Project Performance Audit Report

Robert P. Desbiens

Description

ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK PPA: PRC 23032 PPA: PRC 24335 PROJECT PERFORMANCE AUDIT REPORT ON THE SHENYANG-BENXI HIGHWAY AND JILIN EXPRESSWAY PROJECTS (Loans 1168 and 1262-PRC) IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA October 2000 CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS Currency Unit – Yuan (Y) Shenyang-Benxi Highway (Loan 1168-PRC) At Appraisal At Project Completion At Operations Evaluation (May 1992) (September 1998) (March 2000) Y1.00 = $0.18 = $0.12 = $0.12 $1.00 = Y5.44 = Y8.34 = Y8.28 Jilin Expressway (Loan 1262-PRC)At Appraisal At Project Completion At Operations Evaluation (October 1993) (October 1998) (March 2000) Y1.00 = $0.18 = $0.12 = $0.12 $1.00 = Y5.70 = Y8.34 = Y8.28 ABBREVIATIONSAADT – annual average daily trafficADB – Asian Development Bank EA – Executing Agency EIA – environmental impact assessment EIRR – economic internal rate of return FIRR – financial internal rate of return ICB – international competitive bidding JPCD – Jilin Provincial Communications Department JPEAB – Jial Expressway Administration Bureau JPEC – Jilin Provincial Expressway Corporation LCB – local competitive bidding LPCD – Liaoning Provincial Communications Department LPEMB – ial Expressway Management Bureau MTU – medium truck equivalent units MOC – Ministry of Communications NECL – North East Corporation, Ltd. NTHS – National Trunk Highway System O&M – operation and ...

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• management

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• Publié par: Udru
• Nombre de lectures: 29
• Langue: English

Extrait

PPA: PRC 23032 PPA: PRC 24335

  ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK                             PROJECT PERFORMANCE AUDIT REPORT     ON THE     SHENYANG-BENXI HIGHWAY AND JILIN EXPRESSWAY PROJECTS (Loans 1168 and 1262-PRC)     IN THE     PEOPLE S REPUBLIC OF CHINA   ’                               October 2000

CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS Currency Unit – Yuan (Y)   Shenyang-Benxi Highway (Loan 1168-PRC) At Appraisal At Project Completion At Operations Evaluation (May 1992) (September 1998) (March 2000)       Y1.00 = $0.18 = $0.12 = $0.12 $1.00 = Y5.44 = Y8.34 = Y8.28   Jilin Expressway (Loan 1262-PRC) At Appraisal At Project Completion At Operations Evaluation (October 1993) (October 1998) (March 2000)       Y1.00 = $0.18 = $0.12 = $0.12 $1.00 = Y5.70 = Y8.34 = Y8.28   ABBREVIATIONS AADT – annual average daily traffic ADB – Asian Development Bank EA – Executing Agency EIA – environmental impact assessment EIRR – economic internal rate of return FIRR – financial internal rate of return ICB – international competitive bidding JPCD – Jilin Provincial Communications Department JPEAB – Jilin Provincial Expressway Administration Bureau JPEC – Jilin Provincial Expressway Corporation LCB – local competitive bidding LPCD – Liaoning Provincial Communications Department LPEMB – Liaoning Provincial Expressway Management Bureau MTU – medium truck equivalent units MOC – Ministry of Communications NECL – North East Corporation, Ltd. NTHS – National Trunk Highway System O&M – operation and maintenance OEM – Operations Evaluation Mission PCR – project completion report PPAR – project performance audit report PRC – People’s Republic of China SE – special engineering TA – technical assistance VOC – vehicle operating cost   NOTES (i) The fiscal year (FY) of the Government and the Executing Agency ends on 31 December. (ii) In this report, "$" refers to US dollars. Operations Evaluation Office, PE-553

CONTENTS 

BASIC DATA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY MAP   I. BACKGROUND A. Rationale B. Formulation C. Purpose and Outputs D. Cost, Financing, and Executing Arrangements E. Completion and Self-Evaluation F. OEO Evaluation   II. PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION PERFORMANCE A. Formulation and Design B. Cost and Scheduling C. Consultants’ Performance, Procurement, and Construction D. Organization and Management   III. ACHIEVEMENT OF PROJECT PURPOSE A. Operational Performance B. Performance of the Operating Entity C. Economic Reevaluation D. Sustainability   IV. ACHIEVEMENT OF OTHER DEVELOPMENT IMPACTS A. Socioeconomic Impacts B. Environmental Impacts C. Impacts on Institutions and Policy   V. OVERALL ASSESSMENT A. Relevance B. Efficacy C. Efficiency D. Sustainability E. Institutional Development and Other Impacts F. Overall Project Rating G. Assessment of ADB and Borrower Performance   VI. ISSUES, LESSONS, AND FOLLOW-UP ACTIONS A. Key Issues for the Future B. Lessons Identified C. Follow-Up Actions   APPENDIXES  

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BASIC DATA Shenyang-Benxi Highway Project (Loan 1168-PRC) Institution Building   TA No. Project Title Type Consultant TA Amount Approval Date  Person-Months 1724 Institutional Strengthening ADTA 14.1 $500,000 2 Jul 1992 for Highway Operation and Management Improveme t a   n 1725 Jilin Province Highway PPTA 13.9 $600,000 2 Jul 1992 Network Study a   a Associated technical assistance grant. Key Project Data($ million)   Total Project Cost Foreign Exchange Cost Local Currency Cost ADB Loan Amount/Utilization Foreign Exchange Cost Local Currency Cost ADB Loan Amount Cancellation Key Dates   Fact-Finding Appraisal Loan Negotiations Board Approval Loan Agreement Loan Effectiveness First Disbursement Project Completion Loan Closing Months (Effectiveness to Completion) Key Performance Indicators(%)   Financial Internal Rate of Return (%) Economic Internal Rate of Return (%) Borrower Executing Agency Mission Data Type of Mission Fact-Finding Appraisal Project Administration: Inception Review Project Completion Review Total Operations Evaluation a   a Operations evaluation of Loans 1168-PRC and 1262-PRC.  

As Per ADB Loan Actual Documents 166.0 201.38 62.3 79.74 103.7 121.64 50.0 50.00 50.0 50.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 Expected Actual  5-21 Aug 1991  16 Feb-3 Mar 1992  25-26 May 1992  2 Jul 1992  5 Oct 1992 16 Dec 1992 16 Dec 1992  15 Mar 1993 31 Dec 1996 30 Sep 1996 30 Jun 1997 16 Dec 1997 48 45 Appraisal PCR PPAR 9.0 6.2 (0.5) 17.6 13.6 4.9 People's Republic of China Liaoning Provincial Communications Department No. of Missions Person-Days 1 85 1 96    1 3 3 20 1 36 5 59 1 25

 

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BASIC DATA Jilin Expressway Project (Loan 1262-PRC) Project Preparation/Institution Building TA No. Project Title Type Consultant TA Amount   Approval Date  Person-Months 1725 Jilin Province Highway PPTA 13.9 $600,000 2 Jul 1992 Network Study 1972 Policy and Institutional ADTA 47.5 $1,200,000 9 Nov 1993 Support in the Road Sector a   a Associated technical assistance grant. Key Project Data($ million)    As Per ADB Loan Actual Documents Total Project Cost 423.5 291.0 Foreign Exchange Cost 153.9 136.6 Local Currency Cost 269.6 154.4 ADB Loan Amount/Utilization 126.0 126.0 Foreign Exchange Cost 126.0 126.0 Local Currency Cost 0.0 0.0 ADB Loan Amount Cancellation 0.0 0.0 Key Dates  Expected Actual Fact-Finding 17 May-4 Jun 1993 Appraisal 26 Jul-13 Aug 1993 Loan Negotiations 5-8 Oct 1993 Board Approval 9 Nov 1993 Loan Agreement 5 Jan 1994 Loan Effectiveness 5 Apr 1994 5 Apr 1994 First Disbursement 8 Jun 1994 Project Completion 31 Dec 1997 19 Sep 1996 Loan Closing 31 Dec 1998 16 Oct 1997 Months (Effectiveness to Completion) 44 29 Key Performance Indicators(%)  Appraisal PCR PPAR Financial Internal Rate of Return (%) n.c. 7.5 10.4 Economic Internal Rate of Return (%) 19.7 21.0 12.5 n.c. = not calculated.   Borrower People's Republic of China     Executing Agency Jilin Provincial Expressway Corporation   Mission Data Type of Mission No. of Missions Person-Days Fact-Finding 1 114 Appraisal 1 42 Project Administration: Inception 1 9 Review 3 21 Loan Disbursement 1 2 Project Completion Review 1 56 Total 6 88 Operations Evaluation b  1 25 b Operations evaluation of Loans 1168-PRC and 1262-PRC.  

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY   Both expressway projects are located in the northeast provinces of Jilin and Liaoning of the People’s Republic of China. The Jilin Expressway Project from Changchun to Siping was part of the priority National Trunk Highway System program under the Eighth Five-Year Plan (1991-1995), which targeted highways where traffic congestion on the existing trunk roads was hindering regional economic activity. The Shenyang-Benxi Highway Project, located in Liaoning Province, was the first expressway financed by the Asian Development Bank in the People’s Republic of China. Classified outside of the first priority National Trunk Highway System, it aimed at providing infrastructure support for the continued economic and social development of Dalian-Shenyang and Shenyang-Benxi corridors and the adjacent hinterland. Both projects are reviewed in the same project performance audit report in light of their joint contribution toward the development of the country’s northeast transport corridor and of the common issues facing them. These issues relate to cost-recovery objectives through toll revenues, corporatization and asset securitization, and sustainability of operation and maintenance (O&M) as linked with the issue of the corporate management setup of the expressways.    The main objectives of the Jilin Expressway Project were to (i) reduce traffic on existing roads, (ii) improve access of the hinterland economy to Dalian Port, and (iii) reduce congestion on the overburdened railway by diverting traffic to the expressway. The Project comprised (i) construction of a 133.3-kilometer four-lane, limited-access toll expressway connecting the cities of Siping and Changchun; (ii) procurement of equipment and facilities for construction supervision, road maintenance, road safety, and communications; and (iii) consulting services for construction supervision and training. In addition, 32 person-months of technical assistance (TA) and 20 months of overseas training were provided to assist the Government formulate policy reforms and to assess the institutional support needs of the road subsector.   The Shenyang-Benxi Highway Project was designed to improve the efficiency and capacity of the road transport network in the area and the adjacent hinterland. The Project comprised (i) construction of a 75-kilometer, four-lane, controlled-access toll expressway from the provincial capital of Shenyang to Benxi and onward to Nanfen; (ii) procurement of equipment for road monitoring, road safety, and communication; and (iii) consulting services for construction supervision and training. Two TA grants comprising a total of 42 person-months were provided to (i) recommend improvements in the finance and operations of the expressways management bureau and assist in the development of more efficient vehicle inspection systems and weight regulation programs, and (ii) formulate a provincial highway network plan covering key aspects of highway and road transportation in Jilin Province.    The rationale for both projects was sound, taking into account the priority given to development of the northeast transport corridor to provide quick, efficient access to and from the northeast hinterland to major maritime ports at Dalian and Dandong. Both projects benefited from competent executing agencies, complemented by effective supervision of civil works implementation, and from capacity-building management related to timely execution of civil works projects.    The Jilin Expressway Project fully achieved its target in terms of cost-effective completion within budget (at $423.5 million equivalent) and 15 months ahead of schedule, all the while generating the anticipated benefits. Economic and social welfare gains associated with faster travel times, reduced vehicle operating costs, and enhanced economic progress all contributed to

 

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generating a fairly robust economic return as per the reestimated economic internal rate of return of 12.5 percent. The corresponding financial performance at 10.4 percent is an acceptable measure of the degree of financial cost recovery attained through toll-based revenues.    Shenyang-Benxi Highway, with an economic internal rate of return of 4.9 percent, has not achieved an equivalent level of efficiency owing to higher capital costs ($166 million, 21.3 percent over budget) and lower-than-anticipated economic benefits arising essentially from a more modest traffic volume and lower rates of traffic diversion from either rail or competing alternative highway modes in the transport corridor. In financial terms, this expressway, with a marginally negative financial internal rate of return of –0.5 percent, has fallen considerably short of its objectives over the initial period of operations, given the lower-than-anticipated traffic base due partly to noncompletion of the projected expressway extension from Nanfen to the port of Dandong.    The physical and the financial sustainability of both projects are high. A sufficient flow of funds generated by toll revenues from both expressways, combined with the provincial communication departments (PCDs) commitments from other conventional user charges, can easily cover O&M and periodic/rehabilitation costs for the two projects, in addition to meeting debt service requirements. Both facilities constitute key elements of the northeast region’s primary infrastructure and, in recognition of their strategic economic importance, have clearly benefited from sustained O&M efforts. There is full institutional support and commitment to ensuring near-optimum physical performance of both expressways, the partial exception being the recurrence of transverse and longitudinal cracks along the surface pavement arising from thermal shrinkage.    The institutional strengthening of the respective provinces’ PCDs, responsible for expressway management enhanced management capabilities through on-the-job training in project management, contract administration, traffic engineering, and toll operation  management. The TA outputs associated with the Jilin Expressway Project were instrumental in providing Jilin’s PCD with the skills and information that led to the successful launching of the corporatization initiative. On the other hand, corporatization was not an option pursued by the Liaoning PCD for the Shenyang-Benxi Highway Project. Other positive impacts include unintended socioeconomic impacts (such as tourism development) and the facilitation of high- speed containerized traffic (not mentioned in the appraisal reports).    On considerations of relevance, efficacy, efficiency, and sustainability, the Jilin Expressway Project is rated highly successful and the Shenyang-Benxi Highway Project successful.     There is virtually full compliance with loan covenants in both projects, except for the insufficient project benefit monitoring and evaluation of data collection. Although both Liaoning and Jilin PCDs have set up several separate information systems, there exist as yet no complete systems of project benefit monitoring and evaluation of data collection and monitoring in either Jilin or Liaoning PCDs.    Key issues for the future include corporatization and asset securitization, which are linked with the attainment of the full-cost-recovery objectives of the expressway management bureaus. Notably absent in current expressway management planning is the explicit tracking and earmarking of toll rate prices and associated revenues toward full cost recovery of highway development costs. Another related issue, germane to the Liaoning Expressway Management

 

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Bureau, is the relative unattractiveness of corporatization as a vehicle for mobilization of capital funding for future expressway projects.    The lessons learned include the lack of a proper economic appraisal methodology applied to the Shenyang-Benxi Highway Project, an omission that was, however, corrected in the preparation of the follow-up Changchun-Siping Project, as well as benchmarking of indicators for project economic and social impact evaluation.     Pavement cracks and ice slab formation inside tunnels, which have occurred in the two project expressways, should call attention to the need for improved and adapted road pavement design when an expressway project is located in northern low-temperature areas. Likewise, the Operations Evaluation Mission has observed that there is no proper pavement management system currently used for the two expressways. As a follow-up action, a properly designed pavement management system, including data collection equipment, should be introduced by the Executing Agencies for the expressways’ management and maintenance.  

 

 

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Map

I. BACKGROUND

A. Rationale 1. The Jilin Expressway Project from Changchun to Siping in Jilin Province was included in the priority National Trunk Highway System (NTHS) program under the Eighth Five-Year Plan (1991-1995), which targeted highways where traffic congestion on the existing trunk roads was hindering regional economic activity, particularly the export-oriented manufacturing industry and agriculture. The project road was designed as part of the Beijing-Harbin expressway program to enhance the development of the Dalian-Harbin corridor in the northeastern provinces by reducing road transportation costs.   2. On the other hand, the Shenyang-Benxi Highway Project 1   in Liaoning Province, though under the Eighth Five-Year Plan, was classified outside the priority NTHS. It aimed at providing infrastructure support for the continued economic and social development of the Dalian-Shenyang and Shenyang-Benxi corridors and the adjacent hinterland.   3. Both projects form vital links of the road infrastructure in the northeast transport corridor (see Map) and are consistent with the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) country operational strategy and country assistance program emphasizing infrastructure development as a primary vector of rapid, sustainable, and equitable economic growth.   B. Formulation 4. The two Projects were designed in response to an assessment of road development priorities carried out by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) State Planning Commission in collaboration with the Jilin and Liaoning provincial communications departments (PCDs), which are responsible for provincial highway planning and operation and maintenance (O&M) of the expressway networks. According to the appraisal report, formulation of the Shenyang-Benxi Highway Project was based on feasibility designs prepared by the Liaoning Provincial Communications Department (LPCD). However, no project preparatory technical assistance (PPTA) was carried out in preparing the Project. On the other hand, with the Shenyang-Benxi Highway Project, a PPTA was carried out to develop an integrated provincial highway network study for Jilin Province, including the Changchun-Siping expressway.   C. Purpose and Outputs 5. The purpose of the Jilin Expressway Project (also referred to as Changchun-Siping Expressway) is to relieve traffic congestion and link economic growth areas with consumer centers and foreign trade outlets. The main objectives of the Project are to (i) reduce traffic on existing roads in the Changchun-Siping corridor, (ii) improve access of the hinterland economy to Dalian Port, and (iii) reduce congestion in the overburdened railway by diverting traffic to the                                                   1  The Project is officially referred to as a highway rather than an expressway in deference to a section going from Benxi to Nanfen, which is an undivided highway. For the most part, however, the road has been built to expressway standards and is therefore referred to within the text of the report as an expressway when commented on in tandem with the related Changchun-Siping expressway.

 

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expressway. The main outputs of the Project are (i) a 133.3-kilometer (km) four-lane, limited- access toll expressway connecting the cities of Siping and Changchun; and (ii) procurement of equipment and facilities for construction supervision, road maintenance, road safety, and communications. Also included under the loan was a technical assistance (TA) 2  assist the to Government in formulating policy reforms and to assess the institutional support needs of the road subsector.   6. The purpose of the Shenyang-Benxi Highway Project was to improve the efficiency and capacity of the road transport link from Shenyang and the adjacent hinterland to the secondary port of Dandong. The outputs of the Project include (i) a 75-km, four-lane, controlled-access toll expressway from Shenyang (the provincial capital) to Benxi and onward to Nanfen; and (ii) procurement of equipment for road monitoring, road safety, and communication.   D. Cost, Financing, and Executing Arrangements 7. The total estimated cost of the Changchun-Siping Expressway Project at appraisal was $423.5 million equivalent comprising $153.9 million (or 36 percent) in foreign exchange cost and $269.6 million equivalent (or 64 percent) in local currency cost (refer to Basic Data Sheet for details). The Executing Agency (EA) for project implementation was the Jilin Provincial Expressway Corporation (JPEC), with assistance from the Jilin Provincial Communications Department (JPCD).     8. The total cost of the Shenyang-Benxi Highway Project, including contingencies and interest during construction, at appraisal was estimated at $166.0 million equivalent, of which $62.3 million was the foreign currency cost (38 percent) and $103.7 million equivalent (62 percent) the local currency cost. The financing envisaged at appraisal included a $50.0 million ADB loan to finance about 80 percent of the foreign exchange cost. The Government undertook to finance the remaining foreign exchange cost and local currency cost in the amount of $116.0 million. The EA is the LPCD.     E. Completion and Self-Evaluation 9. The project completion reports (PCRs) for the Jilin Expressway and Shenyang-Benxi Highway Projects were prepared by ADB’s Transport and Communications Division East and circulated to the Board in September and October 1998, respectively. The PCRs were based on a comprehensive assessment of completed works, providing a detailed account of the scope, costs, implementation, and operational aspects of the Project at that stage. The recalculated financial internal rate of return (FIRR) for the Shenyang-Benxi Highway Project was 6.2 percent, and the economic internal rate of return (EIRR), 13.6 percent. The corresponding estimates for Changchun-Siping Expressway were 7.5 percent and 21.0 percent, respectively. The PCRs rated both projects as generally successful. The Operations Evaluation Mission (OEM) found the PCRs to be straightforward in their assessment of the two projects’ implementation. Physical achievements were substantiated throughout and the underlying shortcomings during the loan processing and implementation cycle were brought out.  

                                                  2   TA 1972-PRC:Policy and Institutional Support in the Road Sector, for $1.2 million, approved on 9 November 1993.