Feasibility Study on Proposed Kurunegala-Habarana Railroad Project 5.1 Introduction CE 3.

1 Presently I
work as a civil engineer in Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau (CECB). This particular project was
awarded to the CECB in March 2008 and from that date I was appointed to the project and work on this
project up to date. The proposed railway track starts from Kurunegala which is 93 kilometers away from
Colombo and it runs through 80 kilometers to Habarana. 5.2 Background 5.2.1 Nature of the Overall
Project CE 3.2 The client of the project is Railway Department of Sri Lanka and it operates over 300
passenger and 30 goods trains per day, on a network that comprises 1,447 kilometers of track and 306
stations, with a staff of 18,200 employees. The proposed new track will be branching off from the
Northern Railway Line at Kurunegala runs north eastwards via Dambulla and it is connected to the
Trincomalee Line at Habarana. Total length of the track will be 80 kilometers and it runs through four
administrative districts of Sri Lanka. The estimated total project cost is 16,000 million Sri Lankan Rupees
and the feasibility study costs 15 million Sri Lankan Rupees. 5.2.2 Objectives of the Project CE 3.3
Trincomalee is the capital of Eastern Province and it has a geographical and economic importance. One
of a major harbor of Sri Lanka is also situated in Trincomalee. Therefore Trincomalee railway line has an
importance in freight and passenger transportation. In the existing network Trincomalee Line branches
off from Northern Line at Maho Junction. But in this project the proposed track branches off from
Northern Line at Kurunegala and runs through 80 kilometers and connects to the existing Trincomalee
Line at Habarana. This will cut down the distance by 35 kilometers and saves the travel time by 1 ½
hours. 5.2.3 Nature of My Particular Work Area CE 3.4 16 The project was handled by the two sub
divisions of CECB, Highway Design Unit and the Research & Development Unit. I work in the Highway
Design Unit and my particular work area of the project was engineering design part. I was mainly
supposed to do the geometric design of the proposed track. Also I have to identify the difficulties of the
terrain by the side of engineering and proposed solutions and alternatives. At the same time I should
assure my engineering solutions can be implemented complying with environmental and social aspects.
Therefore I have to communicate with other people like environmentalists, sociologists, and geologists
etc. who involved with the feasibility study. 5.2.4 Organizational Structure 5.2.5 Duty Statement i.
Geometric design of the proposed railway ii. Physical survey along the proposed trace iii. Identifying the
places having proposed infrastructures (bridges, culverts, tunnels, level crossings, stations etc.) iv.
Proposing alternative routes where it’s necessary v. Preparation of drawings including horizontal
alignment and vertical profile of the railway line 17 Deputy General Manager (Highway Design Unit)
Chairman General Manager Civil Engineer Consultant (Research & Development Unit) Geologist
Environmental Scientist Social Scientist

5.3 Personal Workplace Activity

CE 3.5

The first step of the project was, studying the available data related to the project. The client has
decided some initial corridor using maps of the area. The main task assigned to the design unit was
finding the most appropriate trace by the side of engineering and proposing alternatives where it
necessary. First I marked the initial trace on a 1:50,000 maps and have some basic understand about the
trace. Google Earth software was also used to mark the proposed trace on satellite images. The software
was very useful to understanding the geographical information along the terrain. CE 3.6 Then the trace
was transferred to 1:10,000 maps which have more precise information than the 1:50,000. These maps
are available in both printed and electronic versions. An electronic copy was used to mark the trace and
it can be used with the AutoCAD software. The software facilitated to do the adjustment in the trace
more accurately and efficiently. The trace of the proposed railway was marked on this map considering
the client’s initial proposal and the contour pattern of the terrain. The land use along the corridor was
also taken to consideration even at this stage to minimize the resettlement issues. CE 3.7 Before starting
the design, the most important thing that to be clarified was, what should be the design standard and
specifications going to be used for the design. In highway design, Sri Lanka has our own design standards
and specifications but not in the case of railway design. The solution was, going for an international
standards used in other countries. Among international standards AREMA (American Railway
Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association) standard was identified as a widely used standard all
over the world. But there were few incompatible aspects in the AREMA standards related to the gauge
(distance between two rails) of the proposed rail track that can not be applicable to the Sri Lankan
criteria. This because in Sri Lanka we have broad gauge railways but most countries including America
has standard gauge. As the solution Indian Standards for broad gauge railways was also used with
AREMA standards for the design. Based on these two design standards, I prepared a design intent
including all the specifications used for the track design. CE 3.8 Considering relevant design standards,
geometric design of the track was started. When set the alignment of the proposed route, following the
contour pattern was very important in order to maintain the gradient of the track within the allowable
limit. Gradient of a rail track is a very important factor in railway design because it has very limited values
compared to a highway. In a highway design longitudinal gradient can take higher values like 10% or even
15% compared to terrain. But in a rail track even 2.5% is a very critical value because friction between
track and wheel is very low in 18 steep gradients. On the other hand steep gradients directly affect to
reduce the design speed on the track. The client had asked in their requirements to keep the allowable
maximum gradient as 1% because they wanted to have a design speed of 100 km/h through out the
track. This set up a huge challenge on the geometric design because the proposed trace goes along a
hilly terrain at the middle portion of the 80 km length. CE 3.9 Considering above requirements and
conditions an initial alignment was designed along the corridor which asked by the client. The
longitudinal section of the existing ground and the finished ground level along the alignment was also
prepared. Then the sections that required high embankments, soil excavations and tunneling were
identified. Minimizing those excavations, embankments and tunnels were very important on the project
cost. Especially at the hilly area known as Omaragolla there is a tunnel which has 2 kilometers length in
the proposed trace. Tunneling such distance causes to increase the construction cost of the project by a
significant amount. This can not be avoided with the track gradient, because 1% was the maximum
allowable gradient which client required. As a solution I proposed an alternative trace by changing
horizontal alignment in this section and reduce the tunnel length up to 800 meters. CE 3.10 The next
step of the project was carrying out a physical survey along the proposed trace including alternative
traces. The objective of a physical survey was having a clear view about the whole 80 kilometers length
of the proposed trace with respect to engineering, geological, social and environmental aspects. I was
engaged for a three week field visit in order to carrying out the physical survey with a team of members
in other professions like geologists, sociologists, and environmentalists. In the physical survey, points
along the proposed centre line of the track were found at the site using GPS (Ground Positioning System)
device. The important features related to the terrain condition, land use, hydrology, geology,
environment etc. were noted at each point. Photographs were also taken at each point along the trace
for later clarifications about the route at particular points. Likewise points at the centre line containing
about data were recorded along the 80 kilometers trace and alternative sections, about at 100m
intervals. In addition to technical activities, during the survey I have to communicate and make aware
the affected people about the project. CE 3.11 The data collected in the survey was carefully categorized
in to an order. By analyzing these data, I had a clear idea about the trace with site conditions.
Considering these conditions further adjustments were made in the proposed trace at several locations.
Especially land use data was very useful to minimize the number of affecting buildings by adjusting the
trace at some locations. By avoiding populated areas I was able to minimize the land acquisition and
resettlement issues related to the project. Identifying more suitable locations for level crossings, bridges,
and proposed railway stations was also considered with help of the survey data. After finalizing the trace
AutoCAD drawings of horizontal alignment and vertical alignment of the proposed rail track were
prepared. A report including all information about the engineering design was built up to include in the
final feasibility report. 19 5.4 Summary CE 3.12 This project was a significant one to the CECB as well as
the Railway Department because this is the first major development in railway sector of Sri Lanka after
the British colonial period. Although I had highway design experience in CECB, railway design was a
completely new experience to me because it has significant difference compared to highway design.
Apart from the design part this project had lot of site activities like the physical survey. On the other
hand I had an opportunity to work in a team with other professionals like geologists, environmentalists,
social experts etc. This helped me to develop team work skills and also I was able to gather basic
knowledge about other fields related to the project.