finished road cross section 18
Figure 2.8: Usage of kerbs 18
Figure 2.9: Widening of an existing road - Cross section 19
Figure 2.10: Cross sections of Box culvert (left) and Hume pipe culvert
(right) 20
Figure 2.11: Concreting of a Hume pipe culvert 21
Figure 2.12: Accommodating service lines inside the culvert 22
Figure 2.13: Starting of pile boring by placing the casing 23
Figure 2.14: Percussion boring machine 24
Figure 2.16: Drilling tools - Core barrel (left), Auger (middle) and Rock
bucket (right) 25
Figure 2.15: Rig drilling machine 25
Figure 2.17: GPS boring machine 26
Figure 2.18: Bentonite mixing process 27
Figure 2.19: Reinforcement of a pile 29
Figure 2.20: Pile after inserting the reinforcement 30
Figure 2.21: Concreting procedure of a pile 30
Figure 2.22: CSL (sonic) test being conducted 32
Figure 2.23: Wave speed, Energy and Waterfall diagram for a faulty pile 32
Figure 2.24: Necking and bulging of a pile (up), graph given by a PIT test
(down) 33
Figure 2.25: PDA test being conducted 34
Figure 2.26: Cores cut in a pile for rectifying 35
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Figure 2.27: Waterline shifting at bridge at 1+908, KMKR project 41
Figure 2.28: A Hand grenade was found at bridge at 1+908, KMKR
project 41
Figure 2.29: Asphalt mix plant, Access Engineering, Kotadeniyawa 43
Figure 2.30: Cold bins (left), Sample collecting from hot bins (right) 44

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1. INTRODUCTION TO THE TRAINING ESTABLISHMENT

I had my industrial training appointed to the Road Development

Authority of Sri Lanka, (Hereafter referred as RDA) which was
established under the act no. 73 in 1981, of which the head office is
located at "Maganeguma Mahamedura", No. 216, Denzil
Kobbakaduwa Mawatha, Koswatte. In brief, RDA undertakes
Figure 1.1: Logo of Road
Development Authority identifying the requirement of roads of the country, accessibility to
certain places, studying for traffic problems, addressing those mentioned problems by
designing, consulting and constructing the required infrastructure while being the
government client, in order to meet the accessibility and mobility related requirements of
the country.

1.1. Main functions of RDA

The main functional responsibility of RDA is to build and maintain the roads and bridges
in the road network of the country. In addition to that, designing of new highways,
execution of construction of those are undertaken as well. Since in Sri Lanka, the primary
mode of transportation is road transportation, it's RDAs' responsibility to forecast the future
demand of roads and provide sufficient designs and solutions which meet the requirements
without more trouble. At the same time, since the road projects are funded by the
government, and from the loans taken from foreign organizations, RDA has to utilize and
make the maximum use of funds and gain enough turnover to pay back to people as well
as to lenders. To achieve this level of accuracy, RDA conducts feasibility studies before
conducting projects, have expert opinions on designs, adhere to policies which ensures the
interaction with environment and all the other resources are preserved, and conduct
evaluations after the projects to check whether the projects have completed complying to
the required standards.

1.2. Organizational Structure

The RDA is a well-structured organization in the country having a perspective of

developing and maintaining the road network in Sri Lanka. The authority is headed by the
chairman, Mr. (Eng.) N. R. Suriyarachhci, for the authority, which is normally a politically
appointed position, under SLES recognition.

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RDA has the Director General post as the chief executive officer position in the board of
management. If the position is not yet appointed, an acting director general is appointed.
To assist the director general, there are 4 Additional Director Generals (Hereafter referred
as ADGs.), who are entitled as follows.
ADG Projects
ADG Constructions Design
ADG Assets Operation & Management
ADG Network Planning
Then there are 17 divisions to carry out the required tasks in RDA. Those can be listed as:
Administration Division
Finance Division
Planning Division
Engineering Services Division
Highway Designs Division
Research & Development Division
Training Division
Mechanical Division
Land Division
Environment & Social Development Division
Maintenance Management and Construction Division
Legal Division
Construction Division
Rural Bridge Construction Unit
Procurement Division
Expressway Operation, Maintenance & Management Division
Internal Audit Division
Each of these divisions have a director. From the above mentioned, the internal audit
division director operates directly under the guidance of the chairman. The divisions of
mechanical, legal and expressway operation & management function directly under
Director General. The rest 13 of 17 divisions operate under the assistance of one of the
ADGs of the panel of 4 ADGs.

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 In addition to that, for projects such as foreign bank funded projects and local bank funded
projects, those projects are managed by project management units, which is headed by the
relevant project director, who reports to the ADG-Projects.

1.3. Hierarchical Levels at RDA

To avoid much complexities, the hierarchical breakdown of positions in the Local Bank
Funded Projects Division (Hereafter referred as LBFP) will be shown.
Chairman
Director (Acting Director
General General)
ADG ADG ADG Assets ADG
(Projects) (Constructio Operation & Network
ns Design) Management Planning
Local
Asian Bank
Developmen Funded
t Bank Projects
Funded
Projects Project
Director

Cheif Engineer
(Projects)/Resident
Engineer
Site Material
Engineer Surveyors Accountants
Engineer
Technical QS
Officers Research
Assistant
Trainees
Labours
(Contract Lab Assistants
basis) (Senior, Junior)

Figure 1.2: Hierarchical levels in RDA: LBFP section

It's to be mentioned that this structure is slightly different when considered about the
hierarchical levels on provincial units. There doesnt exist a post called resident engineer.
Under the provincial project director, chief engineers for each district function and under
them, executive engineers function. Executive engineers are appointed to pre-identified
regions in each district, as per requirements. Under them, technical officers and another
staff operate. If the resources are limited, often shared between offices inter and intra-
provincially.
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1.4. SWOT Analysis on RDA

1.4.1. Strengths

Since RDA is the one and only client for road projects, there is a huge attraction from
contractors and consultants to bid for projects. Since there are contracting firms which
undertake road projects only, there dependence is lied on RDA to a great extent.

Since RDA is a government authority, it's easy for the authority to find investors for road
related projects. It has a lot of contacts on investors, plus the authority gets grants from
local and international funds, and loans. So being related with the government makes things
financially easy and have the horizons of attaining money for projects broadened.

Going further on financing, a huge income is gained by the toll fee from expressways. In
the peak seasons, enormous amounts are collected from the expressways.

RDAs' got a rich collection of contract equipment. Since the capital is already spent for
those machinery, the hiring costs are saved in the authority. Some of this equipment only
could be found in RDA for the whole country.

A person employed in RDA has access to a lot of knowledge within the premises of RDA.
There is a lot of reading material available in library. In addition to that, lab equipment
which is in good quality and sometimes the modest equipment is available with RDA.

As stated in previous sections, RDA has several divisions specialized for various tasks. In
these divisions, job specialization is done, so better outcomes can be achieved within short
time periods. That configuration leads to practice on much elaborate set of skills among
employees.

Being a government authority, it has to and does interacts with other government
authorities, ministries and departments to cater many of requirements and to come up with
better solutions. It has the ability of picking the attention of some authorities very quickly.

Again, being a government authority, RDA is sponsored by many foreign countries in

means of training programs, survey equipment, specialized vehicles and machinery and
expertise knowledge.

Finally, for trainees as well as new engineers to RDA get good training programs. These
training programs are well structured as well as there are many fields which can be chosen

4
 to be studied on preference. For engineers, there is some freedom in the authority, which
could be used for higher studies which is by the way is an attraction for RDA. And with
the benefits one can get from being employed in a government organization, people are
willing to work in RDA.

1.4.2. Weaknesses

When considered about projects, the main weakness can be stated as the timely completion
of projects. There is hardly any push for the contractor from the authority unless asked by
an outer party to speed up the project. Normally there are many extensions of time per
project. On the other hand, any compensation is not claimed from the contractor referring
to extension of time. The audit division has questioned on this matter as well, but at the
same time contractors have made sure to provide some reasons for the delay as well.

When it comes to billing procedures, there are strict procedures to be followed, such as
calling for minimum 3 quotations to purchase a single item, or to have a simple service.
The interim payment certificates usually get delayed, their approvals get delayed also. And
if the variations go over a certain percentage of the initial contract value, the approval for
variation has to be granted through a technical evaluation committee, which was earlier
granted just by the project director of the relevant project.

Elaborating more on project procedures, as an example, any project conducted under the
LBFP section has to have a value less than Rs. 7 billion. To meet this requirement, most
projects are segmented to phases, so evaluations, estimations have to be prepared
separately, which is a time-consuming procedure.

When it comes to commencement of projects, most of the time, direct RDA projects are
not even started on the given date. This leads to delaying of projects as well. But on the
other hand, there will be a lot of escalation of prices and variations to be done to the initial
BOQ, which is a circumstance which could have minimized by adhering to strict
procedures. This delaying is also promoted by the absence of strict monitoring procedures.
At the same time, for direct RDA projects, the quality controlling procedures are very loose.
Sometimes the knowledge on management, technology builds hurdles for these projects
too. Talking generally, delaying of drawings is a common phenomenon for all direct and
contracted projects.

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 When it comes to equipment, most of the equipment is being idled. And also, the equipment
is not regularly maintained or serviced. This is an activity which causes a big opportunity
cost to the authority. Also, the non-utilization and wastage of resources can be seen inside
the authority. This causes to very high overheads as well.

When considered about the staff, it's highly outnumbered. Even though it is said that the
staff is outnumbered, there is a lack of experienced professionals in the field. Most of the
time, punctuality cannot be seen unless advised thoroughly. That is because people in the
authority had got used to a certain type of lifestyle with time. There are staff members who
have really negative attitudes which leads to the most of the problems present in the
authority. Unwillingness to work in teams and the less desire to share work with others had
led to many of the problems, where higher levels of administration had to interfere and give
solutions.

When considered about the procedures, those are still very traditional, and usually very
long. For each task, letters are issued. There are very large overheads incorporated with
those procedures. In promotions, sometimes experienced people are not granted with, so
that had demotivated those people.

When considered about document handling, the methods practiced cannot be seen as good,
because most of the documents had got misplaced as there becomes a need to refer them in
the future, many complications are created in tracking back to those documents. The
backed-up softcopies of the documents are not kept separately, so when there is a
malfunction of a hard disk, all the way up to hard copies have to be found and referred.

So, the above mentioned could be identified as the weaknesses present at RDA.

1.4.3. Opportunities

When considered about the opportunities, there is a lot of procedures that the authority can
adhere in order to make more profits as well as to increase the quality of the services
provided.

As a key step, hiring the equipment and other vehicles and personnel which are being idled
can make a considerable profit to the authority. Also, taking all the outsourced procedures
such as report preparing inside RDA, with the procurement of relevant resource people can
save a lot inside the RDA.

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 There is a good chance of having the personnel in RDA in training programs, foreign tours
to study on management, designs, material, procedures etc. as there are many willing
parties/countries to give a helping hand.

There are so many office spaces idling inside the main premises of RDA. If thought
properly, these spaces could have been used for a better purpose. Even those spaces could
be rented for small vendors, who can make use of it and create value.

Having the SVAT configuration is also an opportunity. Having SVAT at least for LBF
projects makes the tasks easy as there is no VAT payment, and the advantage of not being
subjected to VAT changes makes RDA a contractor and consultant attraction.

Finally, there always lies the opportunity of getting the public opinion on the completed
projects and on the existing infrastructure. These feedbacks can be given more value from
the traffic surveys, identifying trends of traffic etc.

1.4.4. Threats

There are many threats to the authority, which can be described as follows. The main threat
is the threat of substitution for the position of consultant. There are many road consulting
firms who can replace the position of RDA. Plus, the delaying of bill approvals has
demotivated the contractors plus the consultants in the field which may cause them to hold
or withdraw the variations or the whole project. Also, the delaying of the approvals will
cause the project to propagate very slowly, so the public opinion on RDA as well as the
contractor will get to a negative side.

The public opinion on a project plays a vital role also. The public protests against projects
have bad influence on the authority.

Sometimes, due to lack of knowledge, experience or awareness, the way authority has
interacted with other authorities are not acceptable and has created many of problems.
Those procedures lacked transparency and had made extra overheads to the authority.

Also, from the management side and from the government side, there are some threats
arisen. There are suggestions to close the LBF section and depend solely from the foreign
funds and government provisions. On the other hand, the allocation via the budget has been
lowered in great amounts compared to previous years. In addition to that, in budget
proposals, there is a proposal to remove the SVAT configuration from the system.
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The above written SWOT analysis sums up most of the phenomena at the RDA. Since a
profit to RDA means a profit to the country, optimizing the procedures inside the authority
with a better management practices will improve the quality of the services offered from
the authority.

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2. TRAINING EXPERIENCES

2.1. Information on work placements

Being a trainee in RDA, I had the opportunity of being trained in two worksites. (Two
projects: Widening and improvements to road network associated with development of
defense headquarters, Pelawatte and Widening and improvements to Kelanimulla-
Mulleriyawa-Koswatte road phase 01, Kelanimulla). Both of the projects fall in the LBFP
section in RDA, and the details of those projects could be summarized as follows.

2.1.1. Information on Widening and improvements to road network associated with

development of defense headquarters, Pelawatte (Hereafter referred as DHQ project,
Pelawatte)

Project Title: Widening and improvements to road network associated with development
of defense headquarters, Pelawatte
Contract No: RDA/DW/WP/LBFP STAGE-2/2013/08
Total length of roads: 10.98 km
Employer: Director General, 1st Floor RDA Head Office
Engineer: Director (Works), 1st Floor RDA Head Office
Contractor: NEM Constructions
Project Director: Mr. W. R. A. N. Pemathilake
Resident Engineer: Mr. D. Sutharshan
Site Engineer: Mr. T. Ravishankar
Contract amount: Rs. 3 638 389 248.13 (3.638 billions)
Due date of completion: 26th of November 2015
1st Extension: 26th July 2016
2nd Extension: 26th November 2016
Period of training at site: 29/07/2016 to 02/09/2016
Roads under the project:
i. Access road to Defense headquarters from Denzil Kobbakaduwa Mawatha (4 lane
highway) (1.3 km)
ii. Improvements to Pelwatte-Akuregoda-Pothuarawa road (4.07 km)
iii. Improvements to Robert Gunawardena mawatha (1.88 km)
iv. Widening of Denzil Kobbakaduwa mawatha (1.5 km)

9
 v. Improvements to Diyawanna Gardens road (1.36 km)
vi. Ceremonial Access road (0.6 km)

2.1.2. Widening and improvements to Kelanimulla-Mulleriyawa-Koswatte road phase

01, Kelanimulla (Hereafter referred as KMK Project)
Project title: Widening and improvements to Kelanimulla-Mulleriyawa-Koswatte road
phase 01, Kelanimulla
Contract no: RDA/DW/WP/LBFP STAGE-2/2013/13
Total length of roads: 0.6 km
Employer: Director General, 1st Floor RDA Head Office
Engineer: Director (Works), 1st Floor RDA Head Office
Contractor: Sierra Construction (pvt) ltd.
Project Director: Mr. W. R. A. N. Pemathilake
Resident Engineer: Mr. D. Sutharshan
Site Engineer: Mr. K. Nilaksan
Contract amount: Rs. 1 330 988 203.44 (1.330 billions)
Due date of completion: 25th of May 2015
1st Extension: 25th March 2016
2nd Extension: 25th December 2016
Period of training at site: 27/07/2016 to 28/07/2016 and 05/09/2016 to 11/11/2016
Roads under the project:
i. Construction of Kelanisiri via-duct, approach roads and box culvert

2.2. Construction procedures had exposure to: In the training period, I had a lot of exposure
to many construction procedures, being the following the most prominent.
Road construction
Culvert construction
Pile casting (in-situ)

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2.2.1. Road construction

The strategies adhered when constructing a new road, and rehabilitating an existing road
are quite different at some stages. There were lots of new road constructions at the DHQ
Pelawatte site.

Figure 2.1: Cross section of a newly constructed road

2.2.1.1. Construction up to sub base layer

Method

When constructing a new road, its essential to investigate on the existing soil known as
sub grade soil strata. At the reserved site for roads, thick peat layers were found as the site
was located in a marshy land. So, before starting the construction, all the peat had to be
excavated and removed from the site. When transporting the excavated material, peat solely
couldn't be transported due to restrictions from central environment authority regulations,
so the excavated peat has to be mixed with good laterite soil. Finding good laterite soil
wasn't a big problem as the excavated soil from the Defense headquarters site was dumped
in the reserved road site, which was allowed to use as the mixing material for peat.

Figure 2.2: Boulder and rubble packing for base preparation

11
Then the excavated space has to be filled with boulder packing. Before the boulders are
packed, a geotextile layer is laid all over the excavated field, having a plenty of length
extended in a cross sectional view of the road. The geotextile layer allows water to transfer
through the material but it prevents mud particles from transferring through it. So, it
prevents the mud particles entering from the bottom layers (sub grade soil) and bubbling in
top layers, which could cause for un-uniformities in the final road.

Then a 50-mm quarry dust layer is laid on top geo textile layer in order to prevent the geo
textile layer from tearing in the time of placing boulders.

Then the boulder coarse is laid up to the required level. purpose of having a boulder coarse
is to transfer loads to the sub grade soil, while accommodating for the ground water table
to fluctuate occupying the voids in the boulder packing. On top of the boulder packing, a
6''-9'' rubble packing is laid, in order to achieve a more level surface. Then on top of the
rubble packing, a 50-mm layer of aggregate base course (hereafter referred as ABC) is laid
and compacted.

Then on top of the ABC layer, the extended parts from the geo textile laid at the bottom is
taken and folded on the ABC layer, as a packing/covering is formed from the geo textile
layer, the boulders and the rubble packings are covered. This configuration helps to prevent
the folding and misplacing due to the loads from the upper layers of paving.

Then on top of the ABC layer, embankment soil is laid. For embankment soil, the CBR
value of the soil has to exceed 15%, and the soil grading has to be within the limits. The
embankment soil is used to take the required elevation, and to minimize the thickness of
the upper layers. The soil is compacted in 225 mm thick layers from a 10 ton or 15 t steel
wheeled roller with vibration on. 14 to 16 steel wheeled roller passes are done to compact
the soil, after being levelled by a backhoe loader or a motor grader. Field density tests
(usually sand cone test) are conducted and at least 95% of the maximum dry density
(hereafter referred as MDD) value obtained at the laboratory has to be in the field. If the
soil is not compacted to the required extent, the soil is compacted is compacted again after
adding water. Anyway, if the compaction is not sufficient but if it is near 95% (say values
from 93.5% to 95%), water is not added, only the roller passes are recommended as adding
water will be redundant.

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 After the compaction and testing of the embankment soil, sub base soil is laid and
compacted. The usual thickness is 225 mm, which is again compacted with 10 ton or 15 t
steel wheeled roller. The sub base soil has to have a CBR value greater than 30%, and the
particle sizes has to be within the limits specified in the ICTAD specification. Again, after
compacting and drying, the field density tests are conducted, and the 98% of the MDD has
to be achieved. If not, the corrective measures are given similar to embankment soils.

Problems encountered and adopted solutions

Normally it is little hard to find sub base soil in nearby places, so as a solution, according
to the ICTAD specification, ABC is mixed with the embankment soil to the proportion of
1:3 and used as the sub base soil. This solution makes the mixture achieve the required
CBR levels and grading values but could corrupt the results from the field density tests, as
there could be aggregates condensed in test spots, and segregation of material could easily
happen due to excessive water application on sub base soil.

Another problem is the presence of water in the excavated places, so the geo textile layer
cannot be laid. In these places, boulders are laid first, then the rubble pack is laid followed
by the 50-mm thick ABC layer, on top of that, geo textile is laid. Then a layer of quarry
dust of 50 mm thickness is laid and on top of that, embankment filling is done.

Figure 2.3: Rubble pack, ABC, quarry dust, geotextile and embankment filling layer sequence

The purpose of this geo textile layer is to prevent the mud particles from the bottom to enter
to upper layers, specially to ABC layer. But in this method, the voids at boulder pack could
get blocked with mud particles, so the natural drainage paths could get blocked.
13
2.2.1.2. Construction of ABC layer

ABC is laid on top of the dried sub base soil layer after mixing with water. Prior to doing
that, 200 mm offsets to the required finish levels are marked in pegs. Then the ABC is laid
to a thickness of 20 mm added to the finish level thickness. This additional 20 mm thickness
is for settlements in compaction. Normally when ABC is compacted, the mean thickness
of the ABC layer will be about 225 mm. The levelling of ABC is done with a motor grader.
If done with a backhoe loader, dense aggregate will settle while fines particles will float
and create variations in uniformity and reduce the expected compaction.

Then the Water is added at the time of compaction too. When the water is added less than
required amount, the fine particles tend to stick to the roller. If the water amount is too
much, ABC mixture tends to segregate. The ABC layer is compacted with a 10 15 t steel
wheeled roller with vibration turned on.

If there are nearby structures which could be subjected to damages such as cracks due to
the vibration by the roller, ABC is laid in 2 layers, which are having thicknesses about 110
mm and compacted in 2 sessions with the use of a 4 5 t steel wheeled roller. Higher the
ground water table, vibration from the roller tends to propagate further.

After compaction, the ABC layer is allowed to dry, and then the field density tests are
conducted, and if passed, the layer is allowed for prime coating.

2.2.1.3. Prime coating

ABC course is cleaned with brushes or cleaned with broomers until the dust on the layer is
removed and the polished surfaces of the aggregates are exposed, and the dust plus the
remaining dirt is blown away from a compressed air blower. Otherwise the prime will stick
on to the dust and will be peeled off when a vehicle is passed on it. The purposes of the
prime coat are to bind the aggregates in the ABC layer, act as a water proofing coarse, and
act as a protective coarse for the ABC layer.

14
 Figure 2.4: Priming of road, and a tray test is being held

Then the chosen prime is laid evenly on the ABC surface, having a density of 1 liter of
prime is laid over 1 m2 (i.e. 60 100 g/m2). Tray tests are conducted to confirm the spread.
If cutback type bitumen prime is used (Normally MC-30), the ABC surface need to be
completely dry, and the setting of prime will be fast. If emulsion type bitumen prime is
used (Normally used CSS1 or CSS2) the ABC surface could be a little bit wet, as the prime
is water based, but the setting of the bitumen will take time than that for cutback type.

If the traffic has to be allowed on the primed surface, sand is spread on the primed surface
after the prime is dried, otherwise the abrasion from tires will damage the surface.

2.2.1.4. Tack coat

After the prime coat is dried enough (after 2 3 days of priming), immediately prior to
laying of binder course of asphalt, tack coat is spread. Tack coat is also a bitumen mixture
which binds the binder asphalt concrete with the lower layers. There is cutback type
bitumen (RC 30) as well as emulsion type bitumen (CRS1, CRS2). Cutback type bitumen
dries very rapidly, and emulsion types doesn't dry that rapidly, but if the surfaces are
slightly wet, application of CRS can be done while cutback type bitumen cannot be used.

Prior to application of the tack coat, all the surfaces are cleaned with compressed air, and
then the coat is applied. The spread should be 25 30 g/m2. According to the ICTAD
specification, the spread has to be 400 ml to 500 ml/m2, but if the tack coat is used that
thickened, the bitumen content in the finished road will be very high, which might result in
flowing of asphalt at high temperatures. To avoid that, tack coat is spread having 200 400
ml/m2. Tray tests are conducted to measure the spread.

15
2.2.1.5. Binder course

As soon as the tack coat is sprayed, laying of the binder course has to be started. Before
starting the binder course, 6 to 7 mm added to the finish levels of the binder course has to
be marked on steel pegs, and such levels have to be connected by steel wires. This is to
guide the sensor of the paver to maintain the initial compaction levels. Then steel box beams
are kept at the edges of the road to attain a sharp edge finish at the edge. If this is not done,
the paver will create a slope at the edge and during the compaction this will shear.

Figure 2.5: Sensor which guides the paver for pavement thickness

Then the binder asphalt is unloaded to the paver and the laying is done. Normally paver
moves on a speed of 2 kmph. Paver spreads the asphalt plus gives an initial compaction to
asphalt. At the time of unloading and paving, the temperature of asphalt has to be at least
135 0C because otherwise there will be cracks and there won't be sufficient compaction,
and it should not exceed 160 0C or the bitumen in asphalt will get burnt.

Then the asphalt is compacted using a steel wheeled roller, without vibration. 4 roller passes
are given from it, just to have a compaction that a pneumatic tire roller won't be able to
shear the asphalt. The steel wheeled roller should travel at 3 kmph speed. Prior to
compaction, coconut oil or soap water is sprayed to wheels, unless the asphalt will get stick
to wheels and damage the course.

After compacting by steel wheeled roller, pneumatic tire rollers are employed to compact
the binder course. There are 2 types of pneumatic tire rollers. One is to do the compacting,
and the other type is to do the smoothing. The compaction type roller has 4 wheels for front
axle and 5 wheels for rear axle.

16
 Figure 2.6: Pneumatic roller for compaction (left, green), Pneumatic roller for smoothing (yellow) and paver (right)

The pneumatic tire roller used for smoothing has 3 wheels for front axle and 4 wheels for
rear axle. These rollers should move in a speed of 3 5 kmph. About 16 roller passes from
each are given to do the compaction and the smoothing. All of these compactions should
be done before the asphalt temperature reaches 90 0C. Otherwise there will be cracks in the
asphalt, and sufficient compaction won't be attainable.

Then the asphalt is left to cool down, at least 7 hours.

2.2.1.6. Wearing course

As the binder course is cooled down, another tack coat layer is spread on the binder course
after cleaned, and in the same method used to lay the binder course, wearing asphalt
concrete course is laid and left for cooling. Prior to opening for traffic, the density s should
be carried on and methods like spraying water to cool quickly should not be adopted, as it
will damage the structure of bitumen. (Crystal structure)

The difference between binder course and the wearing coarse asphalt is the bitumen
content. According to the ICTAD specification, binder course asphalt has a bitumen content
of 4.2% - 4.5% while wearing course asphalt has a bitumen content of 4.7% - 5.0%. This
makes the wearing course smoother than the binder course.

Before the wearing course is laid, the laying of kerbs, construction of center medians,
islands, drains and laying of cover slabs have to be completed to get a nice finish.

17
2.2.1.7. Finishing of road surfaces

A finished road will look like this. While the road construction is done, shoulders, side
drains, foot walks are constructed.

Figure 2.7: Finished road cross section

For drains, standard sized drains are used. They come under 3 sizes, having inner breadth
and the depth as 450 mm,600 mm and 800 mm. The wall thickness is 100 mm for side
walls and drain base. In urban areas, all the drains are covered with lightweight cover slabs
(100 mm thick, single reinforcement) and to where heavy access is required, heavy duty
cover slabs are fixed. (150 mm thick, double reinforcement) For semi urban areas, cover
slabs are provided only to the places where access is required. Other places are left open.

For foot walks, to separate the road from the foot walk, kerbs are used. There are several
types of kerbs called as barrier kerbs, dropper kerbs, dropped kerbs, concrete edging type
and bridge kerbs. These kerbs serve different purposes. Barrier kerbs are used to prevent
vehicles from entering to the pavement, from the roadside. Sometimes these barrier type
kerbs are used for center medians as well. Dropped kerbs are used in places where access
has to be provided through the pavement. In these places, the pavement is lowered. Dropper
type kerbs are used to convert levels from barrier kerbs to dropped kerbs.

Figure 2.8: Usage of kerbs

Bridge kerbs are used to in places where high protection from the traffic is needed like sides
of bridges. Sometimes bridge kerbs are used in center medians, in order to prevent vehicles

18
 from running over. Concrete edging type kerbs are used to stop the set of the interlocking
blocks from sliding away, as a containing barrier.

2.2.2. Widening of existing roads/Improvements to existing roads.

2.2.2.1. Widening of existing roads

The newly constructed part is done as same as the above procedure, while the existing road
will be improved like follows.

On the existing road surface, there will be a ABC layer, followed by a binder course and a
wearing course.

Figure 2.9: Widening of an existing road - Cross section

2.2.2.2. Improvements to existing roads

If only improvements are done, (no widenings.) on the existing road surface, a base course
will be constructed using bitumen bound base (BBB). This is like ABC, but binds better
with the existing asphalt layers and tar layers than ABC. When BBB is not available, ABC
will be used for the purpose. On top of the BBB layer, binder courses followed by wearing
courses will be laid. No prime will be used on BBB layer, as it has bitumen and have the
capability of bonding well unlike ABC.

BBB asphalt is much similar to binder and wearing asphalt, so same equipment and
procedures are used to lay BBB course.

2.2.3. Culvert construction

A culvert is defined as a culvert if its span is less than 3.0 m. Culverts play a major role in
accommodating water flows and draining the water collected by roadsides. There are 2
major types of culverts being used these days. Those are box culverts and Hume pipe
culverts. Box culverts can accommodate high flow rates and one can go inside and clean

19
 the culvert during the maintenance period. Due to these reasons box culvert is the most
popular culvert type of all. But it's is little difficult construct, due to complex reinforcement
arrangements.

Hume pipe culverts are constructed when there is a sudden requirement of a culvert. Most
of the time these requirements are raised in the execution of the project, and they are not in
the initial drawings. So, due to ease of constructability (Less complication of formwork and
reinforcement.), Hume pipe culverts are constructed. The disadvantage is the flow can be
accommodated is less than that in box culverts.

Since the culverts are designed for storm water, a base slope of 0.5% has to be provided,
but with time, in urban areas there will be solid waste mixed with storm water, so in order
to cater that requirement, a slope of 1% is provided at the bed.

2.2.3.1. Steps of construction

Normally the culvert is excavated in 6 m parts where traffic exists, and the culvert bottom
is levelled. Culvert bottom is made by a rubble packing and an ABC layer laid as shown in
figure 2.10.

Figure 2.10: Cross sections of Box culvert (left) and Hume pipe culvert (right)

Then the bottom screed is laid, and on top of that, the bottom reinforcement is placed and
the formwork is fixed for the base level (normally 150 mm, sometimes 200 mm high from
the screed level). Then the finish levels of the base concrete have to be marked in pegs in
the centerline of the culvert base, and on the formwork on sides. Then the base concrete
has to be placed. Normally accelerated concrete is laid as the base concrete, as the
construction of the rest of the structure has to be started as soon as possible.

If the construction is a box culvert, the side walls and the deck reinforcement can be started
next. If the culvert is a Hume pipe culvert, the Hume pipes can be fitted next, with the
20
 support of the steel hooks. Then with the formwork fitted for walls and deck, and with
provisions made for weep holes, walls and the deck of the culvert can be concreted.

Figure 2.11: Concreting of a Hume pipe culvert

Extreme care should be taken when concreting a Hume pipe culvert. If the slump of the
concrete is too much (about 180 mm), the Hume pipes tend to float on the concrete due to
the up thrust from concrete. Concrete has to be laid in joints of Hume pipes first, and then
to other places. And extreme care has to be taken when poking the concrete. In Hume pipe
culverts, concreting procedure after the base concreting is done in several steps, as if done
once, the risk of floating of Hume pipes due to up thrust is high.

If accelerated concrete is used for culvert construction, immediately after the setting of
concrete, curing has to be started. Wetted hessian is laid on top of the stiffened concrete,
and continuously cured for about 3 4 days. Or tanking is done using mud walls on top of
the culvert.

2.2.3.2. Problems encountered at culvert construction.

The most common barrier for the construction is the existing water paths, and the traffic
that exist on roads. Prior to excavations for culvert beds, the contractor has to provide the
alternative roads for traffic, and according to HSR, the contractor should handle the traffic.
Normally excavations done in existing roads, half a width is excavated first, and the other

21
 half is used as a one-way traffic lane at a time. For the existing water courses, either they
are altered, or they are accommodated near to the work site.

The next problem arises with the existing supply tube lines such as water supply lines and
telephone lines. Those lines need to be shifted, and the shifting can be done in 3 different
ways. The altered pipes can be laid underside the culvert, aside the culvert and within the
culvert. The last option is taken in a manner that the pipe is accommodated in the free board
level of the culvert. The area above the free board level is the extra space allocated in a
culvert to handle the flow in a heavy flood situation.

Figure 2.12: Accommodating service lines inside the culvert

2.2.4. Piling

Piled foundations are used to transfer huge loads to the ground where the soil bearing
capacity is not enough to bear that much of load. In the training period, I had the chance to
witness the pile boring and casting processes for the replacement pile in the Akuregoda end
abutment in the DHQ Pelawatte site, and the casting of piles for the bridge at 1+908 km in
the KMKR project, Kelanimulla.

In the DHQ Pelawatte site, 1 pile has failed due to the failure of casted concrete. Due to a
fault in the cement used in the concrete mix, a 28 days strength of 15 MPa was attained for
concrete, designed for grade 30. So, the pile (no. 21) was rejected and a new pile (no. 21a)
is casted.

In both sites, all the piles were having 1000 m diameter, and all the piles were bored in to
the bedrock. Depth of piles varied from 8 m to 12 m, while the length of the pile in bedrock
known as the 'socketing length' was 1.5 m for the piles in DHQ Pelawatte site and 1.0 m
for the piles in KMKR project, Kelanimulla. In design process, normally the socketing
length is given as an integral multiplier of the pile diameter, and the socketing length

22
 depends on the rock quality dimension value and the fracture index of the bed rock. A rough
variation of the socketing length of a pile can be shown as follows.

Socketing Length (D =
RQD Value
diameter)
50% 65% 3D
65 75% 2D
over 75% 1D
Table 1: Socketing length vs RQD value for piles

Generally, a pile has to be casted at least 1 m higher than to the required level. The required
level is known as the cut off level of the pile. This is because due to the concreting
procedure, mud will be mixed with concrete in the top most concrete, but in the below
layers, it'll be pure, so this excessive 1 m length could be hacked and removed later.

2.2.4.1. Pile boring

There are many techniques to bore piles, in the sites the exposure was limited to percussion
boring and rotary boring. Even in those main techniques, depending on the machinery,
boring process gets differentiated. But in any process, a casing which has a depth of 1 m
and a diameter of 1150 mm is set on the pile position, in order to guide the drilling
mechanism throughout the process.

Figure 2.13: Starting of pile boring by placing the casing

The decision of having full casings (casings inserted from the ground level to the bottom
of the pile) is taken based on the SPT values from the borehole logs which are based on the

23
 borehole s conducted before the construction of piles. In a particular soil, if the SPT values
are lower than 5, use of full and permanent casings is recommended.

At the time of boring, rock samples are collect with the depth. These samples are sent for
tests like LAAV and AIV test.

Percussion boring (Cable type)

Figure 2.14: Percussion boring machine

After setting out of pile points, in this technique, a hammer is lowered to the pile position
by means of a cable giving an impact to the soil. The repeated impacts given to the soil will
dig a hole in the ground, and even in the bed rock, the impacts will crush the rock. The
debris have to be taken out either by a washing process or by inserting a bucket to the bore
and collecting the slurry. Casings can be used to retain the surrounding soil, or bentonite
can be used to stiffen the walls of the bore.

There will be huge impacts while boring with a percussion type machine where the
surrounding structures could be damaged. So, when using this type of machine, the
surroundings should be isolated by means of alleys or other methods, from the worksite, or
the work site should be far away from structures. The drilling process is moderately slow,
and the accuracy of the bored pile diameter could vary a lot if the casings are not used in
the full length of the pile. And with the other inaccuracies and disadvantages like high
vibrations of sub soil and rock, this machine is being outdated.

Rotary drilling (Rig boring)

In a rotary drilling process, the machine is located on the point of the pile, and the drilling
rig is lowered in to the pre-installed casing. A Within the training period, I had the exposure

24
 to 2 different types of rotary drilling machines, of many types. Compared to percussion
type machines, rotary drilling machines have less vibrations transferred to the soil and the
bedrock, so having nearby structures, this machine can still be used without causing much
problem.

Rotary drilling machine

These machines are available in different capacities (100 hp, 200 hp, 250 hp), and a range
of tools are used to bore the pile. This type of machine was used to bore the replacement
pile at DHQ Pelawatte site, and the reason to use this type of machine is having less
vibrations while operating, so those won't be damaging the already casted piles. And
compared to a percussion type machine, this machine is quite fast in boring a pile bore.

Figure 2.16: Drilling tools - Core barrel (left), Auger (middle) and Rock bucket (right)

The core barrel tool is used to cut around the

Leader Kelly
bar bar rock (at bedrock level), the auger tool is used to
drill in the soil (soft particles) as well as to crush
the rocks at bedrock level and the rock bucket
tool is used to collect the debris and excavated
material inside the pile and dump it somewhere
else. In all of these tools, cutting bits known as
bullets made by tungsten carbide (WC) are used.

In a rotary drilling machine, the process of

Figure 2.15: Rig drilling machine
boring can be started either with the core barrel
or with the soil auger tool lowered in to the
starter casing. After loosening of enough
material, the tool can be changed to the rock
bucket tool and the excavated material can be

25
 taken out. In the drilling machine used in site at DHQ Pelawatte didn't have the facility to
do a washing process while boring, so all the way up to the bedrock has to be bored without
having the support of bentonite. But this was not an issue because full permanent casings
are used to support the pile bore. If this machine is used in a place where there are no full
casings are used, then there will be a risk of collapsing the surrounding soil, in to the pile
bore.

The drilling procedure is highly influenced with the load applied to the boring tool, from
the machine through the 'Leader and the Kelly Bar' as in figure 2.16. A Kelly bar has to
weigh from 8 t to 13 t, while the machine used at the DHQ site had a weight of 9 t. Higher
the weight, easier and quicker the pile is bored. If the weight seemed to be insufficient in
drilling, from the machine, the Kelly bar has to be pressed to the pile bore to quicken the
process.

GPS boring machine

This machine has the same mechanism,

but operated fully electrically, so the
noises made are much less. And this
machines' Kelly bar is much lighter than
the Kelly bar used in the rotary boring
machine, so vibrations made are very
little compared to all previously
mentioned machine, but at the same time
the drilling process of a pile is very slow
due to the small load applied on the
cutting tool. A Kelly bar would weigh
about 3 t to 5 t, in a machine which has
the maximum capacity to drill a 1000 mm
pile bore, and will consume about 30 kW.
This machine is capable of drilling up to
a depth of 30 m. All the tools which were

Figure 2.17: GPS boring machine used in a rotary rig machine are also used
with the GPS machine, but the rock

26
 bucket was not available for this machine. And since the machine is placed directly on the
pile position, it requires a very little space.

The reason to use a GPS machine at the bridge reconstruction site at KMKR project,
Kelanimulla is the presence of the nearby structures as houses so we cant allow much
vibrations, and the less availability of space, due to the presence of structures and the road.

The advantage of using a GPS machine in addition to small vibrations and less space
consumption, the pile can be washed while boring. Since there is no rock bucket, to take
out the excavated material from the pile bore, a washing process has to be employed. So,
washing the bore with bentonite solution while drilling it will result a pile bore with a very
strong crust made by bentonite around the pile bore.

The machine should be levelled well before staring of the pile boring, since the pile will be
guided perpendicular to the machine through the guides.

Washing process and use of bentonite

A pile is washed prior to concreting of it. In the case of a GPS machine, all the time,
washing is done. In washing, bentonite mixed water is pumped to the bottom of the pile
using tremie pipes, and the slurry coming from the opening of the pile bore is collected and
sent back to the pile bottom. While the slurry is collected, the excavated material such as
dense sand and
rock particles are
getting chance to
be deposited
while flowing the
way towards the
pump. Rest of the
slurry which is a
composition of
mud, soft clay,
Figure 2.18: Bentonite mixing process bentonite and
water is circulated back to the bottom of the pile bore. In the case of having full casings,
use of bentonite is not required.

27
 There are many types of bentonite and Sodium Bentonite is used in the site at KMKR
project. Bentonite will form a crust around the pile bore by combining with soil particles.
This will close the water streams opening to the pile bore as well as support the soil from
collapsing in to the pile. In addition to that, bentonite does increase the density of the slurry,
which enables the slurry to lift all the sand and rock particles all the way up to the top of
the pile bore.

Problems encountered at boring of piles

There were many problems arisen at the time of boring. Getting started at the DHQ
Pelawatte site, the setting out of the road and the bridge has changed from the initial plan,
due to a complaint from the RDA head office. So, in the new setting out which is located
within 30 40 m to the initial setting out, no new borehole investigations were carried out
and 1st 2 piles have been casted assuming the soil strata and the SPT values are the same as
those are in the initial site. But at the time of boring, as a percussion type machine is used,
the bore has collapsed in large quantities, so the volume of the pile bore had become much
larger than the wanted.

So, when concreting the 1st pile, a concrete quantity of 150% of the anticipated value was
spent, but the engineer has continued to do the next pile in the same manner as the cost of
having full casings for the pile was still higher than the expenditure on concrete. Then for
the next pile, a concrete quantity of 180% of the anticipated value was spent. In that point
construction was halted and borehole investigations are carried out. According to the results
of those, having full permanent casings were recommended.

With the GPS machine, lot of obstructions were met by the contractor at KMKR project,
first one being the exploration of rubble layers inside the soil, as the piles are casted on an
old bridge site and the foundation of the previous bridge had rubble layers. As there is no
method to take the excavated material out rather than washing, those layers had to be
removed by excavation, as the washing process is not powerful enough to lift big material.
This was encountered as a main disadvantage of the GPS boring machine. If the rubble
layers were found in a deeper level that an excavator cannot reach, then either deep
excavations should be carried, or the pile boring technique has to be changed. Or else, from
the GPS machine, boring can be continued until the rubble is pressed to a hard layer

28
 (preferably the bed rock) which enables the tool to crush the rubble parts, which is by the
way is a highly inaccurate procedure.

Another problem was arisen when there was a rain at KMKR project, Kelanimulla. Due to
the rain, ground water table has arisen as well as the bentonite solution has diluted, which
finally caused the pile bore to collapse in. So, the drilling had to be re-done.

Due to the imperfections of the machine, problems arouse too. Since the Kelly bar is very
light in the GPS machine, the tool tends to divert its path from the guide in meeting
obstructions. This can happen due to meeting of a rock from the side of the bore, which
pushes the tool to a side which will finally cause an inclined bore. So, the guide has to be
perfect, otherwise correcting such errors are very difficult. In such case, the boring has to
be redone at the erroneous levels not applying the Kelly bar weight to the cutting tool
(Boring/Drilling while the Kelly bar being held hanged.), and the lowering of the tool has
to be done manually.

2.2.4.2. Insertion of reinforcement, flushing and pile concreting

After the pile bore is done, the reinforcement cage has to be inserted to the pile bore. In
KMKR project site, the reinforcement is made with main bars of T25 and stirrups of T12
bars. Stirrups are supposed to have 125 spacing and allowed use in spiral type, as using
circular stirrups will increase the work included and the complexity.

Figure 2.19: Reinforcement of a pile

The covering blocks of 75 mm were placed every 3 m intervals along the length, having 4
covering blocks at a level. At the same time, 4 GI pipes are welded attached to the
reinforcement cage in order to do the cross hole sonic logging test. The GI pipes are not
allowed to weld join if the length is inadequate, and allowed to use threaded joints to join.
The joints are not allowed to seal from duct tape, the only provision of sealing is painting
the joint with thick lacquer. The bottom end of the GI pipes has to be sealed by means of
29
an end cap, and the whole GI pipe is tested for any leakages by connecting to a pump. If
none was found, then the top ends of the pipes are also covered with a plastic end cap, and
sealed with a duct tape.

Figure 2.20: Pile after inserting the reinforcement

Then the reinforcement is inserted to the pile. According to the drawing, sometimes the
reinforcement and the pile bottom has to have a gap of 150 mm (DHQ site) and sometimes
it's not specified. The verticality of the reinforcement has to be checked at the stage of
insertion, and if the bars of the reinforcement is not long enough for the pile, another cage
has to be welded to the reinforcement, having lap lengths of 55 times the diameter of the
main bar. At the top of the pile, reinforcement could be mounted
to a support by means of cross bars.

Before concreting, flushing (same as washing) has to be done.

The tremie pipes have to be inserted to the pile bore, until it
reaches the pile bottom, and the bentonite mixed slurry is pumped
to the pile bottom and collected from the top. At this stage, the
density and the viscosity of the washing liquid has to be tested. If
the density is lower than the required amount, the dense sand
particles in the pile bore tend to settle to at the bottom of the pile,
which will cause inaccuracies in socketing after concreting.

Immediately after the washing of pile bore, the concreting

Figure 2.21: Concreting process has to be started. The same tremie pipes can be used with
procedure of a pile
a funnel fixed to the top of the it. The funnel has a volume about
30
1 m3, and the bottom of the funnel has a valve which enables to stop concrete from falling
down when it's closed, and allows concrete to fall down when released. In all of the sites,
grade 30 concrete is used for piles. The concrete has to have a slump of 180 + 20 mm.

So immediately after flushing, the concrete is poured to the funnel with the valve kept
closed, so after the funnel is filled with concrete, the valve is released and the concrete is
allowed to pour to the bottom of the pile bore. At the same time, the whole set of tremie
pipes and the funnel is moved up and down, to support the movement of concrete. In this
method, concrete is poured in to the pile. When the concrete in the funnel doesn't seem to
be flowing in, or if about 5 m3 (1 truck mixer) of concrete is poured in, the tremie pipes are
lifted, the top most tremie pipe is removed and the funnel is fitted to the next topmost pipe
and again penetrated in to the maximum possible depth.

This process has to be done until the pile opening is overflowed with fresh concrete.
Adhering to a process like this is to preventing mud to be mixed with concrete. If the
concrete was poured from top of the pile, all of the concrete will mix with mud, and will
segregate too. In this method, only the first 1 2 m3 of concrete will get mixed with mud,
and that concrete batch will come up in the pile bore pushing all the mud above that level,
so the next batches of concrete won't get mixed with mud.

After the concreting procedure, the case can be removed. No curing will be done, as most
of the length of the pile is under the ground water table level. In first 2 3 days after casting,
the end caps of the GI pipes should be removed and filled with fresh water, as there is a
massive heat generated inside the pipes due to hardening of concrete.

When it comes to problems in concreting, most of the problems are caused by the quality
of the concrete. Even if the slump is very close to 180 mm, and if the retarding admixture
is inadequate, the concrete tends to stiffen quickly, and in the KMKR project site, such
concrete caused blocking the tremie pipe twice, which resulted in dumping the concrete
inside the tremie system outside the pile and cutting of the bottom tremie pipe below the
blocked level.

31
2.2.4.3. Tests on piles

In the training period, had the chance to witness 3 types of tests done on piles. Those are
CSL test, PIT test and PDA test.

CSL test (Cross hole Sonic Logging test/Sonic test)

According to the industry, CSL test is only recommended at RDA projects. This is a very
sensitive test, and from this a detailed profile of cross sections can be taken and analyzed.

Figure 2.22: CSL (sonic) test being conducted

In test equipment, there is a transmitting probe and a receiving probe. These 2 probes are
lowered in to the GI pipes installed in pile. (say GI pipe no 2 and 4). Having those probes
at a same level, the probes are lifted in a moderate speed,
so that the prompting device records necessary data.

The transmitting probe sends an ultrasonic signal and

the receiver probe collects it, and the prompter
calculates the time taken for the first signal to approach
the probe, known as the earliest arrival time (EAT). This
EAT is plotted against the depth of the pile, which is
called as the waterfall diagram. So, if the material is
uniform between the GI pipes, the EAT has to be almost
equal throughout the depth of the pile. If there any
defects are present, the EAT will vary. Another two
diagrams are plotted at the same time, the wave speed
Figure 2.23: Wave speed, Energy and
Waterfall diagram for a faulty pile

32
 diagram and the energy (of the received signal) diagram, and in these diagrams, if there is
a defect it's easy to identify.

In this manner, test is conducted in all of the possible GI pipe double combinations, (1 &
2, 1 & 3, 1 & 4, 3 & 2, 3 & 4, 2 & 4) and a final result is given based on analyzing each of
the results. This test will cost between Rs. 25 000 to 30 000 per pile.

PIT test (Pile Integrity test)

In this test, a receiver mic is connected to the top of the pile and
with a little hammer small blows are given to the top of the pile.
The reflecting waves are caught by the mic and the pile integrity
is plotted in the equipment connected with.

From this test, the length

of the pile can be
discovered, and the size of
the cross section can be
discovered. If there's
necking and bulging in the
pile, those places can be
Figure 2.24: Necking and bulging of a pile (up), graph given by a PIT
test (down) identified, and if the
integrity of the necked
amount is greater than the bulged amount, further tests are recommended as PDA tests and
thermal tests.

From this test, it cannot be determined whether the pile is standing in peat or standing on
the rock. To determine such properties, PDA test can be used.

PDA test (Pile dynamic analysis test)

In order to do this test, on top of the hacked pile, a casing is fixed and the pile is raised by
2 m, using a higher grade of concrete. Since grade 30 concrete is used for piles, this
advancement is casted using grade 40 concrete. After the characteristic strength is gained,
the PDA test is conducted.

For the test, two accelerometers are fixed horizontally in opposing sides of the pile and two
strain gauges are fixed vertically in opposing sides of the pile. All of these sensors are
33
 connected to the analyzing machine. In addition to the sensors, a graph paper is attached to
the side of the pile and a levelling instrument is targeted at it, in order to identify the
settlements.

Then the pile top surface is levelled with quarry dust,

and on top of that the hammer used for PDA test is
placed. This hammers' weight is 5.5 t. Then the guide
of the hammer (cage) is placed around the pile and
well balanced to make sure the blow from the
hammer spreads evenly on the pile top surface. Then
the hammer is lifted to a height of 500 mm, and
released at once by means of a hydraulic jack, so the
hammer would free fall on to the pile. Then the
levelling device is checked for any settlements of the
pile. If there are no settlements, the hammer is lifted
Figure 2.25: PDA test being conducted
to 750 mm height and dropped, again checked for
settlements. If there are no settlements, the test is concluded, and if there are settlements,
test is continued with 250 mm height advancement per blow, until the settlement
advancements get to zero.

From this test, if there are settlements, it can be anticipated that the pile is standing on a
soft layer. With the help of the accelerometer and the strain gauge, analyzing machine can
calculate the maximum load the pile can take, and the shape of the pile too. This test costs
about Rs. 350 000 to 400 000. So, in most sites, one or two PDAs are conducted for
randomly chosen piles.

2.2.4.4. Failed piles and rectification of faulty piles.

A pile can be considered 'fail' as if the pile position is differentiated more than 10 cm from
the original position, or if the pile is unable to take the deign load. In these cases, a
replacement pile should be constructed by the contractor, and the drawings should be
submitted by the contractor for the approval of the bridge designs section of RDA.

34
 A faulty pile is a pile which has peat layers inside the pile, or at the bottom. In this case,
two cores are cut within the faulty area, to the level of fault in the pile. After cutting, the
faulty place is well washed, inserting water from
one core and taking out from the other core.
After confirming that all the peat is removed
from the washing process, grout is pressure
pumped from one core, until it overflows from
both cores. Grout is prepared by mixing of 50 kg Figure 2.26: Cores cut in a pile for rectifying
of cement with 25 l of water.

2.2.5. Tests on material

There are many tests conducted on site as well as in lab in order to find the properties of
the material used, as well as to find the quality of the work done. Those can be listed as
follows.

2.2.5.1. Tests on embankment soil, sub base soil and ABC

Limit tests: done on soils except ABC in order to find Atterberg limits (Liquid limits,
Plastic limit, Plasticity index)

Grading test: The particle size distribution should be within the limits specified in
ICTAD specification; otherwise rejected or mixed with quality material until the
required grading is achieved.

Proctor compaction test: Carried out to find the maximum dry density of a base course.

CBR test (California Bearing Ratio): This is conducted to demonstrate the behavior
(expansion or settlement) of a base course in a heavy flood situation. (4-day flood)

Field density tests (Sand cone test): This is conducted to find out the compaction of the
relevant course, whether it has achieved the relevant 95% or 98% of the compaction
obtained at the lab.

35
2.2.5.2. Tests on aggregates and rocks (Rubble and boulders), and on rock samples found
on pile drilling.

AIV test (Aggregate Impact Value test)

LAAV test (Los Angeles Abrasion Value test)
Flakiness test

2.2.5.3. Tests on asphalt

Marshall test: Test on compaction, and the flowing of asphalt due to temperature. And
cores are cut in the constructed fields, and the density of cores are measured to confirm
the 98% compaction is achieved.
Test for bitumen content: For binder and wearing courses.

2.2.5.4. Tests on bentonite

Density (Mud balance test)

Viscosity (Marsh cone test)

2.3. Documentary and financial procedures got exposed to

In the training period, I had the chance to work with quantity surveying section of the
contractor, and had the opportunity on gaining knowledge on documentary and typical
procedures on bidding, billing, variation orders, monthly reports etc. At the same time, had
the opportunity of knowing the bill approving procedures as well.

2.3.1. Breakdown of a contract document

The items in a contract document can be listed as follows, in the order they appear.

Contract agreement (between RDA and the contractor)

Letter of acceptance (LOA; Accepting the contractor, after the bidding procedure)
Power of attorney (Giving power to certain officials in the establishment to legally
sign for the requisites)
Form of bid proposal

This form of bid proposal can be furthermore elaborated.

Covering letter. (A brief description of the amount of work under the project and the
value of work)
36
 Cost estimate (This includes the bill of quantities (Hereafter referred as BOQ)
proposed by the contractor in the bidding procedure. Most of the rates are based on the
highway schedule rates for the year of bidding.)

Work program (This is consisted of the expected date of completion and the method
to carry out work in order to finish the projects in time)

Method statement (This includes the method of carrying out all the from A to Z. This
is given to the contractor by the engineer, and most of it is based on the specification
from ICTAD. If some procedure is missing in the method statement, instructions from
the engineer can be obtained, as well as the contractor has the freedom to carry out
work as specified in the ICTAD specification for road construction.)

Typical drawings (Attached some of the preliminary drawings provided by the

engineer.)

Company profiles

Existing site conditions (In this segment, the information provided by the engineer on
boreholes etc. can be used, as well as the information recorded by the contractor. For
this, existing ground conditions, water courses, electricity lines, oil supply lines, water
supply lines etc. can be entered.)

BOQ values (approved) (The values approved by the engineer for the bid proposal is
attached to the contract document. Most of the time, the approved values and rates are
a little bit lesser than the values and rates in the BOQ made for the bid proposal, and
the approved values are directly based on the highway schedule rates.)

2.3.2. Breakdown of a BOQ

BOQ is consisted of the approved rates for the construction, and for clarity, it is separated
in to several sections. The section number and the pay item number is based on the item
number and the section specified in the ICTAD specification. Those sections can be listed
as follows. (Referring to KMKR project, Kelanimulla)

Preliminaries and generals: Pay items such as sign boards, maintenance of the office
for the engineer, maintenance of laboratory for engineer etc.
Piling

37
 Construction of via-duct
Construction of approach roads
Incidentals: Pay items such as road marking, Road signs, Lighting, miscellaneous items
such as guard rails, guard stones, bollards etc.
Day works: Labor, Equipment and Material
Provisional sums

After the summation of values, 5% of the sum is added for physical contingencies, and
7.5% is added for price contingencies. Then the cost before nation building tax (NBT) and
the value-added tax (VAT) is taken, then the taxes are added as 2% for NBT and 11% for
VAT. According to changes in budget of the Sri Lankan government, these taxes could be
changed. Anyway, as this project is done with an SVAT configuration, addition of VAT is
not considered.

2.3.3. Billing practices

Prior to a billing procedure, identification of the pay items in the BOQ is important. There
are several pay item types in a BOQ documents.

Preliminaries: The items fall in to this category are most of the essential items, and the
value of these items can be considered as successfully forecasted. So, items in this
category are not subjected for price escalations. That is, changing of billing rates due
to the fluctuation of rates with time.

Lump sum items: Amount declared as lump sum items are not subjected to any change
during the project period. Things like insurance cost which is 5% of the initial project
value, fall under this item.

Provisional sum items: Amounts declared as provisional sum items can be subjected to
changes but not regarded as escalations. The reason is the quantity of the work related
cannot be accurately forecasted, so the change of the work scope has become quite
acceptable. At the same time, claiming for the changed work has to be done via
variations, and the approval for the variation has to be given from the engineer. If the
variation amount exceeds a value of 10% of the initial project value, the project director
of RDA alone cannot give the approval. The variation has to be gone through a technical
evaluation committee appointed by the RDA and get passed.

38
 All other items can be subjected to escalations, taking the bid proposal values as the
base indices. For escalation items, only 90% of the total escalation is paid. The
escalation items are lined up in order of their value, and the items having highest value
summed up to 90% is taken for escalation and input percentage calculations. The
escalated bills can be directly approved by the project director, RDA. Most of the time,
escalations are positive as normally the prices are going up with time, but there are
instances where minus escalations come such as reduction of fuel prices etc.

In an internal payment certificate, all of the bills, measurement sheets and dayworks
are attached, with the final bill value.

2.3.4. Problems in billing procedures.

Since the initial project scope is covered having savings, balance work is assigned to the
contractor with the savings via variation orders. Since the ongoing work is done with
variation orders, there are a lot of problems arisen. For variations, the initial BOQ values
have to be used which were used in the bidding procedure prepared in several years back,
so all of the items have to be either escalated or varied. Since the variations are to be
approved by a technical evaluation committee of RDA in events of exceeding 10% of the
initial BOQ value, those payments on IPC can get delayed.

These delays can cause capital lockup, difficulties in budget forecasting and cost and profit
forecasting. It'll cause increase the contractor outstanding which will cause in delaying of
salaries, reduction of provisions, reduction of petty cash which will eventually causes the
reduction of work in progress. This is a demotivator to the contractor.

When there are natural disasters such as flood events occurred in March 2016, extension of
time (EOT) is given to the contractor. Since there is no work done in such months, there is
no any income from the client as no bills are submitted. But since the preliminaries and
services like vehicles have to be kept on, still there are expenses in the contractors' hand,
which will lead the contractor to request for loans from the head office of the contractor.
This loan amount will be recovered through steps of IPCs or from the final bill after the
maintenance period. For delays by natural disasters or weather events neither engineer nor
the contractor can have claims. (SBD 05)

The escalation procedure can cause losses to the contractor. For an instance, expansion
joints were rated as Rs. 2355 per linear meter, but due to unavailability of the mentioned
39
 expansion joints, another type of expansion joint is used which has costed about Rs. 8000
per linear meter. Since this expansion joints are not included within the 90% of the value
taken for price escalations, it has caused losses for the contractor.

There will be problems arisen with the bulletin from the ICTAD. If there is an item used
which is not mentioned in the bulletin, then claiming that could cause a problem. This has
happened in a previous project as aluminum lamp posts are used which was not included
in the bulletin. In such events, ICTAD should be informed about the scenario and an
instruction should be taken on which basis the item could be claimed.

2.4. Co-operating with parties outside RDA

2.4.1. Co-operating with CEB

Since the improvements to the junctions are carried on, electrical post shifting and electrical
wire shifting has to be done. CEB is carrying out this procedure in three phases: installation
of the new posts, fitting of supporting material on posts, and wiring the posts. In order to
carry out the latter task, power cuts are done and in order to do a power cut, according to
CEB legislation, they have to put on a paper advertisement a month before the power cut
is scheduled. So, at the beginning of the land acquisition stage, its RDA engineers'
responsibility to make the CEB aware of the wire shifting.

Inability of shifting wires in time would make the project elongate, as without shifting of
the posts, it's a waste of effort to do any road furnishing like laying of binder or wearing
courses. All of the communication is done via the chief (resident) engineer, projects of
RDA.

2.4.2. Co-operating with NWSDB

At the bridge at 1 + 908 km of the KMKR project, there were 2 waterlines that had to be
shifted temporary in order to carry out the piling work. This was to shift a length of 18 m
of pipes having 300 mm and 250 mm diameters. (Which is relatively a short distance.)
After informing to the NWSDB, initially a proposal was given by NWSDB and a
subcontractor was recommended by them, but the subcontractor didn't agree to do the
contractor, stating that the rates are insufficient. Then the contractor of the project (Sierra)
was asked to submit a proposal, which they did but the NWSDB didn't agree, stating the
rates mentioned are more than required.

40

Figure 2.27: Waterline shifting at bridge at 1+908,
KMKR project
Having those obstructions, the contractor was
asked to submit a drawing, having the pile
points and the road centerline shifted aside the
pipe lines, in an aspect to carry out the piling
procedure without shifting the pipes as well as
to accommodate the pipes in between the
abutment stem to be constructed, to which the
bridge designs section didn't agree. Finally,
NWSDB agreed to carry out the work claiming
a sum of Rs. 3.7 million. To reach this
decision, it took approximately about 2
months.

2.4.3. Co-operating with security forces

As a hand grenade was found in the site, I had the

chance to be familiar with procedures followed on
such situations. At our earliest, the forces are
acknowledged via 119, and the nearby police stations
were called on. We received instructions to close the
road at the site of construction by having barriers, and
with the help of police, the traffic is diverted from
adjacent junctions in both sides, and the road was
Figure 2.28: A Hand grenade was found at
bridge at 1+908, KMKR project closed in that section. No one was allowed to go near
the bomb, and it since it was a hand grenade, the army soldiers built a barrier around the
bomb from sand bags, and they took the responsibility of guarding the place till the bomb
disposal is arrived. After taking care of the bomb by the bomb disposal, the site and the
road was reopened.

2.4.4. Co-operating with general public (Social issues)

From road acquisition to finishing of roads, RDA and the contractor has to deal with the
general public. In road acquisition, favoring to people has to be done sometimes in order to
avoid their roof edges being taken in to road boundaries. For the acquired land, a
compensation is paid and the demolition and the removal of the debris should be done by

41
 the householders. But even after getting the compensation, people are reluctant to remove
their structures, which will ultimately cause the contractor to do the demolishing. At times
the sewerage tanks of households were located in the acquired lands, the contractor was
forced to hold construction until new sewerage tank is built, as well as to pump out the
waste water out and fill the tanks with quarry dust.

At the time of constructing roads, specially at times of compaction, there were many
complains on vibrations and cracks on houses nearby. Eventually the cracks had to be fixed
by the contractor, and the insurance company will pay for the work and material. Normally
if the crack is appeared only in one side of the wall, the plaster around the crack is damaged
to a width of one inch, and the plaster and the finishes are applied on it. If the crack appears
on both sides of the wall, the wall above the crack is demolished and reconstructed.

The cracks at the KMKR site was mainly caused by the 10-t roller used to compact a layer
of ABC having a thickness of 225 mm. A point arouse was that it could have been done by
two stages using 2 layer of ABC having thicknesses of 115 mm each, compacted by a 4 t
roller to avoid much vibration and cracks.

2.5. Visits to mix plants

In the training period, had the chance to visit a concrete mixing plant of Access
Engineering, at Biyagama, and an asphalt mixing plant of the same company at
Kotadeniyawa. Concrete plant was visited to do mix designs and cast cubes, and the asphalt
plant is visited to collect samples of asphalt for upcoming work. Both of these plants are
Chinese made and operated with Chinese software.

2.5.1. Concrete mix plant

In a concrete mix plant, fine aggregates and coarse aggregates are piled up in a shelter, and
cement and fly ash is stored in silos. The admixtures (retarders and accelerators.) are having
separate tanks to be stored. The fine aggregates used in the plant are quarry dust,
manufactured sand which can be identified as washed quarry dust, and washed sand which
is known as washed sand from peat and other mud. River sand is barely used for designs
as it's rare to find.

The aggregate materials are loaded to bin, from which they are measured and taken up to
the mixing machine by conveyor belt. cement, admixture and water is added to it at the

42
 same time and mixed. But the major part of the mixing is done inside the truck mixer, after
being loaded to it.

Then in the plant, slump is checked and 6 or 9 cubes are casted per mix design per
requirement. The plant keeps a separate set of cubes casted for their reference. This type of
concrete plants can be installed in urban areas as pollutants as dust is not much produced
within it.

2.5.2. Asphalt mix plant

In an asphalt mix plant, the material used are quarry dust (particle size 0 5), chip
aggregates (particle size 5 10), 19 mm aggregates, bitumen, and the filler material which
is the dust collected within the mixing procedure is used.

Figure 2.29: Asphalt mix plant, Access Engineering, Kotadeniyawa

In an asphalt mix plant, aggregate material which are filled in the bins called cold bins are
transported to the rotary kiln via conveyer belts, where all the aggregates are heated to a
temperature of 160 0C. In this process, a lot of dust is generated. Then the aggregates are
pumped to the top of the plant, where aggregates get sieved and graded in to 4 categories.
They are 0 5 mm, 5 10 mm, 10 16 mm and 16 19 mm. These 4 categories are stored
in the bins at top of the plants which are called as hot bins. From the hot bins, the required
amount of aggregates per requirement can be weighed. This is the main difference between
a concrete plant and an asphalt plant. In a concrete plant, the weighing of material is done
in the cold bins, and in an asphalt plant, weighing is done at hot bins, after heating to 160
0
C. Then the aggregates are mixed with bitumen and the filler according to the mix design
and filled in to trucks. The mixer has the capacity mix 1 cube at a time. After confirming
that the temperature of asphalt is about 160 0C, truck is released after weighing.
43
 According to mix plant officials, if the required quantity is less than 100 cubes, the plant is
not started, as it will be uneconomical mainly due to heating of material. And these plants
cannot be placed in urban areas due to the huge amount of dust generated.

Figure 2.30: Cold bins (left), Sample collecting from hot bins (right)

When collecting samples, binder and wearing course samples of ongoing mix designs were
collected. In addition to that, 4 hot bin samples from 4 sieve sizes, 3 cold bin samples of
quarry dust, 10 mm aggregates and 19 mm aggregates and a sample of filler are collected
for tests like grading, AIV and flakiness.

2.6. Safety and risk management at site

Typical procedures are used to protect from possible hazards. Helmets, high visibility
jackets, gloves of rubber and polymer and boots or safety shoes are used in general for
personal protection. Other than that, welders are equipped with their mask, and in
operations where dust is generated face masks are used.

In sites, all the excavations and newly laid concrete are well covered using barricades and
drums, notices stating 'no entry' and the protective equipment should be worn at site are
displayed. In the case of traffic diversion, bumpers are laid to reduce the traffic speed, the
direction of diversion is shown by red arrows and blinking amber lights. For traffic
management, two labors are put in either side of the bridge.

Wastes generated in the site are collected to one place and burnt in most of the time. The
sanitation facilities are provided within the site by having toilets, of which the septic tanks
are cleared in a routine basis.

44
2.7. Exposed survey work

In the latter part of the training period, had the opportunity to assist a surveyor in a setting
out process. I got familiarized with the total station equipment and setting out process and
with the practical problems. And in the KMKR site, I was assigned to survey a section of
40 m, which included a used culvert and a culvert in use, and prepare elevations, plan views,
cross sections and contour maps. All of the drawings are annexed at annex 01.

45
3. CONCLUSION

3.1. Summary of training experience

In the training period, I was assigned to Road Development Authority to have my training,
and I was assigned to construction sites where new road construction, road rehabilitation,
bridge structure construction, piling etc. took place. So, in technical perspective, a lot of
knowledge could be gained within this 4-month period.

When broken down, experiences on road construction could be categorized as experiences

in road excavation for base preparation of where the soil seems to be loose and unable of
load bearing, boulder and rubble packing, laying of the geo textile layer, embankment
construction, sub base layer construction, base layer construction using ABC or BBB,
priming of the surface, tacking on the surface for binding purposes, paving of asphalt as
binder courses and wearing courses. In addition to those, construction of box culverts and
Hume pipe culverts, side drains, berm drains, cover slabs, road edge paving, foot walk
construction, kerbs fitting and construction of center medians are some procedure that I
was exposed to. Also, got experiences on in-situ testing procedures and lab testing
procedures.

In piling work, experiences in pile boring, washing and concreting plus the exposure to
machinery were gained. In addition to that, I had broad experiences on some testing
procedures on piles as well. And also, had experiences on rectification measures for failed
and defective piles as there were some defective piles as well.

For construction work, it is needed to visit the plants of material and product supply, in
order to assure their quality in supplying, so I had the chance to visit concrete mix plant
for a mix design, and visited an asphalt mix plant to collect samples.

Being a part of the consultant, had the chance of exposing to co-operate with outer entities
such as NWSDB, CEB and general public. Also, had the opportunity to navigate to nearby
work sites and gain experiences when some significant work is going on and that was a
good opportunity to have various experiences such as setting out and base preparation.

At the same time, since I had the opportunity to work with the quantity surveying team of
the contractor, a knowledge on contract procedures and billing procedures could be

46
 gained. And being a part of the consulting firm, procedures on claiming and approving the
bills were got exposed to.

In the training period, didn't have the exposure to designing processes, so in the final year
of the university, taking research projects related and the enrolling for such modules that
cover the designing aspects are the intended measures to cover the designing aspects.

3.2. Training establishments ability to provide useful training

RDA is an establishment which does a lot of consulting, or at least being the client, so it
has the ability to assign trainees in to various sites in order to gain many experiences. And
also, the assigned work sites can be changed and could be visited when there is some
significant work going on just after a short notification to the officers in-charge, which I
see as the biggest advantage at all.

When considered about the people related to training, each person from the chief engineer
is well committed to train and share knowledge: theoretical as well as practical. And
wherever possible, they provide all the provisions to facilitate the trainees with necessary
material and facilities such as transportation and accommodation in addition to the work
related/technically related. Even the personnel from the contractors tried their maximum
to give us the best experience from their perspective.

RDA doesn't have a specific training program for trainees or a rotational schedule for
trainee engineers. If such schedule can be arranged including some design office work and
site investigation work, that would be a privilege to the trainees in RDA.

So, in conclusion, RDA could be considered as a good establishment to gain all the road
related experiences in line with some other procedures as well.

3.3. Overall assessment

In the beginning of the training period, my intensions were to have experiences on road
construction, and during the training a lot of experiences were gained in construction of
roads plus some additional experiences on various perspectives. So, in conclusion I can
say that the intensions of the training period are met and the expected learning outcomes
are achieved with the training I had.

47
Annex 1: Drawings done by me for the road section of 0+080 km to 0+120 km in Ambatale road, Kelanimulla junction, KMKR project.

viii
ix
x
xi
xii
xiii
xiv
xv
xvi
xvii
xviii
xix
Annex 2: Drawings, layouts and details of some structures.
2.1 Types of kerbs

2.2 Road Setting out for bridge at 1+908 km, KMKR project, Kelanimulla.

xx
2.3 Drawings for bridge at 1+908 km, KMKR project, Kelanimulla
Pile cap and capping beam placing details

Abutment/Wing wall/Stem details

xxi
 Capping beam details

Details of the bearing seat, precast beam and the deck of bridge

xxii
2.4 Bridge details from DHQ project, Pelawatte

xxiii
Annex 3: Sample Mix designs
3.1 Concrete Mix design used for G30 concrete

xxiv
3.2 Asphalt mix designs used by the plant at Kotadeniyawa, (Access engineering)

HB #01: Hot bin 01 19 mm aggregates are stored in the process

HB #02: Hot bin 02 16 mm aggregates are store in the process

HB #03: Hot bin 03 10 mm aggregates are stored in the process

HB #01: Hot bin 04 5 mm aggregates are stored in the process

xxv