Road is ready, now it is time for the yield

- Reporting from Khovd aimag -

This year drought caught many regions in Mongolia and many fear the zud to happen this coming winter. Hence western aimags enjoy the nice summer, with lots of rain in last month and having plenty of sunshine this month.

Back in 2008 Government of Mongolia approved the construction of the vertical road in Western aimags. The contractors have been selected through bidding process in 2009 and the construction works started in 2010.

Mongolian territory vasts from east to west and the main challenge for Mongolia was the connection with our northern and southern neighbors with vertical roads in order to develop the transit transportation. Therefore, policy makers approve the construction of vertical roads and even the railroad system is  constructed vertically.

New and old road difference is not only the black and grey color. One could feel the difference in a car.

The 4A road project being implemented in the Western region is a part of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program, which is a partnership of 10 countries and six multilateral development partners working to promote development through cooperation, leading to accelerated economic growth and poverty reduction.

By promoting and facilitating regional cooperation in the priority areas of transport, trade facilitation, trade policy, and energy, CAREC helps Central Asian and neighboring countries realize their immense potential in an increasingly integrated Eurasia. The project involves road development in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, People's Republic of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan and is financed by World Bank, EBRD, IMF.

The final result of the extensive project is to connect Karachi, Islamabad, Urumchi, Takashiken, Khovd, Bayan-Ulgii and Novosibirsk through the road network of 6000 km of highway connecting Asia and Europe.

Benefits of this network will be increased trade and transport capacity and local development. Total length of the Western Region road is 743 km. Majority of the road or 560 km are already ready and the construction works in Khovd aimag has been completed except the installation of the road signs, furnishing of the road shoulders, rest areas and water sewage.

When we have started the trip from Khovd aimag center heading to Mankhan soum the road was terrible and after 2km the new road started where one could notice the black patching connecting the grey, but the difference could be felt as the cars stopped shaking and making noises.

This was the start of the vertical road constructed in Western region.

Another thing to notice were the rest areas along the road.

There are no other roads in Mongolia which would have resting areas along.

Rest areas are crucial for the truck drivers and anyone driving long distances and hours.

Western road has rest areas every 200 km.

These are different from the road shoulders and are separated by green zone.

The current implementation in Khovd aimag is at 96 percent out of 98 percent total and there were weather conditions that postponed the construction. In last month the rain lasted for 20 days, causing the postponing of the construction and losses of USD 3000 for only the equipment for the Chinese construction company.

In view of the specifics of the road location and the use it has been estimated that majority of the traffic will be by heavy load trucks and vehicles as the road connects China and Russia the standards for the depth were set as:

• Asphalt 5 cm,
• Road base 30 cm,
• Under base 20 cm.

This road is the one that has been built on the highest point above the sea level and is at 2860 m in Baga Ulaan area in Khovd aimag.

Road financing

Most of the financing has been done by the ADB through soft loans with 1.5 percent interest and 32 years period. Government of Mongolia as well contributed and the costs are considered somehow low, as one kilometer of road was built with cost of MNT 550 million.

In order to save time the project has been divided into 3 tranches to start the construction works at the same time only two Chinese companies have been selected through the bidding process.

During the most loaded period of the project implementation 15 Mongolian and 4 Korean engineers were workin, while now 8 Mongolian and 3 Korean engineers are working on the project. Average wage for the road construction and mining sector employees is set as MNT 358K, while Mongolian workers at this project receive on average MNT 550K.

As a result of this project Khovd aimag is connected with Takashiken of PRC since October 2014 and Raushan Mamatkulov, Specialist at ADB reported that with contsruction of this road local children have more access to their schools, local small manufacturers got closer to their market, on top of Russian business interest inflow to establish farms with aim to do exports to Russia. Also he expressed his estimates on increased tourism.

China Jiangsu Jianda Construction Co., Inc. employs about 300 people on location and Korean professionals are monitoring the construction of roads,  drainage, channel, bridge, concrete dam and rest areas. This project is seen as an international project as the Initiator is Government of Mongolia, Investor is ADB, Contractor is Chinese company and the Monitoring is done by Korean company.

Even though the contractor is a Chinese Public company it contracts local companies for services such as blasting, security and transportation. Most of the procurement is done domestically such as fuel, food supply, cement and gravel and only imported bituminium from China.

Even the meat supply is done in an orderly manner from the local herder families, so that every household interested in supplying meat is involved in the procurement.

As the project is financed by ADB the use of common minerals such as stone, gravel and water is exempt from the Mineral Usage Fees.

Who is responsible for road mainteinance?

The site of the road constructed with total cost of USD 145 million has been good. In October the contractor in cooperation with the Aimag Special Inspection Authority is to hanad over the road to the Mongolian side. The contractor is to be responsible for the maintenance of the road for the one year since then according to the agreement. Starting from 2017 Aimag Government is to be responsible for the further maintenance.

Preparing for future

After visiting the road construction site we headed to Bulgan Port. This port connects the traffic to Shinjian and further with Takashiken. Khovd residents import from Shinjian their clothing, food and construction materials. From Mongolia the port delivers coal from Khushuut depost and few amount of noodles to Russia. As of June of this year, MonEnCo LLC has exported total of 154 thousand tons of coal through this port with fees of MNT 1,500 per ton.

Bulgan Port Customs Head B.Munkhbat mentioned that with the construction of the road the customs load will increase and pointed out on the need to enhance the port terminal capacity. Coal export monitoring is currently done digitally, while no finger print tracking system is yet available for the truck drivers. Violations at this port is at very low level, while there were attempts to smuggle 490 kg of natural precious stone and wolf skin.

The establishment of the control zone at this port will increase the capacity of the port to serve the individuals and the vehicles.

The port is home to over 80 residents working at the customs, special inspection, commercial bank branches and logistics companies. The issue of the concern for them is the working environment and safety.

If the project is to proceed in accordance with the plan by the end of 2017 the vertical regional road is to be completed. If the traffic is to increase at the port there is definitely a need to enhance the port capacities as it may shortly become the traffic zone. 

Although the road project financing didn't meet the amount approved in 2009 and weather conditions have played its role in postponing the project for extended periods several time the contractors and monitoring companies are to complete the construction work in three months. Now it is in the hands of Aimag Government whether to have more benefits or not from this development.

Ministry of Road and Transportation estimates to start and compelte the construction work of road to connect Khovd-Bayan-Ulgii-Ulaan Baishin and the Russian borders with total length of 165 km in coming two years' time. 

This will complete the western region road corridor. 38 entities have applied for the bids for the construction of this road.

Some tender materials have been recalled due to the need to clarify on some issues. By July 31st bids will be finalized and the companies to construct the road will be announced. From previous experience the 160 km road is constructed in 2 years time. In western region the construction season is less than other parts of the country. While the construction at Zamiin-Uud starts in April in western region the start can only be done on May and can be proceeded until October.

The financing of the Khovd-Bayan-Ulgii-Ulaan Baishin road is to be done by ADB. Total of 164 km road is to be constructed in four parts by four different companies.