Let's talk about Bridges

Lets talk about the bridge over the Kelaniya railway crossing. The one that The Beast walked over. The one that Mad Merv renamed after one of the biggest crooks in Sri Lankan politics. Let's talk about Two-Point-One billion Rupees. After all, all the media were talking about it. Parroting on about how it was built in record time, with minimal interference to traffic. Everyone's having an orgasm about it. So let's talk.

Let's talk about the facts. We are not building one overpass, we are building two. The reason that we are building it this way is because the company that created and designed - and patented - the bridge doesn't build four-lane overpasses. They only build two- and three-lane overpasses. So the basic fact of the matter, is that we have to buy not one, but two bridges from the company - Mabey & Johnson. The other, is that this is not a world record. There are no records for building bridges. There are records for longest, biggest, widest etc., but not for fastest. This is simply the fastest that this type of bridge was built using the Mabey & Johnson technology.

Let's talk a bit of history. Mabey & Johnson came into Sri Lanka to build bridges for the Army. They provided the components for a bridge in Jaffna that was assembled by the Army Engineering Corps. From their website, it looks like Mabey & Johnson specialise in modular bridges that need to be built fast, doing work for military forces worldwide. They also have an overpass-building project in Panama and the Philippines. But something to note is that the bridges are mainly built using a process that is proprietary to Mabey & Johnson. Remember that word proprietary it will become important in the future.

When the decision was made to build the Kelaniya Overpass, the contract was given to Access International (who don't seem to have a website by the way), who came with the proposal for the bridge as well as the payment plan for it. The payment was to be in the form of a loan from the British Government and a commercial loan from the HSBC, supposedly at 9% interest on a dollar loan. Details of this loan did not make it into the media, but probably had something to do with Sri Lanka's Sovereign rating being downgraded to a B+. I don't know the exact loan split, but it is probable that the British Government loan paid for the bridge itself, while the HSBC loan paid for construction, installation, and, shall we say, other expenses.

There was, I hope, a tender process. If there was, I am sure that the big construction companies in Sri Lanka would have bid on it. Companies like Maga, ICC and others. I guess people like Jeyaraj and The Beast know why Access was chosen, But it could not have been because they were the lowest bidder. When looking at any project, it is wise to look at the Project triangle. A spin-off from the engineering field, the Project Triangle is a simple statement - You can have the project done fast, cheap, or well. You can pick two.

Let's talk about proprietary. For a Free and Open-Source Software advocate like me it means that the software I use is not not easily or changed, modified, or even repaired. It is the difference between USD400 for Microsoft Windows and downloading Linux for free. It is the difference between paracetamol and Panadol. It is, to very unofficially quote the engineer in charge of the project, the difference between a two rupee pill and a two hundred rupee pill. To be fair to the gentleman, he apparently said that with a very shamed look on his face. I wasn't there, but I know someone who was. The design of the overpass is quite simple. Concrete base. Galvanised steel struts. And the proprietary Mabey deck provided in modular form with factory applied anti-skid surfacing. Proprietary. Which means that when something happens to the bridge, we have to get the parts from Mabey & Johnson. I hope we went with the Extended Service Warranty.

Let's talk about building bridges. Let's, in fact, talk about a bridge that is under construction at the moment. Concrete, four lanes, two spans, over water. You may have even seen it. It's being built in Bentota, as a replacement for the old iron bridge. The construction is being done by the State Development and Construction Corporation (SD&CC). Mind you SD&CC have been blacklisted by the ADB for being too slow and too corrupt. But they are doing the job. Slowly maybe, but the job is being done.

Another bridge is the Bolgoda Bridge on the Panadura-Ingiriya road. Fifty four meters long. Three spans. Concrete decking, and built on a marsh after removing the current bridge. Build time almost 18 months. Build cost, 74 million rupees. It's official number is 8/3 and it's being built by the ICC. If you were to extrapolate this linearly, the same bridge, of the same length as the Kelaniya Overpass, would cost 445 million rupees. Mind you, they spent an extra 8 million rupees because they wanted to use the existing abutments instead of placing new ones. The old ones had rotted away, and needed repairs. The repairs cost 8 million rupees, new abutments would have cost about 2.5 million. And building on a marsh is not easy. You have to deal with water, mud, floods, pilings, and probably the occasional crocodile. Building in a marsh requires a whole different level of infrastructure. It's not like you can drive a 40-foot trailer loaded with equipment on to the spot and start working; something you can do on ground based bridges and overpasses.

As a point of interest, it should be noted that the original Bolgoda Bridge was a special kind of bridge. It was made of two solid spans which met in the middle but were not joined. They were a simple cantilever, and took all the traffic that went over it. Built by the British, it was the only one of its kind in Asia. Its destruction was a loss to Sri Lankan Engineering history.

So, the Kelaniya Overpass, built on solid ground, with minimal piling, cost four times as much as a similar bridge over a marsh, wit all the concomitant problems, would cost.

Let's talk about building a bridge. Let's talk about engineering contracts. Let's talk about technology. The Kelaniya Overpass was half-built in 60 days. There is an equal amount to be built. So technically speaking the bridge was not completed in record time. It's not even complete. But let's say that's beside the point. The point is, a bridge like that could have been built at speed, for a much lower cost. The technology is not only available, but is in common use in Sri Lanka. Prefabricated concrete structures can be built and sent to any part of the country. You may have seen some of them on low-bed trailers as you drove by them. Admixtures to concrete can greatly decrease the setting time. They too are used in Sri Lankan engineering. With admixtures it is possible to lay a concrete decking for a bridge, and have it cured and ready for vehicles to pass over it in four days. With plain concrete it is four weeks. Admixtures have been used in bridges in Sri Lanka. If you travel a lot, you may have even gone over them. One of them is the Bolgoda bridge on the Panadura-Ingiriya road. With admixtures, it took only four days for the concrete on the bridge to set to a strength that would allow cars to drive over it.

The fact of the matter is, we have the technology, We have the companies to do it. We can, using an engineering and legal term called acceleration have built the bridge in under four months. It would have cost us less than a tenth of what was paid to build the current overpass. How do we do this?

Let's talk logistics. The big selling point of the current overpass is that the disruption of traffic was minimal. Well, that's not that difficult anymore is it? Around the world, road building projects are done at night. You start work at 7PM and stop at 6AM. You use more lights than a Rolling Stones concert. You plan everything to a T. You prefabricate everything you can prefab, and bring it to the site. You buy up some land along the project (and lets face it, 10 million Rupees can buy quite a bit of land) and use that as the bypass road. It's really not that difficult. Talk to an engineer, he'll tell you how it can be done.

Let's talk about money. Talking to an experienced engineer, I found that the overpass could have been done in four months for Rupees 210 Million. That, my friends, is one tenth of the price we paid for it. One Tenth. Ten percent. Money we obtained on a commercial loan. Money that you and I will have to pay, with interest and inflation, in the next few years. And we all know how the Sri Lankan tender system works. Whoever runs the tender gets a commission. It used to be 3-4%, now it is at 10% and climbing. Military contracts can generate as much as 60% in commissions. So where does the money go? Well, the Minister for Roads and Highways gets a cut. In this case it was Jeyaraj Fernandopulle. But a deal this big would not end there would it? It is entirely possible that The Beast would get a piece of the action too. A very large piece.

Let's talk about the future. Let's talk about having to pay 2.1 billion Rupees back, with interest and inflation. That means that every man, woman, and child in Sri Lanka will be paying at least an extra LKR150 in taxes. And since not everyone pays taxes, if you are paying taxes, you're paying their share too. I'm sure they thank you for it. Think about it when the next tax day comes. Part of what you're paying, goes to pay for something that could have been done for one tenth of the cost. I hope that gives you a warm feeling in your stomach, It's called heartburn, and acid reflux, and a lot of other names. It means that you have eaten something that you're having a hard time digesting.

Let's also talk about the future of the bridge. Will they ever complete the second part? Will a galvanised iron bridge with a non-slip surfacing last? How long will the surface last? The standard lifespan of an asphalt (that's tar to you non-technical folks) road surface is 5 years. Which is to say that the surface must be replaced every 5 years. How long will the surface last on the overpass, especially under the heavy traffic on the bridge? Since it is made of proprietary technology, we will have to go back to them to get it replaced. What is the replacement cost going to be? If you use a Gillette razor, or a bubble-jet printer you may know what I mean. You get the hardware cheap. A Mach3 costs what? 500 Rupees? 600? But the blades, which last you 30 days of shaving, cost 800 Rupees for a pack of four. It could be more, I haven't bought a razor blade in a while. In the same way, a bubble-jet printer costs 6,000 Rupees. But a cartridge for it costs 2,000 Rupees. Proprietary technology means that when you need a replacement, you're at the mercy of the proprietor.

Let's talk about the future of the project. After all, there are 5 more such bridges being planned for the immediate future, with 222 planned for the whole project. The question is, can we afford that many bridges at this price? Is there any competent oversight on the project? After all, if a bridge can be built of concrete for one tenth the price for double the time, would the speed gain be worth it?

This project is one of the subjects that comes up now in engineering circles in Sri Lanka, but the media seem to be very happy to keep its collective mouths shut. It's understandable. After all, there are few people in the media who understand engineering. So let's talk. Let's talk about bridges, and overpasses, and money, and the future. Because these things are subjects that we need to talk about. After all, we're paying for them.

I would like to state something at the end. I am not an investigative journalist. A lot of what I have said is based on my conversations with a few engineers. The part about the bribery is pure speculation based on the tendencies and propensities of the people involved in the deal. Personally, I would love to see a real journalist have a go at this subject. After all, they're supposed to have more contacts and investigative skills than a geek blogger. I'll even help in any way I can. If you want to use any of the content here, feel free. I'm not even looking for credit. Take this information and run with it. Pass it around. See what more you can find. Please.