April 2009

$597,662

Completed

Bamyan

RC-East

Project Description

road from Yakawolang Highway to Band e Amir Lake

Project Goals

This project will construct approximately 12.3km of improved gravel surface road from Bande Amir Lake (42 S UD 34699 55415) to the intersection of Yakawlong Highway (42S UD 45274 50289). The roadway shall be 7m wide with 1m of gravel shoulder on each side for a total roadway width of 9m. The aim of this project is to increase mobility to the Band e Amir Lakes, leading to an increase in commerce due to the improved infrastructure. This will improve traffic to the local bazaar at Bande Amir, improve communication and movement of goods for the local villages, as well as encourage outside investment in the Yawka Wolang district. 

This project is the Governor's top priority to improve the economy/infrastructure in the Band e Amir Lakes Area. KTR has suspended work on the road on 22-NOV-09 because the winter weather restricts him from performing work. The KO has approved this suspension of work and will adjust the POP accordingly. KTR has contacted PPO on 09-JAN-10 with concern that not all of his last Invoice was paid to him. PPO will examine the matter and report back to the KTR in a few days. PRT Patrol reports that the road cannot be accessed at this time from the main road because the Snow Plow has blocked the entry point with snow (4' berm) thus, PPO will notify the Snow Plow KTR that he is TO clear an entry way to the lake road from the main road NLT 17-JAN-10.

Results

29 June 2011 - Pics of the road show that all deficiencies were corrected and the road is complete. PM CAN NOT MAKE PERMANENT ASSESSMENT UNIL THE SITE IS VISITED AND INSPECTED BY ENGINEER.

Updates

May 10 2009 Summary: The entrance to Band-e Amir Lake road (42S UD 45274 50289) was inspected to determine the feasibility of mobilizing equipment and beginning construction on the road. It was determined that the ground had dried up enough to begin construction. Conversations with locals established that the road was indeed passable further towards the lake. Engineer SGT Long was also present and confirmed this assessment. Recommend that the contractor be contacted and instructed to mobilize and begin construction. 

May 11 2009 Summary. Will brief the Band E Amir Wildlife Conservation Committee tomorrow morning concerning the construction of section 1 of the Band E Amir Lake Road. The director of the committee has asked us if we could have the contractor begin work near the lakes and move back towards the main highway? Currently we do not foresee a problem with honoring the request, and will talk with the contractor about this. We will submit section 2 for funding later this month, in preparation for beginning construction prior to winter. 

May 18 2009 Summary. Received notification the contractor is mobilizing equipment tomorrow to begin work on the Band Amir Lake Road Project. Estimate begin moving dirt within the week. 

May 20 2009 Individuals Involved: Governor Sarabi, Commander Elliot, DSG Fayez, MAJ Cribb, John Wecker (NZ PRT USG Rep), Elizabeth Brown (USAID Wildlife Conservationist), Mohammad Ayub Alavi (USAID Conservation Specialist) and the Band Amir Protected Area Committee (BAPAC)

31 Oct 2011- Sent email to CERP manager in Shank in reference to pay issue with this project. It stated the error of .58 cents that was not paid to the contractor. I verified with the contract if the invoice of $59,766.21 was paid to him.

1 Nov 2011- Received email stating that this project was originally a 2008 project that was cancelled and was reissued as a 2009 project. Bagram suspected that DFAS paid the final 10% aainst the 2008 project instead of the 2009.

2 Nov 2011- Received email confirmation from Atimad Construction @ Engineering Company that they had received their final invoice payment of $59,766.21.

6 Nov 2011- Band e Amir Lake Road Clearance memo was sent to the proper channels to attempt to close out the project. Also, the Handover memo was sent.

7 Nov 2011- The ODS Closure ws sent to contractor for him to sign.

24 Nov 2011- Attached additional documents pertaining to Band E Amir Lake Road.

Summary. NZ PRT was invited to attend the monthly BAPAC meeting to discuss the funded road project that is scheduled to begin approximately 20 May 09. We provided BAPAC with a map depicting the two gravel road sections that will be constructed over a two year period as well as a copy of the SOW. After the brief, we were asked if we could fund the road from Alexanders Gate (located off MSR Alabama between Y3 and Koy Kenak village). The committee indicated the engineers who conducted the survey suggested the current plan, but they would like to have the road come from Alexaders Gate. I explained that if they wanted to request a change in the current proposal, I would have to cancel the current project and conduct another survey of the area which would delay the road project to Band Amir Lake by another year if not longer. After a minute of discussion the committee agreed to keep the current road plan.

Governor Sarabi inquired about graveling the New Bazaar Road, so after the brief I met with Elizabeth Brown and Mohammad Ayub Alavi to discuss possibly graveling the New Bazaar area with a parking lot. The length of this gravel would be approximately .75km with a 40m x 80m parking lot. I requested Ayub provide me with four grid coordinates for the road, a request letter from the BAPAC through the Governor and a cost estimate to gravel the New Bazaar Road. We could potentially add this to Section II of the Band E Amir Lake Road.

Jun 2 2009 Summary: Contractor submitted his plans and work schedule today. However, there are a number of things that need clarification so the contractor has been instructed to meet with the PRT engineer on Thursday to clarify these issues. 

Jul 8 2009 Construction Progressing 

Jul 10 2009 Visited the construction site today, but due the kickoff of the Silk Road Festival, there were no workers. The contractor has completed widening and leveling of approximately 5 km of road at various points of the road. I will be meeting with the contractor in the next couple of days, to express my concern of not having more done (has been almost two months). One potential problem is there is only one grader and one bucket loader (that was seen) on site. If this is all the equipment they have, this project will take much longer. 

Aug 19 2009 construction moving along Sep 30 2009.

Oct 16 2009 Last payment posted 27SEP2009.

Update as of 7OCT2009: Contractor did not bring weekly work plan and has not yet made contact with the Director of Public Works, Jon Zad, to discuss the culverts and Spoils disposal area. He has emailed the proposed design so we did not have a lot to discuss. Obtained Muhanmad Asif's contact information and the General Manager's contact information. The contractor is in need of his progress payment and says it has been 15 days since he submitted his pay invoice. (the 27SEP2009 payment)Contractor did submit the letter to clear up land issues. 

Recommendations: Follow up on designs to see if they have been emailed. Check on payment status. Continue with work stoppage until Jon Zad has made his inspection. (Email for stop-work was sent on 29SEP2009)

Follow-on Actions: Get the letter translated has been given to A.D. for translation

Report from:

Bill Stratton

Bamyan PRT

Follow-up: Engineer Jon Zod visited the site and approved the work on site. One week ago (approximately) the contractor returned to full work schedule. Nov 2 2009 . Nov 30 2009 Project halted for winter. Approved 22NOV2009. Dec 30 2009 Project halted for winter. Approved 22NOV2009. Feb 13 2010 This project has shut down for winter. Approved 22 NOV 09. PAYMENTS TO CONTRACTOR ARE CURRENT AND UP TO DATE. LATEST PAYMENT WAS 1NOV09, SF44 AMOUNT $149,415.58, WHICH LEAVES A REMAINING BALANCE OF $209,181.79 Feb 17 2010 Media Added Mar 12 2010 Project on winter hold, projected to restart 1APR2010 Mar 31 2010 Transitioned from old PPO (LTC Adams) to new system with LTC Cost as the PO and Major Bowles as the PM. We will QA/QC this project within the next week. May 8 2010 We visited the Bande-Amir Lake Road last week. The road is wide enough but the road is still all dirt. It looks like they cleared the path to be able to get their percentage pay before the winter. It needs a good compacted base layer and then rocks/crushed stone to top off the road. The road does not reach the lakes yet. It goes for about 8 kilometers but it stops before the lake. It dead ends with an area that needs to be cleared through the mountain. No equipment was on the job site. They have not mobilized for this season. Once the road gets wet from the rain, it becomes almost impossible to drive on the road. May 30 2010 Percentage update. Jul 3 2010 Myself and the USACE engineers visited the site last week. We noticed that the contractor put many truck loads of bad material on the road. We told the foreman that he could not use that material. There was too much "plastic" or water retaining material in those piles. We called in the contractor this week to discuss several issues. We talked to the contractor about the material. We also discussed that we needed soil samples from the entire road. We also discussed what was needed for sub-grade as opposed to sub-base. The contractor was trying to start the sub-base layer with the wrong material. We told him that some of that can be used for the sub-grade layer but it is not suitable for the sub base layer. We also noticed that there are some issues with the SOW. We have to address it with the CO. Once the changes are approved by the CO and the contractor, we will then change the SOW. The bottom line is that there are unachievable levels/measurements that are currently required. We also told the contractor that we need a copy of his 100% dign. We currently do not have a copy in the records. The contractor asked if he should stop work but we told him no. We told him that he can suspend his sub-base layer production but by all means he still needs to clear the rock/mountain portion of the road. That area still needs to be cleared in order to turn the road towards the lake.

Jul 28 2010 Visited Bandi Lake Rd on 25 July 2010. Present personnel where where USACE Ron Ashley, MSG Mark Schroeder, and MSG McKinney. Looked at the Road starting from Bazaar going towards checkpoint Y3. Construction company was putting down sub-base and wear surface base throughout the road. Was still in piles with no equipment working that day. They have cut a new entrance into the Bazaar from main road, but is currently not passable. Stopped and measured wear surface base at 42S UD 45024 50351 near checkpoint Y3. Wear base was 3" which is complaince with SOW. 

Aug 25 2010 VISITED THE SITE ON 12 AUG 2010. THEIR EQUIPMENT WAS AT WORK WITH AT LEAST ONE LAND MOVER AND A COUPLE OF TRUCKS. THE NEW PIECE OF THE ROAD THAT GOES INTO THE BIZAAR LOOKS GOOD. SOME PARTS OF THE MAIN ROAD LOOKS GOOD HOWEVER, THERE ARE SEVERAL AREAS OF ROAD THAT STILL NEED A LOT OF WORK. THE MATERIAL IS NOT SMOOTH AND MAKES THE ROAD UNEVEN. THE EARTH MOVERS WERE STILL WORKING ON CLEARING THE MOUNTAIN SECTION ON THE NORTHERN END OF THE ROAD. I DO NOT BELIEVE THEY WELL HAVE THIS ROAD COMPLETE BEFORE WINTER. Aug 29 2010 Updated completion dates. 

MMS Sep 29 2010 The contractor submitted an invoice for 75% cpletion. The road is not 75% cplete. I inspected the road on 26 September 2010. The road looks great at the beginning of the road heading north. However, the road still has several places that need to be upgraded and the road still does not reach the final destination. The mountain near the lakes is still not cut through. They were currently working on the north side trying to get the road to connect. At this time, the road is not at 75% cpletion. I believe the contracto thinks that 75% othe road being cut means it is 75% cplete. That is however incorrect. The road should now be connecting and the only thing that should be done at the 75% cpletion level is the different sub-base/sub-grades should be leveling out. However, the road is not connecting yet and is only about 65% cplete. The contractor has stated that he needs the money and he is going bankrupt. I will sit down with him this week to discuss the road and his payment schedule.

Nov 3 2010 The road is 90% cplete. We submitted the 90% pment last week with the invoice. We visited the site 2 weeks ago with the USACE engineers (Bill Straton & Ron Ashley). The road looks great but the northern part of the road (closest to the lakes) needs to be re-cut. They have already cut the road but the grade is too steep and there are too many turns. So, we outlined where the road needs to go with white lime/chalk to show the proper grade and turn that needs to be made.

They should be able to finish in the winter but that depends when the first snow begins. We will leave the completion date scheduled for the spring of 2011 with the actual finishing touches completed by the end of this winter.

This will be my last report for the Bande-Amir Lake Road. We will transition this project to my replacement PM within the next two weeks.

DECEMBER 6, 2010 - Contractor submitted DELAY OF WORK FOR WINTER MONTHS.

December 14, 2010 

NEW COR SFC Luppa Gilchrist - Contacted contractor via cell phone on 10 December 2010 and was told that he has not received the third payment of $59,766.21 as of 10 December. PA SFC Quichocho will follow-up in BAF w/ finance.

DECEMBER 19, 2010 - Confirmed that contractor received payment of $149,415.00 (posted 29 Oct 10)

MARCH 26, 2011 - PM/PPO and Engineer (Ron Asley)visited road site and made an assessment of the portions of road already completed. There are several areas that need to be fixed due to the winter weather and erosion. A copy of all deficiencies were noted and pics taken.

MARCH 30, 2011 - Attempted to contact contractor - NO CONTACT.

APRIL 28, 2011 - Cite visited by engineers and new SQUADRON LEADER (MAJ BARACK). 

MAY 01, 2011 - Contractor (FBCC)visited Kiwi Base. All deficiencies were covered and Notice to Proceed was scanned.

MAY 03, 2011 - Notice to Proceed signed by FBCC and constuction is underway.

June 02, 2011 - Visited site. Construction is not progressing as quickly as planned. PM contacted contractor and set a meeting to discuss situation.

June 07, 2011 - Met w/ contractor who stated that the terrain is much more difficult than originally planned and that workers had been out sick. PM explained the penalty process. Contractor stated that the project will be completed as planned.

June 27, 2011 - Received email from Atimad Construction Company that stated the road is complete and ready for handover. Set an appointment w/ Mr. Jawed who showed up to Kiwi Base same day w/ copies of invoice for final payment and completion pics/updates for the lake road. It was explained in detail that final inspection can not be made due to CERP TEAM not being able to get out to the site at this time. PM advised the contractor that the final inspection will be made once engineers and PM are able to get to Band-E-Amir. GIROA was signed by Director of Public Works on approximately 28 June 2011. PREPARING PROJECT FOR CLOSURE! 

July 20, 2011 - Engineer Bill visited site and made the determination that the road needs additional work. 

July 28, 2011 - Conducted a meeting with Contractor, Jawed and Engineer, Bill. Discussed in detail all corrections that needed to be made and planned for both to visit site tomorrow. 

July 29, 2011 - Both engineer and contractor visited Band-e-Amir Road. See CIDNE for all deficiencies/corrections that neeed to take place before project is closed.

November 23, 2011- Corrected the Regional Command from RC-West to RC East.

November 25, 2011- Uploaded the Project Handover of GIRoA memo, the latest ODS history and the storyboard for Band-e Amir Lake Road. Waiting to signature from contractor. Tomorrow the contractor will sign document. Changed project status from In Progress to Complete Transferred.

November 29, 2011- Submitted ADR, all invoices minus final payment from ODS and GIRoA memo signed by engineer.

December 10 2011- Resubmitted CERP Team Nominations on CENTRIX CIDNE. Resubmitted ADR and the DD250 with all the invoices (not upside down) on CENTRIX CIDNE. LLD