There are 4 Field Mechanical Circles and in addition the Central Workshop Circle is in charge of two field divisions. Field Mechanical Circles will work in close cooperation with the RHD Civil Field Circles. Each circle consists of several Mechanical Divisions within the territorial Zone.

The objective of the Zonal Field Circle is to contribute to the overall strategy of the Mechanical Zone by:

Providing and maintaining equipment for use in the construction and maintenance of Roads, to provide RHD officers with inspection vehicles and providing smooth, safe and cost effective ferry services across different river gaps of the zone.

a) To provide plant pools within each of the zones to hire out equipment on a commercial basis to contractors who are working for RHD under FIDIC type contracts.

b) To provide each road maintenance sub-divisions with a small fleet of maintenance equipment.

c) To maintain safe, smooth and cost effective ferry services throughout the zones.

d) To ensure effective utilisation of all equipment within the zones.

e) To ensure timely replacement of equipment by disposing unserviceable equipment.

f) To ensure that the 1st and 2nd line workshops are providing effective preventive maintenance in a timely manner.

Under the existing system equipment is allotted to, and is effectively owned by, the Civil field Divisions who also control the first line workshops within their area of jurisdiction. The Civil Divisions then provide the equipment to contractors generally at below commercial rates. Much of the equipment is with the field Divisions is very old and very expensive to maintain. The provision of equipment at sub-commercial rates and the existing contracting system based on Form 2911 are effectively preventing contractors owning their own equipment and the development of private equipment hire companies.

Under the new FIDIC type contracts now being introduced contractors are fully responsible for providing their own equipment and for including the costs of this equipment into their itemised rates. Contractors working under the new contracts must not be allowed to hire Departmental equipment at sub-commercial rates as this will amount to their being overpaid for the equipment. In order to supply these contractors with equipment an equipment plant pool established on commercial lines is proposed. The plant pool with have a depot in most Circles. The plant pools will hire equipment directly to contractors at commercial rates and this should ultimately encourage contractors to buy their own equipment and for private plant pools to be established. The new contracting system will ultimately be applied to all contracts and its introduction should be accompanied by the development of the RHD and private plant pools and a reduction of the equipment currently held by the field Divisions. The role of the 1st line workshops will also change as this process develops.

During the interim period there will in effect be two systems are in operation and this will need careful management and liaison between Civil and Mechanical officers if problems are to be avoided.

The Civils Divisions also operate ferries although the Mechanical Zone is responsible for ferry maintenance and in many cases leases are responsible for toll collection.

Each Mechanical Field Circle is headed by a Superintending Engineer (Mechanical) supported by 2 Executive Engineer (Mechanical) who are each in charge of a Mechanical Division. In the case of the Dhaka Zone the Superintending Engineer is the SE of the Dhaka Central Workshop Circle who will hold dual responsibility.

Each Mechanical Division is responsible for both Equipment and Ferries (provided there are ferries within the area of jurisdiction). Mechanical Sub-divisions (headed by an SDE Mechanical) will be responsible for either Mechanical Plant Pool Operations or Ferry Operations.

The proposed organogram is shown above.

The proposed number of persons in each designation are shown on the attached sheet. The proposed number of personnel in all seven Mechanical Field Circles is 730 comprising 34 Class I, 48 Class II, 475 Class III and 173 Class IV staff.

A sheet is included indicating the estimated number of persons engaged in 1st line workshops under the control of the Civil Divisions is also attached. As plant pools are established and new contracting systems introduced some 1st line workshop personnel will be incorporated into the Mechanical Zonal Operations this will take several years to achieve.

For completeness an estimate of the number of persons engaged in ferry operations who come under the control of the Civil Divisions (ie excluding staff directly attached to the Mechanical Zone) is also attached. It should be clear that the actual and proposed numbers of staff shown are rough estimates as definitive figures could not be obtained. The actual number of persons involved in future will vary depending on the particular details of ferry leasing operations and bridge construction over major ferry crossings.

a) For each Zone which comes within his area of jurisdiction the SE Mechanical will co-operate (through a Zonal management committee) with the Zonal ACE Civil and his Senior Officers to ensure:

i) the establishment of an adequate and effective plant pool within the Zone.

ii) the equitable distribution of equipment within Zone to ensure maximum utilisation of all items of equipment

iii) the provision of suitable equipment for routine maintenance

iv) preventive maintenance procedures are carried out on all equipment and repairs are carried out in a timely and effective manner

v) the provision of ferries and pontoons is adequate and operations meet all safety requirements

vi) preventive ferry maintenance procedures are followed and ferry repairs are carried out quickly and effectively

b) To prepare schedules for repair and maintenance of ferries, pontoons and equipment and make assessments of repair works.

c) To prepare annual budgets for the current year, conduct reviews of last year’s allocation of funds and review estimates as per approved programme.

d) To prepare and submit required list of spare parts to be imported from abroad.

e) To ensure servicing of ferry engines, propulsion units, equipment etc.

f) To prepare and update inventory of equipment, ferries and pontoons and make recommendations for disposal of unserviceable equipment and /materials.

g) To maintain safe operation and arrange security measure against pilferage.

h) To submit monthly progress reports on equipment and ferry availability and utilisation.

i) To collect hire charges of equipment and submit monthly reports on income received.

The budget for the Mechanical Zone Field Circles is shown on the attached table. The budget table shows both the annual operation and maintenance costs (including the costs of overhead) and the capital costs of purchasing new, and replacing old, equipment. As not all equipment will be purchased or replaced immediately the capital cost has been annualised depending on the average life of the various items of equipment. The costs shown exclude the cost of personnel who are paid from revenue sources.

On this basis the annual recurring cost for the Circle is Taka 97.44 lacs and the capital cost on an annualised basis is Taka 163.05 lacs. The capital cost and the running cost for mechanical zonal operations would be Taka 260.49 lacs per annum.

The above costs represent the routine operational costs of the Circles and do not include major items of equipment, plant or ferries which will be required for effective operations. These items are presumed to be funded from the normal Revenue or ADP allocations.

No cost associated with 1st line workshops or ferry operations are included, similarly no account is taken of fees collected from plant hire or ferry charges.

The Mechanical Field Circles require resources for operations and to enable the Circles to undertake necessary maintenance and repair works of ferries/equipment etc. using the Circles’ own resources and contractors.

The resources required by each circle are shown in the table below:

In addition to the office based resources the circles will need equipment for the workshop and field based mechanical operations such as Crane, Generator, Modern Fuel Pump test bench, Modern engine analyser, Brake testing M/C wheel alignment, modern welding M/C, forklift, Truck mounted crane and mobile servicing unit and other devices and tools.