Field Maintenance Guidelines

For Mature Rubber Area

C. Road Construction and Maintenance

1. Introduction

Plantation road network is a critical component in rubber operation. It

is essential to have a proper road system to meet the transport
requirement during the developmental stage as well as for the
subsequent operations including rubber harvesting. The main road
system and feeder roads leading to and from the factory or camp sites
should be properly constructed and maintained.

The following are general guidelines in constructing and maintaining a

plantation road system.

2. Type of Roads

There should be only one type of road to be constructed over the

entire rubber area to be specified by the Superintending officer or
Road maintenance In-Charge.

3. Layout and Setting Out

a. The cooperative should plan and design the layout of the

agricultural roads which shall be marked out by the Contractor
under the direction of the authorized representative of the
cooperative.

b. The Contractor should provide the stakes or marker for setting out
the alignment of the agricultural roads. The length of stakes shall
be 150 cms high with the upper 30 cms painted for visibility.

c. The Contractor should provide the Superintending officer any

assistance he may require for setting out and checking the road
alignment on the ground.

4. Road Specifications

The finished formation width should be 3.65 meters

4.1 Camber

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The camber of the road shall be within the range of 1:25 to 1:20
sloping towards the edge of the bank. Roads that are not properly
cambered will cause softening of the road surface due to water
stagnation. Thus, it is advisable to grade roads not only to smoothen
the surface but to correct camber. However, road and bridges are
repaired only when necessary though maintenance should be
periodically carried out.

4.2 Length of Roads

The length of roads is approximately 75 meters per hectare on

average.

4.3 Earthworks

1. If contracting is feasible. The contractor shall carry out the

earthworks in an orderly manner and shall maintain good
cross-falls to ensure the rapid dispersal of all surface water
from the road formation at all time.

2. Cutting and filling shall be undertaken to achieve a

longitudinal gradient not exceeding 1:12 in any instance,
except with the prior approval of the Superintending officer.

3. Where cuttings are to be made, the side slopes shall not

exceed 1:2 and in all cases the soils from such cuttings shall
be used for making embankments in the lower sections of the
road formation.

4. Soil use for fillings shall be obtained from parts of the road
that require cutting or from the approved burrow-pits, or from
where cutting is done in making a corner which shall be
suitably banked and the width increased to commensurate
with the sharpness of the bend in the road alignment.

4.4 Re- grading / widening

Wherever existing old roads coincide with the alignment of the

agricultural roads, these should be re-graded and / or widened to
conform to the above specifications.
4.5 Heavy Equipment Requirement

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The road contractor should deploy equipments that are of good

running condition to ensure optimum output of the equipment. This
should be checked and verified by the superintending officer of the
cooperative.

4.6 Bridges and Culverts

The construction of bridges and culvert are not included in these

specifications. Specific design and bill of materials are normally
required for these type of project especially involving bigger budget.

D. Mechanical and Manual Terracing and

Construction of Drains in Rubber Areas

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1. Mechanical and Manual Terracing

Considerations:

a. Terracing if required and necessary should be done manually and /

or mechanically by bulldozing at the discretion of the authorized
representative. It must be guided by contour lining using
appropriate equipment to ensure evenly and appropriate horizontal
terraces.

b. Terracing shall be done along the contours at 9.14 meter apart in

the planting rubber area which shall be indicated by the
Superintending officer who has the right to vary the distance
between terraces having regard to the terrain and the steepness of
the areas to be terraced.

c. Terraces shall be cut to a minimum width of:

c.1) 150 cm into the solid earth in the case of terraces constructed
by bulldozers,

c.2) 90 cm into the solid earth in the case of manually constructed

terraces and all finish terraces shall not be less than:

i. 240 cm wide in the case of terraces constructed by

bulldozers, and

ii. 150 cm wide in the case of manually constructed terraces

d. Terraces shall be cut in the shape of wedge with drop to the back
of the terraces. The angle of the slope shall provide a drop of:

d.1) 45 cm to the back of the terrace in the case of terraces

constructed by bulldozers.

d.2) 30 cm to the back of terrace in the case of manually

constructed terraces.

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e. The earth excavated and dug from the hillside to form the outside
section of the terraces shall be firmly beaten in order to
consolidate the finished terraces and to eliminate erosion.

f. In case of terracing by bulldozers all stumps shall be removed from

the terraces row and in manual terracing, stumps below 25 cm in
diameter shall be cut down to ground level and removed from the
terraces row. In both bulldozing and manually constructed
terraces, all felled timber on and across the terraces shall be
removed from the terrace row and placed else where.

g. Terraces can be damaged by erosion. This is especially so when

slopes are not covered with legumes/ cover crops. If left
unchecked, gullies will get deeper and deeper and will eventually
damage the terraces. Thus, it is important to repair damaged
terraces on time.

E X H IB IT 1 4 : C o n to u r T e r r a c e

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E. Construction and Maintenance of Drainage Canals

Considerations:

a. Drains should be constructed as determined and directed by the

Superintending Officer / Filed Maintenance in-charge.

b. The length of the drains shall be determined by the Superintending

officer or authorized representative and shall have the following
dimensions:

Dimensions of Drains (meters)

A B C
Top 1.5 1.2 0.9
Depth 1.2 0.9 0.6
Base 0.9 0.6 0.3

c. The layout of the drains shall be indicated by means of pegs after

consulting with the authorized officer. The top 150 cm of each peg shall
be painted with bright color for easy identification.

d. Remove all woody parts that obstruct the flow of water into and in the
drains.

e. Remove all roots, woody parts and dug soil at least 0.50 meters away
from both sides of the drains. Under no circumstances shall these roots,
woody parts and dug soils be stacked in a manner obstructing the flow
of water from surrounding areas.

f. Drains should be constructed with sufficient slope for unrestricted flow

of water.

g. The maintenance of side drains and culverts is very important in mature

fields especially during the rainy season. Drains and culverts must be
regularly cleaned for them to drain out excess water. Water from
clogged drains and culverts will cause roads to deteriorate.

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