RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON

WATER MANAGEMENT IN RURAL ROAD MAINTENANCE

(For Assignment purpose only)

MAHESH PRASAD YADAV 1115/ TEAM

A Research Proposal submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

First class Assignment of Research Methodology of Master of Science (M.Sc.) in
Transportation Engineering and Management conducted by
Center for Postgraduate Studies
Nepal Engineering College
Balkhu, Kathmandu
Nepal

February, 2012

Table of Contents

Chapter
1. Introduction
1.1.
General
1.2.
Background
1.3.
Problem Statement
1.4. Objectives of study
1.5.
Rationale of Study
1.6. Scope and Limitation of study
2. Literature Review
3. Research Design
4. Research Schedule and Budget

Page

1. Introduction
1.1.

General:
Nepal is located between India and china and with more than 28.5 million (Projected for the
year 2011, CBS) of population and 1, 47, 181 sq.km. of area. Nepal occupies 0.3 and 0.03
percentage of land area of Asia and World respectively. In the northern hemisphere, Nepal is
a situated within latitude 26 22' N to 30 27' N and of longitude 80 04' E to 88 12' E. The
altitude ranges from a minimum of 70m to a maximum of 8848m whereas the climate varies
from tundra to polar. The average width (North to south) is 193 km whereas the average
length is 885km (East to west). The topography of the country is divided into three parts
running the full breadth comprising of Terai (southern plains about 17%), the Mid-Hills and
Mountains together represent about 83% of total area of the Country. The country has great
variety of topography which is reflected in the diversity of weather and climate
simultaneously.
The annual rainfall differs from place to place ranging from less than 250mm in the
mountains to more than 4000 mm in the Mid-Hills (near Pokhara). Most precipitation occurs
during the period of June to September with heavy concentration in the Mid-Hills and Terai.
The four month rainy season with over 80% of the annual rainfall triggers flooding and
heavy soil erosion over a wide area in the country.
National Road Network of Nepal consists of Strategic Roads (National Highways and Feeder
Roads) network and Local roads (Districts and Villages Roads) network. According to
Statistics of SRN 2009/10, DOR, 10,835.00 km of roads are constructed under SRN among
which 4952.11 km (45.7%) are bituminous Roads, 2065.15 km (19.1%) are Gravel Roads
and 3817.76(35.2%) km are Earthen Roads. The Department of Roads (DOR) is responsible
for construction, upgrading, maintenance and rehabilitation of roads under strategic roads
networks. Similarly, More than 40,000 km roads are constructed under LRN (DoLIDAR
Bulletin) among which about 16,000 km roads are only all weather roads. Most of the roads
under LRN are Earthen Roads. The District Development Committees (DDCs), Village
Development Committees (VDCs) are responsible for construction, upgrading, maintenance
and rehabilitation of roads under Local roads networks. The Department of Local
Infrastructure Development and Agricultural Roads (DoLIDAR) is supporting them for
development and for maintenance of roads under LRN. Also, Roads Board Nepal (RBN) is
supporting for maintenance of roads under SRN, urban road network (URN) and LRN.

1.2.

Background:
Water is considered as enemy of roads. So, water management is important in maintenance of
roads both in cut and fills slopes. Water management consists of surface and subsurface
drainage system that are capable to take away the water to natural drainage safely as quick as
possible. Mostly it is done within the right of way. Water management in road consists of
longitudinal drain (Side drain, Catch drain), culvertsetc. Road surface water is removed by
providing cross slope to the pavement. The rate of cross slope is decided based on type of
pavement surface and amount of rainfall. The proper camber is to be maintained after the
road maintenance. Cross drainage structures like culverts and small bridges shall be provided
for disposal of surface water and water from road side drain. The structures which are
provided for water management should be keep in proper function position.

Similarly, subsurface drainage system consists of seepage flow, control of capillary rise,
lowering of ground water tableetc. Subsurface drainage system should be kept in function
after the maintenance of road.
There is over load of maintenance works of road project. The road pavement fails so
frequently and also landslides take place at different places frequently. The surface of road is
not in their proper functional condition. So, one of the reason may be there is defects in water
management system of road. So, the aim of this research is to assess the situation of water
management in road maintenance so that the preservation of road assets and sustainability of
road can be restored.
1.3.

Problem Statements:

The current practices of rural road maintenance are ad hoc. The practice of maintenance is only
filling potholes. The recent practices do not go in depth why surface are damaged. Due to neglect
of the importance of water management in road maintenance, the life of maintained roads is
reduced. That is why we have to see the damage of road surface everywhere. Also, the side
drains are filled with debris and other things and there is no any attention for that. In some roads,
there is not provided side drain during construction phase and also there is not give the
importance of side drain during maintenance period. The neglect of such things is contributing to
the damage of the road surface and this added the work load of maintenance work annually. A lot
of money going to expend to maintain the road but the goal is never achieves.

1.4.

Objective of Study:

The maintenance of road is not new thing in Nepal. Many agencies are involving and doing
maintenance works regularly and periodically but enough attention is not paid to the
maintenance of water management system of roads. Therefore, due to these reasons the
pavement failure, soil erosion in cut and fills slopes, landslides are frequently occurring in rainy
season. For effective maintenance of roads, some works to be carried out for maintenance of
water management system. Hence, the main objective of this study is to access the existing
maintenance practice, its budget allocation and effectiveness for the drainage system of LRN, to
identify the problems related to the water management with a view to find out the probable
solution to overcome the problems for sustainability of the roads. Thus, this research has mainly
three objectives which are as follows:
To analyze the existing policy, regulation, directives of water management system
for road maintenance.
To study and analyze the existing methods, procedures and practices including
budget allocation and utilization for water management in road maintenance.
To recommend the effective water management for road maintenance with a view to
preserve the value of road asset.

1.5.

Rationale of Study:

This study will fill the gap between what has been learn from the theoretical knowledge and the
real situation of field. It is expected to help to identify the existing maintenance system, practice
of road maintenance, real problems relating to water management, including its strength and
weakness. This study explores some gaps in maintenance process and recommends some
recommendation which may help to take correction in existing maintenance process. This can be
also helpful for the students who take interest in the further research relating to this area.
1.6.

Scope and Limitation of the Study:

This study has vast scope in the field of maintenance. Because there is huge budget of
country is expending in rural road maintenance but still there is problem to keep the road
surface is in serviceable condition. So, there is lagging in proper maintenance of water
management system. If this study explores the gaps and can recommend some
recommendation, it is helpful for correction in existing practices. It saves the money of
country and also helps the road assets to keep in sustainable position.
Due to limitation of time and resources, the present research is limited to the water
management system of some roads of one Terai district (Nawalparasi) and some roads of one
Hill district (Lalitpur) only.

2. Literature Review:
A road on a wet, undrained bottom will always be troublesome and expensive to maintain and it
will be economical in the long run to go to considerable expenses in making the drainage of the
subsoil as perfect as possible. (Froast H., 1910, The Art of Road Making).
Improper surface and subsurface drainage system is the major factors for the pavement failure,
scouring in bed of drain, slope failure, and landslide in the road system. (Mahat, M.B., 2010, The
thesis paper, Impact of water management in road maintenance).
Proper camber or cross slope to be provided according to the types of road surface and intensity
of rainfall for effective water management in road system ( Nepal Road Standard, 2045).
The surface water and underground water should be drain off as quick as possible from the road
system by providing proper drainage system like French drain, deep pipe drain, by providing
cutoff below the embankment (Khanna and Justo, Highway Engineering)
As mention above, the various authors give the statement for the importance of water
management system in road system for sustainability of roads. The management of water in rural
roads is also poor and the concern agencies always neglecting it so this research is necessary to
find the importance of water management in road system so that they realize the importance and
give their due attention towards the water management in road system.

3. Research Design:
The study is both analytical and descriptive. The methodology of study is designed for the
fulfillment of the objective.
Research area

The research area for the study of water management situation in rural road maintenance of Terai
district (Nawalparasi) and Hill district (Lalitpur) is selected as study area. The area covers the
district roads under LRN. The DoLIDAR, DDCs, DTOs, RBN, etc will be the sources for data
collection. The study area will cover study on plain and hill roads. The research study is based on
field survey (Primary data) and secondary sources of information have also be used from the
relevant sources.
Data Collection:
In this research both primary and secondary data are collected. For the collection of secondary
data different documents and reports are to be used. The related information /data are also taken
from concerned agencies. Discussion is made with related personnel wherever necessary.
Primary data are collected through the questionnaire. Also, field survey is carried out for
situation analysis.
Sampling techniques
Random sampling is to be used for sampling

4. Research Schedule and Budget

S. N.
1
2
3

Month
March
March
March
April
April

Week
Activity
I- II Preparation of Research proposal(Draft)
III
Submission of proposal to supervisor
IV
Correction according to supervisor comments
I
II

Budget
500.00
500.00

and preparation of final proposal

Approval of proposal by supervisor
Outline preparation for research according to
proposal

1000.00

April

III

Guidance by Supervisor

April

IV

Secondary Data collection

May

Field mobilization for primary data collection

May

II

Collection of primary data

May

III

Collection of primary data

May

IV

Data Presentation to the Supervisor and

June
June

I
II

Discussion
Preparation of draft research report
Preparation of draft research report

2000.00

June

III

Submission of draft report, presentation to the

3000.00

25000.00

supervisor & correction in report according to

June
Total

IV

comments & suggestions.

Submission of final report and approval
Total period of time = 4 months and
Total budget = 32,000.00

32000.00