1. A STUDY ON THE POTENTIAL FOR IMPLEMENTATION IN CHINA
PPIAF
PUBLIC-PRIVATE INFRASTRUCTURE ADVISORY FACILITY
The World Bank
世界银行
TEAM-BASED MAINTENANCE OF RURAL ROADS
基于养路队的农村公路日常养护 
A STUDY ON THE POTENTIAL FOR IMPLEMENTATION IN CHINA
中国实施潜力研究

2. Study overview
Objective: Introduction in China of the successful concept of team-based routine maintenance of rural roads
Lower overall conservation costs
Better average road conditions
Employment, incomes and skills for local communities
PPIAF funding for the implementation of the study
Comparative analysis of Latin American experiences
Examination of existing arrangements in China
Modification of the team-based concept
Implementation in 2 pilots
Evaluation
The study identified four main areas for improvement:
Organization of workers into maintenance teams
Improvement and expansion of maintenance activities
Introduction of differentiated productivity rates and standard costs
Development of an adequate system for financing routine maintenance

3. Maintenance types Preventive maintenance Corrective maintenance
avoiding damage to the road and preventing traffic accidents
Corrective maintenance
minor, medium and major repairs to the road
Preventive maintenance complemented by timely corrective maintenance most cost-effective (low-cost preventive maintenance delays need for costly corrective maintenance)
Routine maintenance = The continuous implementation of preventive maintenance together with some minor repairs aimed at avoiding more serious damage to road
Insufficient prioritisation of routine maintenance

4. Road deterioration and maintenance
Time →
Very poor
Poor
Fair
Good
Very good
Routine
maintenance
Periodic
maintenance
Rehabilitation
Periodic
maintenance
Without maintenance

5. Routine maintenance activities
Improving road safety (removing landslides and other obstacles from the road, removing loose material from slopes and cutting vegetation)
Preventing damage to the road (clearing of drainage ditches, culverts, and bridges)
Minor repairs (filling potholes, sealing joints and cracks and repairing the road shoulder and retaining walls)
Expansion of maintenance activities to include minor repairs
Improvement of activities through the definition of tasks and objectives and improved training of workers
Allocation of appropriate and sufficient tools and safety measures
Quality of maintenance activities still requires improvement

6. Maintenance teams China: Experience with individual workers
International: Teams found to be more effective and efficient
Teams better able to respond to peak demands (e.g. landslides)
Teams more motivated in laborious activities (e.g. vegetation control)
Contract administration and inspection simplified
Organization into teams main achievement of the study
Difficulties in encountering a suitable organizational modality
Latin American microenterprise concept considered unsuitable
Formalization of the team through the contract document
Need to strengthen autonomous nature of the maintenance teams and the contractual relationship with the Communication Bureaus

7. Size of the maintenance teams
Size / Number of workers
Length of road (km)
Worker productivity rate (km/worker)
Productivity rate depends on road characteristics: topography, rainfall, traffic, number of roadworks, size of the road reserve
Development of between 3 and 5 road categories, each with standard productivity rate
Not yet achieved in study due to lack of adequate data
Initial standard productivity rate of 4 km/worker based on Chinese and international experience (may vary from 3 to 5 km/worker)
Submission of monthly activity reports by maintenance teams
Need to improve contracting of maintenance teams based on clearly distinguishable road sections

8. Formation of the maintenance teams
Carried out by Communication Bureaus with assistance from Village Committees
Call for candidates
Registration of interested candidates
Pre-selection based on eligibility criteria
Final selection based on prioritization criteria
Selection procedures highly simplified
Call for candidates and information dissemination by Village Committee
Validation of registered data by Village Committee
Selection based on predefined criteria
Simple scoring system for prioritization
Simple and transparent selection procedure
Accepted by Communication Bureaus

9. Training of the maintenance teams
Technical training
Focus on yearly and monthly planning and prioritization of activities
Function and importance of the different road elements
Technical manual (training/reference)
Managerial training
Team management (conflicts/responsibilities)
Financial management
Work organization
Managerial manual (training/reference)
Improved implementation of maintenance activities, resulting in 20% improvement of average road conditions
Need to improve understanding of causes of road deterioration by maintenance workers and Communication Bureaus

10. Costs of maintenance teams
Standard cost per kilometer facilitates budgeting and allows the earmarking of funds based on the length of the road network
(Standard) productivity rate (km/worker)
Cost per worker = salary + allowances
Salary increased to attract experienced workers
From 440 CNY to 800 CNY per month
2,400 CNY/km per year based on 4 km/worker
Allowances for tools (100 CNY/km) and for transport & communication (150 CNY/km)
Total cost: 2,650 CNY/km per year
Costs applied in pilots were determined by available funding rather than actual requirements
Need to strengthen the use of standard costs
Questionable whether the proposed standard costs are feasible given current funding limitations

11. Contracting of maintenance teams
Yearly contract
Cost based on standard cost per km and the length of the road section
Single-source procurement up to 50,000 CNY
Allowable in road sections of approximately 20 km
Monthly payments against approval of work
Monthly inspections by Communication Bureaus
Use of performance indicators – required road conditions
Penalties applied upon non-compliance
Performance indicators being applied, but penalties given to individual team members instead of whole team
Need to strengthen autonomous nature of the maintenance teams

12. Financing of maintenance teams
Inadequate funding available for routine maintenance – lack of appropriate prioritization rather than lack of funds
Regular Vehicle Maintenance Fee
Only 5-10% used for the maintenance of rural roads (State regulations)
Vast majority used for construction and management costs, as well as the maintenance of provincial roads
Tendency to use funds allocated to rural road maintenance for major and medium maintenance (Guiyang regulations)
Motorcycle and Farm Vehicle Maintenance Fee
Low collection rates and high collection costs
Between 1 and 10% of Regular Vehicle Maintenance Fee - Insufficient funding to cover maintenance costs of rural roads
Only 40% used for the maintenance of rural roads (20% for routine maintenance)
Major part of funding spent on collection, management costs and construction

13. Financing of maintenance teams
Appropriate funding mechanisms for (rural) road maintenance have to be developed
Based on actual maintenance requirements and the length of the road network
Giving priority to preventive maintenance complemented by timely corrective maintenance
Improving funding levels from the Motorcycle and Farm Vehicle Maintenance Fee and allocating a larger portion of the Regular Vehicle Maintenance Fee to rural road maintenance
Funding mechanisms should form part of a wider road maintenance policy
Prioritization of (routine) road maintenance
Performance assessment of Communication Bureaus based on road conditions rather than road construction
Providing suitable implementation strategies
Development of the policy with PCD and MOT
Possibly integrate the policy into the next 5-year plan

14. Conclusions and recommendations
The study has been successful in achieving two of the four objectives regarding the introduction of team-based routine maintenance of rural roads in China
The organization of maintenance workers into teams has been tested and evaluated positively, although the contractual relationship with the Communication Bureaus needs to be strengthened
Maintenance activities have been expanded and improved, resulting in improved road conditions, although there is further scope for improving the quality of routine maintenance
The groundwork for differentiated productivity rates and standard costs exists, but requires further promotion as well as follow-up once adequate data from the maintenance teams has been collected
Adequate and sustainable financing of routine maintenance remains the main problem, requiring improved funding mechanisms and the development of a (rural) road maintenance policy giving a higher priority to preventative maintenance

15. Further reading Summary
A brief overview of the concept of team-based routine road maintenance and the main aspects of the study
Guide for Communication Bureaus
A practical guide for the implementation of the concept of team-based routine road maintenance and for the formation of maintenance teams
Study report
A detailed report describing the changes made to the Latin American concept, the problems faced and the final results of the study
Technical manual for routine road maintenance teams
A practical handbook for maintenance teams describing the implementation and planning of routine road maintenance activities
Potential for application in China
A report on the possibilities for application of the Latin American concept in China based on initial field visits and meetings
Managerial manual for routine road maintenance teams
A practical handbook for improving team management, financial administration and work planning and organization
Experiences from Latin America
An overview of the main characteristics of existing experiences with routine road maintenance microenterprises in Latin America
CD-Rom
A bilingual CD-Rom containing all seven publications in Chinese and English