SUGGESTIONS

BY MR VINOD SHUKLA
The fundamental difference between underground works and
most other kinds of works lies in the fact that the realization of
underground works involves largely the creation of the necessary
space within the ground, the behaviour or response of which is
impossible to know perfectly in advance. Of course, this creation of
the necessary space (in particular, excavation and support
including all ancillary measures) is part of the scope of the works.
This means that the extent of the works will evolve in response to
the ground conditions. This evolution calls for adjustment of time
and remuneration.
Underground construction is highly dependent on the
geological, hydrogeological and geotechnical groundmass
characteristics, which have a defining influence on the means and
methods required for the successful implementation of the works.
In addition, the difficulty in predicting ground behavior and
foreseeable conditions implies an inherent uncertainty in
underground construction, which gives rise to unique risks
regarding construction practicability, time and cost.

1. Incorporate Geological base line report as part of contract

The Employer is required to make available to the Contractor
all relevant data in the Employer's possession on sub-surface
and hydrological conditions on the Site and is under a
continuing obligation to make available to the Contractor all
such data which come into the Employer's possession after the
Base Date (i.e 28 days prior to the latest date submission of the
Tender).
As this obligation can potentially be quite far-reaching for the
Employer, some employers have sought either to expressly
exclude the Employer's responsibility for the accuracy or
completeness of such data, or to insert a wording limiting that
obligation to the tender stage and expressly excluding the
Contractor's right to claim for an extension of time and / or
additional payment in the event of inaccurate or incomplete
information.
This practice however is counterproductive as the
information given by the Employer is the only available
information and the Contractor needs a basis for his pricing.
It shall be the obligation of the Employer to provide a
contractual baseline against which the Contractor will base his
bid.
2. Unit price contract based system Unit Price structure need to
be organised to facilitate the distinction between fixed cost, Time
related costs and quantity related cost.
The underground work in Himalayas are always
unpredictable, they always varies from anticipated to encountered
rock conditions by a large margins. This variation results in time
delays along with the cost of excavation and the overhead cost .
Items that may be potentially affected due to varying rock type are
Mainly excavation and primary support system. Apart from this
some local problems and different weather condition may also
affect the cost and no. of days. It can be resolved by addition the
unit price contract based system for the probable risk anticipated
along with per cost for such variations.

3. Flexible Contractual Frame work: The flexible contractual

framework should be adopted and linked to the variation of
anticipated vs encountered rock class and avoid the present
contract system which is rigid and has lot of delays in decision
making.
Financial proposal should allow such variations based on the
contractual framework and the engineer in charge of the employer
present at site must be authorised to take this decision minimum
during quarterly review of the progress for speedy work.

4. Transfer of benefits: During the excavation, if the contractor is

getting the better ground condition then the anticipated rock
condition in DPR (Detailed project report) stage, then the benefits
of this better ground condition must go in the favour of the
employer.

5. Budget contingencies: The Budget contingencies Should be

related to the risk in the project, Contingencies amount must be set
aside to cover unexpected costs during the construction process.
This money is on reserve and not allocated to one area of the
work, and simply insurance against other costs. The contingency
Budget should be different as per the geological area and risk
factor consideration.
6. Risk analysis and determination: The risk analysis and
determination should be part of the DPR. Qualitative risk
analysis will help to manage the project better by reducing delays
of the project by anticipating the types and the probability of a risk
occurring and also the impact the of risk. Probability is the
likelihood that a risk event will occur, and impact is the significance
of the consequences of the risk event.
If this risk will be analyse in the initial stage of the project i.e in
DPR stage then we can minimise the delays and damage in the
project area the impact of the risk which will come in future during
the construction stage of the project. The responsibilities of these
risk can also be distributed to the parties who can handle them
better. This will help in arriving a decisions when the dispute arise.

7. Team of Expert should be formulated: A team of Expert

should be formulated by the Ministry MORSTH, to find the
percentage of variation and their implications in the selected
completed projects in different underground projects carried out in
the Himalayas. The same should from basis of risk analysis for
Himalayan Tunnels. Assocham can be allotted funds and support
agencies like NHAI and NHIDCL for arriving at tangibles to be
incorporated for NATM construction of tunnels specially in
Himalayas. It shall help the countries to reduce wastage of time
and resource in this complex terrain where still a lot is under
planning.