A project report on construction of Riba gravity flow scheme in Akaa Sub County, Zombo District

Abstract

Government of Uganda through Ministry of Water and Environment is mandated to provide safe and affordable drinking water and improved sanitation to the citizens of Uganda. Safe water in Uganda is commonly supplied through taps, protected springs, and boreholes among others. The MWE is committed to increase safe water access in the rural areas from 65% in 2012/13 to 100% with an effective functionality of 80-90% by 2030. In line with above, in financial year 2018/2019, Zombo DLG in accordance with its 5year development plan (2015/16-2019/2020) and with funding under the DWSDCG, contracted Rock Technical Services, a consultancy firm, to undertake the feasibility study and detailed engineering design of piped water schemes including Riba GFS with an intention to reconstruct and extend its coverage to more villages. Riba GFS, constructed in late 1990s, was initially designed and constructed with only four (4no.) Public Stand Pipes (PSPs) covering the two (2) villages of Omoyo East and West despite its high yield. Over the years, the scheme registered numerous O & M challenges due to its ageing coupled with increasing population and the use of old pipes that were joined by heating hence necessitating the redesign, construction and extension of the old scheme. The GFS taps water from Riba spring within Omoyo West village in Ayaka parish, Akaa Subcounty through an intake structure. The water flows by gravity with no additional energy through the different system components including the sedimentation tank, transmission main, reservoir tank, distribution main, secondary lines and finally coming out through the tapstands (PSPs) to be consumed by the community. In line with the design, the scheme consisted of a number of components forming the scope of the construction project. These include construction of intake structures, pipe works including transmission, distribution, intensification and secondary lines, construction of a 25m3 concrete distribution reservoir tank, construction of eleven (11no.) tap stands (PSPs) and construction of one (01no.) block of a 2 stance Drainable latrine with Urinal. The scheme, initially designed for construction in financial year 2019/2020 as the initial year, lacked funding which delayed its construction until FY 2022/2023 when the district secured funding under NURI. This called for the need to review the design to fit the actual initial year in line with the requirements of MWE as per the Water Supply Design Manual, 2013. The review that was undertaken internally by a team consisting of the Civil Engineer (Water) and the District Engineer, on behalf of Zombo District Local Government and technical team from the DRC, as the implementing partner under NURI, was intended to meet the mode of operation of DRC and implementation timelines. The contractor was procured through open domestic bidding by the implementing agency (DRC) using a standardized bidding document in line with the working principles of the implementing agency and the laws of Uganda. The best evaluated bidder was obtained through technical bid evaluation criteria carried out by the DRC technical team. The bidding was preceded by site visits by the intending bidders to submit technically compliant bid. A traditional (Lump sum) contract based on priced activity schedule (bills of quantities) was then entered into, by both the Consignee and the contractor. The documents that formed part of the project included the contract drawings, the contract (agreement), specification, bill of quantities, DRC’s General conditions of contract, DRC suppliers code of conduct, work method statement, detailed work program and schedule of contractor’s key personnel. The construction project involved a number of stakeholders each with its defined roles and responsibilities during the different implementation stages. These included among others; the beneficiary communities, funding agency (NURI Coordination Function), implementing agency (DRC), contractor and Local Government; both at the district and sub county levels. The project was implemented by Danish Refugee Council as the implementing agency on behalf of Zombo District Local Government as the client through a PMT consisting of representatives from both DRC and Zombo District Local Government. The above details are presented in chapter one. Chapter two presents the different project Management approaches and practices encountered during the project implementation. A number of approaches were applied coupled with some level of innovations to ensure that the project was implemented within the required quality, time and cost. The construction project management involved managing all elements that set out parameters around construction outputs. These parameters include scope, time, cost, quality of projects in line with the specified design, environmental management as well as health and safety management with reference to both the workers and the general public (3rd party) Chapter three presents the different approaches and practices used in supervision of the construction project during the construction phase. The project was supervised by a PMT comprising technical staff (engineers) from both the district and DRC with regular visits by engineers from the funding agency (Coordination Function of NURI). The student was directly involved in the supervision and inspection of the different components of the scheme alongside DRC engineers who played the role of clerk of works with the student supervising the works at least three days a week and at critical stages of the construction phase. The purpose of the supervision was to ensure that the different works were done to the required quality and workmanship in line with the drawing, specifications and bills of quantities while at the same time ensuring the client satisfaction for the finished product, fulfillment of the function on time and to the budget. Chapter four summarizes the different lessons learnt, challenges faced and their solutions during the different stages of the project implementation. Key among the learnt lessons is the Cash for work approach of project management. This is where the consignee opted to use and engage part of the beneficiary community to do most of the casual works on an agreed terms and conditions. The last chapter details the summary of conclusions and recommendations following the the implementation of the construction project. Despite the challenges summarized in chapter four, the the project was successfully completed. The construction project with all its related components was completed with strict adherence to time and construction cost. Total actual project duration was nine (9) months including the six months defects liability period. Contract duration was exactly three months. An achieved (actual) project cost totaling to Ug. Shs. 294,163,864 (Two Hundred Ninety-Four Million One Hundred Sixty-Three Thousand Eight Hundred Sixty-Four Shillings) was spent on the project works. This cost included both the contractual works (directed to the contractor) and Cash for Works of Ug. Shs. 277,963,894 and Ug. Shs. 16,200,000 respectively. Also presented in the report is a list of appendices including drawings, bills of quantities and water quality report among others.