The engineering design of the road at project preparation should be enhanced, based on sufficient technical, geological and climate surveys. At appraisal, the road design was a general one that was used for the entire country without referencing the specific site, climate and material supply conditions. During implementation, the project design was changed significantly to prevent and reduce pavement cracking, which occurred in previous projects due to extremely low winter temperatures. This led to a significant cost overrun. For future projects it would be prudent to test the economic feasibility of various design options and adopt options that will minimize total transport costs and consequently provide a better economic rate of return. For the cost estimation, sufficient engineering and price contingencies should be reserved by considering the project engineering features and the country’s economic development status.
CAREC Transport Corridor I (Bishkek-Torugart Road) Project 3