Thailand - Third Highway Project

A/ 535-7 FILE F COPY RESTRICTED Report No. TO-63'Oa This report was prepared for use within the Bank and its affiliated organizations. They do not accept responsibility,r its arqcy.or, rppeteness. The report may not be published nbrLAi+3Li ged as-pris-en`ti'ng-heir views. INTERNATIONAL) OAI (OR RECONSTRUCTION A N1D?i DEVELOPMENT INThRNXTIOeAL DEVELOPMENT &SSOCIATION APPRAISAL OF A THIRD HIGHWAY PROJECT THAILAND May 3, 1968 Projects Department  CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS Currency Unlt a Baht ($) US$ 1 . ]1 20.80 s I t US$ 0. 048 g 1 million o us$ 48, 076 FISCAL YEAR October 1 September 30 Untts of Weiahts and Measures: Metric  THAILAND APPRAISAL OF A THIRD HIGHWAY PROJECT TABLE OF CONTENTS Page No. SUN1MARY i - ii I. INTRODUCTION .. 1 2. BACKGROUND. 2 A. Geographic and Demographic. 2 B. The Transport Sector. 2 C. Transport Coordination. 4 3. THE HIGHWAY SECTOR. 6 A. The Highway Network. 6 B. Characteristics and Growth of Road Traffic 6 C. Highway Administration. 6 D. Highway Planning and Finance. 7 E. Highway Design and Construction. 8 F. Highway Maintenance. 8 G. Previous Bank Financed Highway Projects 9 4. THE PROJECT .10 A. General Description .10 B. Construction and Improvement .10 C. Consulting Services .12 D. Training Program .13 E. Cost Estimates and Foreign Exchange Component 13 F. Project Execution and Finance. 14 5. ECONOMIC JUSTIFICATION .16 A. General .16 B. Bang Pa In-Nakorn Sawan Highway .16 C. Saraburi-Lomsak Highway. 18 D. Consultants' Studies .20 6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .21 This appraisal report is based on the findings of Bank missions to Thailand in July 1967 consisting of Messrs. Park and Morris, and in December 1967 consisting of Messrs. Park and Pickering, and upon engineering and economic feasibility studies prepared by several consulting engineers during 1964-1967.  TABLEPS 1. Motor Vehicle Registration, Composition and Growth 2. Civilian Consumption of Motor Fuels 3. Highway Expenditures 4. Design Standards 5. Estimate of Cost 6. Vehicle Operating Costs in Flat Country for Inter-Urban Roads 7. Traffic Projection CIHART: Organization of Department of Highways 14AP: MTational Highway Network  THAILAND APPRAISAL OF A THIRD HIGHWAY PROJECT SUMMARY i. The Government of Thailand has requested the Bank's assistance in financing a highway project. The proposed project would comprise: (a) the construction and improvement of parts of two primary highways totaling 478 km; (b) consulting services for supervision of construction works under (a) above., preparation of detailed engineering of about 635 km of feeder (tertiary) roads, and (c) a program for overseas training of members of the Highway Department staff. ii. The total cost of the project is about US$ 60 million equivalent and a loan of US$ 29 million is proposed to cover the foreign exchange cost. The executing agency will be the Department of Highways of the Ministry of National Development. iii. This will be the third Bank loan to Thailand for highways. The first loan of US$ 35 million (341-TH) was made in June 1963, but was cut back to US$ 25 million in 1964 at the Government's request to eliminate from the project some roads on which a substantial amount of work had been carried out by the Highway Department's own forces. The construction work in that project is now about 90 percent completed and, with the exception of a small part of the work on one road, is likely to be finished before the Closing Date for the loan, June 30, 1968. iv. The second loan of US$ 36 million (455-TH) was made in June 1966 for highway construction and improvement, for consulting services including supervision of construction, and for feasibility studies and the detailed engineering of roads for a future Droject. Contracts are already in progress covering about 90 percent of the work. v. Work on both projects is proceeding satisfactorily. The quality is good and the wide interest shown by international contractors has ensured competitive bidding and reasonable prices. vi. Although there has been a considerable improvement in the national primary highway system during the past five years, it is still not adequate to accommodate the existing traffic, which has been increasing at a rapid rate. vii. The Government is placing special emphasis on highway improvements in its transportation investment program. An investment of US$ 400 million equivalent for the construction and major improvement of 4,500 km of roads  - ii - and paving of 3,100 km of existing roads is envisaged in the period 1965- 1971. The highways included in the proposed project represent some of the highest priority items in the Government's program. viii. The project works are technically sound and are economically jus- tified by the expected reduction in vehicle operating costs. In preparing traffic forecasts, recent and future increases due to rising military activity and expenditure have not been taken into account. The rates of return on the two project roads are 25 percent and 27 percent. ix. Construction contracts will be awarded on the basis of international competitive bidding. The execution of the project works is expected to take about 4 years, with completion about the end of 1971. x. The project is suitable for a Bank loan of US$ 29 million equivalent with a 20-year term including a 414-year period of grace.  THAILAND APPRAISAL OF A THIRD HIGHWAY PROJECT I. INTRODUCTION 1.01 The Government of the Kingdom of Thailand has asked the Bank for further assistance in financing its highway investment Drogram; the proposed project would cover the construction and improvement of about 478 km of pri- mary roads, supervision of the works by consultants, and further engineering services by other consultants for the detailed engineering of about 635 km of feeder (tertiary) roads. The total cost of the project is estimated at about US$ 60 million; a loan of US$ 29 million is pronosed to meet the esti- mated foreign exchange cost. 1.02 This would be the third Bank loan to Thailand for highways. The first loan (341-TH, see Report No. TO-355a), made in June 1963, was originally for US$ 35 million equivalent but, at the request of the Government was, later cut back to US$ 25 million equivalent. The second loan (455-TH, see Report No. TO 531a), for US$ 36 million equivalent, was made in June 1966. There has been widespread interest by international contractors and reasonable contract prices have been obtained. Experience on both these projects has been very satisfactory and this is further elaborated in paras. 3.15 to 3.17. Three loans have been made to Thailand for railways and two for ports. The railway loans are for US$ 3.0 million (35-TH, October 1950), US$ 12.0 (128-TH, August 1955) and US$ 14.6 million (280-TH, April 1961) and the port loans are for US$ 4.4 million (37-TH, October 1950) and US$ 3.4 million (151-TH, October 1956); all have been fully disbursed. 1.03 Feasibility studies and detailed engineering for one of the two roads to be constructed under the project have been carried out by consultants and financed by the first Bank loan, 341-TH. Feasibility studies, and the detailed engineering, of the second road, Saraburi-Lomsak, have been carried out by other consultants and financed by US AID. 1.04 This appraisal is based on the studies referred to above, on the findings of Bank appraisal missions consisting of Messrs. Park and Morris which visited Thailand in July 1967, and of Messrs. Park and Pickering which visited Thailand in December 1967.  - 2 - 2. BACKGROUND A. Geographic and Demographic 2.01 Thailand has an area of approximately 510,000 km2 and a population of about 33 million, similar in size and population to Spain. It is bordered by Burma on the west, Laos on the north and east, Cambodia on the southeast and Malaysia on the south. Its main coastline is on the Gulf of Thailand to the south but the southern isthmus also borders the Indian Ocean. 2.02 For geographic and economic purposes the country may be considered as consisting of five regions. The Northern region has mountain ranges with relatively narrow valleys and good rainfall; it produces agricultural products, timber and minerals. The Northeastern region is a relatively dry plateau in the catchment basin of the Mekong River; it is the least developed region with largely subsistence farming. The Central region consists of the broad lowland plains of the Chao Phraya River and its tributaries; the adequate rainfall, and irrigation from the rivers, make it one of the main rice-producing areas in the world; near the mouth of the Chao Phraya River is the capital city of Bangkok, which has a population of about 2 million and is the main port, com- mercial and industrial center. The Southern region, forming the isthmus of the Malayan peninsula, is a major producer of tin and rubber. The Southeastern region, lying between the central plain and the Cambodian border, is largely a subsistence agricultural area with the main product being cassava. 2.03 The population is increasing rapidly, at about 3.3 percent a year. The towns are relatively small. The population is generally well distributed, although there is some concentration in the central lowland plains, especially around Bangkok. 2.04 The GDP, which is now nearly Us$ 4.4 billion, has recently grown by 7.3 percent p.a. at constant prices. It is expected to continue to grow at or near this impressive figure in the immediate future. Although Thailand is still a relatively poor country, with a per capita income of about $130, it has achieved the remarkably high rate of investment of 22 percent of GDP, of which over 90 percent is derived from domestic private and public savings. This has been accomplished with relatively stable prices, which have been rising at about 2 percent per year between 1960 and 1966. About 33 percent of the GDP is from agriculture which is growing at about 5 percent per year; manufacturing, mining and construction account for 20 percent of GDP and are growing at about 13 percent per year. The growth in the GDP has been achieved mainly by private economic activity, aided by Government investment largely for the improvement of the infrastructure concerned with agriculture, trans- portation and power. B. The Transport Sector a) General 2.05 Transportation in Thailand has been influenced by three main factors: (a) most of the mountain ranges and rivers run from north to south; (b) the urban centers are located mostly in the lower Central region while (c) most  -3- food-growing areas are further north and usually along the rivers and canals. A large part of the southbound traffic consists of agricultural produce, which is carried to the food-consuming and processing centers of the lower Central region and also to the Port of Bangkok for export, while the north-bound traffic represents imported or domestically manufactured consumer goods. 2.06 The result is that, on the whole, the country's main transport arteries run from north to south, with a lateral network of secondary roads feeding into them. Communication from east to west is less developed due mainly to the difficult terrain which entails the crossing of several moun- tain ranges and rivers. 2.07 Except for the railways, there are no satisfactory traffic statis- tics on passenger and freight by mode of surface transport. Nevertheless, the indirect evidence indicates that highway transport has been growing at such a rapid rate in the last ten years that it is now by far the most important transport mode. b) Highways 2.08 The major arteries of the road network radiate from Bangkok (see Map). Highway development was generally slow until the early 1960's. Between 1960 and 1966 it has accelerated and the national network, under the jurisd- iction of the Department of Highways, has increased from 8,300 km to over 10,300 km. The length of paved roads has grown from 2,800 km to nearly 5,400 km during the same period. Nevertheless, the present system is inadequate even for the existing traffic, and major improvements will be needed to carry the increasing traffic to be expected as the economy develops. 2.09 To overcome the inadequacies of the road network, the Government is placing special emphasis on highway improvements in its transport invest- ment program. Its "Highwav Construction and Improvement Plan, 1965-1971", envisages an investment of nearly US$ 400 million for the construction, or reconstruction of 4,500 km of roads, including a small number of four-lane roads, and the paving of 3,100 km of existing roads. The proposed Third Highway Project constitutes an integral part of the Plan, as was the earlier Second Highway Project financed by the Bank. c) Railways 2.10 The Thailand State Railway system consists of about 3,700 km of meter-gauge mainline track, radiating from Bangkok; the principal lines run from north to south, as in the case of other transport modes. There have been three Bank loans for railway projects, the last (Loan No. 280-TH) of uS$ 14.6 million, being to finance part of the Third Railway Invesment Program, 1961-1966. Performance has been generally satisfactory, but there have been some design and location difficulties leading to delays and completion of the program is now expected by about the end of 1969. The State Railways have prenared a new five-year investment program to be included in the Second National Economic Development Plan, Fiscal Years 1967-71. This new program will require an expenditure of about US$ 90 million equivalent mainly for the purchase of rolling stock, relaying of tracks and replacement of buildings  -4- and maintenance equipment. The foreign exchange requirement is estimated at about US$ 41 million. A Bank appraisal of this investment program is under way. 2.11 Carload freight traffic, which has been growing at an annual rate of about 6 percent during the past six years, amountea to about 1.6 billion ton-km in 1966. The average haul was 385 km and has been increasing slowly. The major commodities carried are rice, petroleum products, lumber, cement and clinker; these, in 1966, accounted for over 60 percent of the carload traffic in terms of ton-km and 45 percent of the total carload freight re- venue. The volume of passenger traffic has been increasing at slightly over 5 percent per annum and totalled 3.2 billion passenger-km in 1966. d) Inland Waterways 2.12 The 1,600 km inland waterways system, based on the Chao Phraya River and its tributaries and on canals linking these rivers, serves a farm popula- tion of about 9-10 million in the Central Plain. More than 80 percent of the country's annual rice crops of 10 million tons move over the waterway system. This is more-than twice the total tonnage handled annually by the railway. Nearly 2 million tons of the rice moved by water are presently shipped to the Port of Bangkok, where they are trans-shipped to ocean-going vessels for ex- port; they bring in nearly 40 percent of Thailand's export earnings. In addition, considerable quantities of teak are floated in rafts over the water- ways to the Port of Bangkok for export. The reverse traffic consists mainly of consumer goods. There is also a large volume of passenger traffic on the waterways. 2.13 While the waterways' importance is recognized by the Government, little serious effort has so far been made to improve their physical con- dition and make use of their economic potential. Inadequate attention has resulted in poor maintenance of the waterways with a resultant reduction in depth of water available for navigation. 2.14 The little that has been invested in the waterways system in the past has been spent on projects prepared in complete isolation from other modes of transport. The planned transport coordination study, described below, will review the problem of the development of the inland waterway system. C. Transport Coordination 2.15 Responsibility for the administration of the transport system is divided among a number of agencies and organizations. The State Railways is an autonomous entity with its own Board of Directors, falling under the general supervision of the Ministry of Communications. The Department of Highways is in the Ministry of National Development. Other Ministries, such as Agriculture, build minor roads with little consultation with the High- way Department. Jurisdiction over the extensive inland waterways system is divided among three different agencies without a regular means of consult- ation between them. Consequently, there is no joint formulation of invest- ment and operational policies in transportation. In theory, the National Economic Development Board should be in charge of coordination of transport,  - 5 - but this agency has so far been unable to cope with the problem due to lack of experienced and trained personnel. In practice, the lack of a system- atic policy of transport coordination has not led to any serious distortions in the use of transportation resources so far. However, the rapid develop- ment in the transport sector in recent years suggests that this may not be the case much longer. 2.16 Coincident with the rapid increase in overland traffic during the past decade there has been a marked change in the structure of the transport system, with road transport replacing the railways as the main carrier of inter-city freight. The present indications are that road transport will continue to increase its share in the foreseeable future. In view of this changing structure and the need for large scale investments throughout the transport sector, the Government must give increasing attention to the pro- blems of transport coordination. The basic means to this end would be the establishment of an organization for coordination of investments and the formulation of a rational pricing policy for the transport sector. 2.17 The Government is keenly aware of this need and proposes to carry out a Transport Coordination Study which will provide guidelines for organiz- ing the coordinating machinery, for preparing investment programs for the various modes of transport, and for improving regulation of transport activ- ities. The Government has approached US AID to finance the study which would be carried out by Consultants. Terms of Reference were drafted by the Bank in 1966 but their final agreement has taken longer than expected because US AID wished to explore the possibility of including them in a larger study. This led to financing difficulties, however, and the original Terms of Refe- rence have now being finalized by the Thai Government and US AID with a view to commencing the study in mid-1968 and completing it in the second half of 1969. Any major improvements in transport coordination will have to await the completion of the Study. It is expected that the Study will deal at length with the problems of road-rail competition and the appropriate levels of user charges. A detailed discussion of these subjects was included in paras. 30 and 34 of the appraisal report for the Second Highway Project (TO- 531a, May 31, 1966) and in the Economic Report (FE-53b, September 2, 1966) and is not repeated in this report.  -6- 3. THE HIGHWAY SECTOR A. The Hig1hway Network 3.01 The highway network consists of three classes of roads: primary and secondary roads, which together form the national system, and feeder (tertiary) roads. The primary roads total 4,700 km of which 3,100 km, or 66 percent, are paved. The secondary roads total 5,600 km, of which 2,200 km, or 40 percent, are paved. The total length of feeder roads is approximately 7,000 km of which a negligible amount is paved. The total length of the net- work is therefore about 17,000 km; that is about 35 km per 1,000 km2 of land area or 52 km per 100,000 population. Corresponding figures for Iran and Spain, for example, are 20 and 200 km per 1,000 km2, and 160 and 1,280 km per 100,000 population. 3.02 The first task in the Government's road development program has been to provide an adequate national system of all-weather primary and secondary roads. As this need is gradually being met, the Government is now giving an increasing emphasis to improvement and construction of feeder roads. To assist in this the Bank financed a study of 2,000 km of feeder roads under the First Highway Loan (341-TH) and the detailed engineering of about 635 km of roads, to be selected on the basis of the study, is included in the proposed project. B. Characteristics and Growth of Road Traffic 3.03 The total vehicle fleet has grown from 88,000 in 1959 to over 206,000 in 1966. This is equivalent to an annual growth rate of about 13 percent, and is expected to continue in the immediately foreseeable future. The annual growth rate for trucks has been 16 percent, for cars 12 percent and for buses 6 percent (see Table 1). 3.04 With the improvement of the national road system, there has been a gradual rise in the proportion of vehicles registered outside the Bangkok metropolitan area, from 43 percent in 1959 to 47 percent in 1966. 3.05 It is difficult to determine precise volumes of highway passenger and freight traffic. Rough estimates can be made, however, on the basis of the growth of the vehicle fleet, changes in the location of registrations (see Table 1), and in motor fuel consumption (see Table 2). The volume of road freight is estimated to have increased by over 5 times from about 900 million ton-km in 1955 to around 5,000 million ton-km in 1966. Rail traffic in the same period has less than doubled from 870 million ton-km in 1955 to about 1,600 million ton-km in 1966. It is therefore probable that road traffic is now over three times the volume of rail traffic. C. Highway Administration 3.06 The Department of Highways in the Ministry of National Development is the executive authority responsible for the construction, maintenance and administration of all national (primary and secondary) roads and the more im- portant feeder roads. Minor feeder roads are maintained by provincial autho-  - 7 - rities umder the Ministry of the Interior. The Irrigation Department and the Ministry of Agriculture construct minor roads to give access for the operation and maintenance of irrigation systems. In cases where appreciable public traffic develops such roads are taken over by the Department of Highways and included in the feeder road system. A special force of Highway Police has been assigned to patrol roads in the Bangkok area; their duties include the enforcement of regulations on vehicle weights and dimensions and their cost of about US$ 0.7 million equivalent p.a. is included in the budgetary provision for highways (see Table 3). 3.07 The reorganization of the Department of Highways in accordance with recommendations of Public Administration Service, on the basis of studies financed by the US AID, was begun in 1964 and has now been carried out (see the attached Organization Chart). Posts have been filled by recruitment of Thai personnel. Better maintenance, planning, construction and cost accounting methods are being introduced and headquarter and field mechanical shops and laboratories are being extended and improved; in this, and in carrying out training programs, the UK consulting firm, T.P. O'Sullivan and Partners, is providing assistance under a contract financed by the First Highway Loan (341-TH). 3.08 The training program for headquarters technical staff emphasizes on- the-job instruction through Thai counterpart staff working with the consultants' staff. Field training of road supervisors, and of mechanical equipment oper- ators and maintenance staff, is being carried out at local centers equipped and financed by Japan, New Zealand and the USA. Facilities are not, however, available in Thailand for more advanced specialized training of senior staff in such subjects as highway, traffic, soils and mechanical engineering. The Department has so far sent 11 engineers on such courses, financed by the First Highway Project, 341-TH, in the USA, Australia and the UK. The Department wishes to send a further 20, to be financed by the proposed project. A program for such training will be prepared with the assistance of consultants. The trainees are required to undertake to serve the Department, on completion of the training program, for a period at least twice as long as the period of their overseas training. The foreign cost of this extension of the existing overseas training program is included in the proposed project (see also para. 4.17). D. Highway Planning and Finance 3.09 Highway planning is carried out by a Division of the Department of Highways. A traffic census is taken four times a year, in October, January, April and July. This includes counts at 250 stations on primary and secondary roads. More recently a further 170 stations have been established for counts on feeder roads. Additional counts are also taken as and when reauired for snecific road improvement projects. An inventory of the highway network is being compiled. A start has been made on the collection and analysis of a varietv of statistics relating to highway traffic; these, supplemented by origin and destination surveys, will help in the future evaluation of highway projects and in preparing highway programs.  - 8 - 3.10 Highway expenditure for five years to 1966, and estimated expend- itures for 1967 and 1968, are given in Table 3. Total expenditure has risen from Baht 529 million (US$ 25 million) in 1962 to Baht 2,218 million (US$ 106 million) in 1967. During the same period constrXuction expenditure has in- creased from Baht 342 million to Baht 1,613 million and maintenance expendi- ture from Baht 99 million to Baht 245 million; this latter, however, under- states the true increase in the maintenance expenditure as maintenance figures up to 1965 included the cost of administration. A comparable 1967 figure including administration would probably be about Baht 360 million. The budget for 1968 is for a total expenditure of Baht 2,398 million, of which Baht 323 million is for maintenance. E. Highway Design and Construction 3.11 Highway design is carried out by the Location and Design Division of the Department of Highways, and by consultants engaged for specific projects, particularly for the larger ones or for those of a more complicated nature. The design standards used for different classes of roads are given in Table 4 and they are considered suitable for the various conditions of terrain and traffic indicated. 3.12 Almost 90 percent of road construction is now carried out by contract. Most of the larger contracts, including those under the two previous Bank pro- jects, are being executed by foreign contractors, but many smaller works financed from the budget are being carried out by local contractors. Force account construction is now largely confined to minor improvement and paving work and to construction of low cost feeder roads. About US$ 10 million of this work is being financed by USAID under a rural development program in the Northeastern region. F. Highway Maintenance 3.13 Maintenance of highways is the responsibility of the Maintenance Division of the Department of Highways which has a headquarters supervisory section and twelve field Divisions each subdivided into a headquarters and three to five Districts. The total number of Districts is 50 (see Chart showing organization). There has been considerable improvement in highway maintenance over the last few years attributable to (i) the reorganization and training which has taken place on the advice, and with the continuing help, of consultants, (ii) increased maintenance funds (para. 3.10) and (iii) the provision of additional mechanical equipment including the purchases financed under the First Highway Loan (341-TH). The improvement of main- tenance operations is continuing with the assistance of the consultants. Measures include the introduction of better techniques, of new systems of works costing and programming, and the training of field staff. Facilities for servicing mechanical equipment are being improved. The aim is, by 1970, to provide workshops at a cost of about US$ 150,000 each for the five Divisions at present with inadeauate facilities and where equipment has to be transported long distances for repair. 3.14 With the improvement in operational and administrative efficiency, and the increase in budget allocations, the available budget fund is adequate  -9- for routine maintenance operations and an increasing amount of periodic main- tenance. However, budget allocations should continue to increase to cope adeauately with additional work caused by increasing traffic volumes; such work would consist chiefly of resurfacing of bitumen roads and regraveling, with major reshaping where necessary, of gravel roads. Special maintenance allocations will be required on some lengths of bitumen roads which were constructed to low specifications some years ago and which are deteriorating under the increasing load of traffic. During negotiations the Government agreed that it will continue to provide adequate funds for meeting the in- creasing requirements for road maintenance. G. Previous Bank-Financed Highway Projects 3.15 Two previous Bank loans have been made to Thailand for highways. The first (341-TH, see Report No. TO-355a), made in June 1963, was originally for US$ 35 million for the construction and improvement of about 630 km of national highways, the purchase of maintenance equipment, engineering services for these works, for assistance in reorganizing the Department of Highways and training of Thai personnel, as well as feasibility studies on about 2,000 km of feeder roads. Because of delays in the initial stages of appointing consulting engineers and letting contracts, and improvement work carried out by the Government's own forces in the meantime, the Government requested that the project should be cut back. Accordingly, in July 1964, the length of roads to be constructed and improved was reduced by about 300 km and the amount of the loan reduced to US$ 25 million. The project has since proceeded satisfactorily. The construction is about 90 percent complete and is likely to be finished before the closing date of June 30, 1968, except for a small part of one road (Chiengmai-Lampang) which is being constructed by a local contractor; the Government is applying for an extension of the Closing Date by six months. The quality of the work is good. All the maintenance equip- ment has been purchased or contracts placed. The Highway Department has been reorganized and the training of Thai personnel is proceeding satisfactorily. 3.16 The Second Highway Loan (455-TH, see Report No. TO-531a), for US$ 36 million equivalent, was made in June 1966 for the construction and improvement of about 770 km of primary highways, engineering services for their construc- tion, and for feasibility studies and the review of engineering for a further 190 km of primary highway. The progress on this project, due for completion on September 30, 1970, is satisfactory. Contracts are already in progress covering about 90 percent of the work; the last contract is expected to be awarded by July 1968. 3.17 Widespread interest has been shown by international contractors in bidding for all of the road works in both the loan projects, and competitive prices have been obtained.  - 10 - 4. THE PROJECT A. General Description 4.01 The project consists of: (a) The Construction and Improvement of parts of two primary highways including two-lane bituminous paving; the sections are (see Map); i) Bang Pa In-Nakorn Sawan 195 km ii) Saraburi-Lomsak 283 km Total 478 (b) Consulting Services for: i) The supervision of construction of the 478 km of roads listed above. ii) The detailed engineering of approximately 635 km of feeder roads (to be selected on the basis of the Feeder Road Study financed under the First Highway Project, Loan 341-TH). (c) A program for overseas training of members of the technical staff of the Department of Highways. B. Construction and Improvement Bang Pa In-Nakorn Sawan Highway (195 km) 4.02 This section forms part of the main road from Bangkok to the north, beginning at a point 52 km north of Bangkok. The new alignment will be about 100 km shorter than the present road which follows a circuitous route via Saraburi and Lopburi. The existing road will continue to handle local traffic as well as through traffic to and from Korat and further northeast. Most of it is poorly aligned and narrow, with a pavement 5