Activities of ECLA in the field of inland transport (road transport)

JNITED NATIONS n^lM *°

ECONOMIC (^^^^&l E/CN.14/i?RAHS/l'IP.3

>§g^fcjgy Original: ENGLISH

ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA West African Transport Conference

Monrovia, Liberia, 23 - 27 October 1961

ACTIVITIES OF ECLA IN THE FIELD OF INLAHD TRANSPORT (ROAD TRANSPORT)

(information paper submitted by the Secretariat)

Table of Contents

1. Main Aspects

2. Pan-Amarican highway system

3, Transport questions studied in Central America 4, Regional road network of Central America

61-1343

.14/TRAHS/KP.3

I.. MAIN. ASPECTS

.; ., The .present note .contains a brief outline of regional- developments -. in inland, transport, in the Amerioas since the establishment of ECLA.

^.Specialized, bodies, lifee the Panamerican Railway Congress, the Inter- . ajnerioan Highway,Congress and the Interamerican Travel Congress, have

been.functioning there since the 1920's, coming subsequently into oo-roperative relationship with the Organization of American States :(04S) ancL its. Secretariat., the Pan-American Union.

'•'•'■■'• When, the Soonomio Commission^ for, Latin America was set up in :

■"1948V it oould therefore in its transport activities place,, particular

■ emphasis on economic development aspects of transport. Studies < •-.

carried out^y ECLA include those on maritime shipping and ports in

relation to iiitra-Latin ^nerican trade-^ besides numerous country'

studies of tr-ansport problems and requirements in relation to studies of'eobnomic development and programming (e.g. Argentinaj Boliyiaj

'-^Brazil, Chile, Colombia^and countries of Central America).

Regular transport studies on Central America were initiated in 1952 by the Secretariat, in co-operation with the governments con

cerned and ; the United Nations specialized agencies and Bureau of.techni cal Assistance Operations, when the econoraio integration programme^-' of the countries of this sub-region was launched, by th& preparation

of ari oveii-all study on "Transport in Central America'^ This study

"been'followed up by more detailed work, especially on port): maritime shipping and port development.

l/ SCLA reports E/CN.12/369.

2/ ECLA reports e/cn.12/364 Add. 1, E/CN.12/365, E/CN.12/429, b/cN«12/430 (Sales.^ro.,. .1958 II. 0.2,), B/CH. 12/491 Add. 1.

The Qen.tfal,American Integration Programme is a joint development effort by ihe1bentral American governments to establish a common :;- markety^ set up new regional industries, pursue joint regional-, .r,;i:to:an8p.or,t and., elepi^fication policies, frame a joint agricultural

programme etc.. A recent summary of the Programme will be found '■" : in'ECLA document Central Amerioan Sobnomic Integration' and . .

,.. Devel.opm©nt (S/CN. 12/586). " " '. ' ~, .,

/ /.12/356-- ST/TAA/Ser.c/6 ..■.-.•-.

' E/Clf. l'4/TRAITS/TIP - 3

Page 2

II. PAH-AMERICAN HIGHWAY SYSTEM

The "pan-American highway system11 is a substitute for the abortive

project, first mooted in 1880, to establish an overland route linking

the American countries by rail. Though ad hoc' governmental bodies were set up under the Pan-American Union, such was the changing pattern of inland transport that "by the early 1920's the construction of a

pan-American railway was no longer being pressed and the American republics were coming to recognise road construction and the use1 of motor vehicles .as; iiiport'aht factors in solving >i;heir oorambn '(transport problems. In 19283 OAS' urged Member States to prepare practical pro posals for a longitudinal route across the continent. Subsequently, countries were further requested to designate as international high ways main arteries which connected or would connect their various capitals. Thus the: concept of a single continental highway changed to' that of a system or network (see maps 1 and 2). An agreement >

anticipating the oompletioh of tbn-: "system"' was contained in the 1936

Pan-rAmerican Highway Convention* . : . ;

By the close of 1940, the pan-^Amerioan highway section from the

United States border to Hexioo City was completed* together with 62$

of the all-wether highway bocwesn Mexico; and 'Panama. In South ■ Amerioa, the'west-ooa'st section of the system traversing Colombia*

■Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Argentina, comprised more than %200 km of 86$

all-weather roada, only .3^ of-the total being tracks^ unfit for motor traffic. By 1950, the■systen totalled 35?000 km of roads, comprising 17,500 km pavod; 13,250 km cai-weather* 2,940 km dry-weather; and

... | . ■. ■ .-

1,300 km unfit for traffic.

Prom the point"of view of international co-operation, the

interesting section of the system is the link between North and South America. Since 1941v the completion:of the link from the southern fr.antd.er of M,oxico to the Panama Canal, named the "inter-American highway", has boen carried out as a co-operative project with the participation of tko United Staios. All countries of the' area.where

Page 3

, r gaps existed at that timeunder-took to contribute two-thirds of the construction .costs and to participate in the administration of the actual, ^construction, if so requested "by the government or gov/arnraents co-ncemed. The total amount contributed by the countries of the. area from 1941 to June. 1961 was 55-4 million US dollars and by the United

State.s 100.3 million. . . .

Now that this highway is nearing completion as far as the Panama Catial* it looks as if individual countries may find post-construction maintenance costs too high for them to be able to ensure the uniform upkeep that.would guarantee maximum utilisation. To solve this

problem, an unofficial proposal-^recently prepared for the considera

tion of the Ministers of Public Works of the area calls for the

conclusion of an international agreement under which the countries of the area, and the .United States of America would jointly bear the cost of andl:assume. responsibility for the entailed workj and the setting up.-of a joint central maintenance agency,, which it would indeed appear could handle more .the task economically. It is also proposed-that the cost of maintaining the highway over the initial period of 6 years following its opening to year-round traffic, some 15 million dollars, should be regarded as a joint responsibility of the countries of the Isthmus and of the USA, 50fo to be borne by the USA and the other 5Cffo assessed pro rata against the other countries according to the

proportion of the highway located within the territory of each, The general policy of the joint authority would be directed by a Council, and a Commissioner would be responsible for the operations.

It is contemplated that, with maintenance adequately assured, the authority would also be in a position to participate actively in such

matters as the standardization of traffic and safety regulations, the

provision of first-aid stations and other amenities, the promotion of

tourism and the simplification of Customs and immigration procedures

for international travel and transport.

International Road Federation: Study of the Pan-American Highway

in Central America and Panama, Washington, D.C., June I960,

• 14/THABTS/HP. 3

Page 4

At present, the' inter-American 'highway has its southern terminus at ^the Panama Canal. There is no road running through southern

Panama' (Darien) or through the adjoining territory of northern

'Colombia. A co-operative international effort1 to eliminate the Darien- Chooo gap began in earnest in:1954 when the tropical area to be : crossed by the road was surveyed by a small expedition of experts.

Za 1956-5,7, a special; office was setup in Panama, which, organized surveys to.obtaizi more accurate mappings of,: the a"un$lOj and, worked., to, select the most- feasible;route and prepare cost estimates. ; -

At the present time, under the auspices of OAS,1 action is1 neaaS- irig completion on the institution of a special fund of 3 million VQ

dollars to finance final detailed surveys and construction plans for

the Darien highway (about 750 km)i Contributions will be shared as follows: United States of America - twc*-thirds; Panama1 and Colombia - one-ninth each; other Latin American republics - the remaining one- ninth. Aotual construction costs are estimated at no less than 70 million dollars, on a construction schedule of 5 - 7 years.

.14/TRA^S/WP.3

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;. n -.■.■ . .:II]C» /TRANSPORT QUESTIONS STUDIED IN CENTJUL AMERICA

As mentioned in the introductory section, a survey was prepared

in 1952 on transport in both, the six countries of the Central American Isthmus (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama) and the area as a whole, with recommendations for the improve-

-? -ment-and development of the transport systems as a means of promoting : the economic development and integration of these countries. The

; preliminary report of the mission was discussed at a seminar on transport Min Central America held in June 1953 at San Jose, Costa Rica, under the

auspices of.ECLA and TAO, with experts in the various transport fields

■ •*attending from-the six countries concerned. The final report, entitled

"Transport in Central America", revised in the light of the discussions arid views expressed at the seminar, represents the first comprehensive study made of the transport situation and transport problems in Central

■ America. "Besides inland transport;, the report also covers seaports,

maritime shipping, air services and general transport policy.

The report was submitted to the ECLA Committee on Economic Co- operation in Central America (CCE) at its second session, held in

October 1953 in San Jose, Costa Bica. The Committee moved that member

governments should carefully consider the recommendations of the report and implement them in so far as practicable. It requested the Secretariat

of ECLA to submit proposals for their implementation for consideration

by meetings of Central American experts on the following" points of special interest: Co-ordination of the development of international road communications5 regulation and facilitation of international road traffic; improvement of shipping and port services; joint action

to reduce maritime freight and insurance rates; regulation and expansion

of Central American air services;, and co-ordination and improvement of

transport statistics. It also recommended ;that a detailed study be

undertaken to determine whether an economic basis existed for the

E/CN.14/TRANS/hp.3

Page 6

establishment of a Central American merchant shipping company and that, in consultation with national civil aviation authorities, a similar study "be prepared on the possible establishment of a Central American

air transport company* : . .

Accordingly, the Secretariat of ECLA, in co-operation with the competent services of the Economic and Social Affairs Department at Headquarters, and TAO experts, prepared the requested studies. In the general; transport field these led to the improvement of statistical research, documentation and other work, while in the maritime field considerable progress was made in improving port facilities—',

-especially at ports suitable for plurinational use, :and in promoting agreements on administrative measures which governments could take to modernize the organization, services and-management of maritime ports in'their respective countries. The measures concerned are.

designed to simplify procedures, permit saving of time in .the turn- round of ships, reduce.charges, and put co-operation between the

different port authorities of the areas on a permanent basis-1-; Also,

a.regional Maritime and Port Code has been drafted and its adoption is under consideration by the specialists of the different countries-^.

In the civil aviation field, ICAO experts, assisted in carrying out

various projects jointly undertaken by the various countries1 civil

aviation departments (uniform civil aviation code, modernization of airport installations, air.traffic services, radio-aids). In co

operation with CCE they also advised the countries of the area in their successful efforts to establish a unified inter-governmental

operating agency for a.ir navigation facilities and services in Central

Americano

9/

6/ See ECLA reports E/CN.12/CCE/120 and E/CU.12/CCE/l73-

1/ UK Technical Assistance report TAO/LAT/28, see also E/Cff.l2/(iCE/l72.

§/[ UN Technical Assistance report TAO/LAT/27.

2/ See ECLA report E/CN,12/CCE/l73/Ada.l, and ICAO doc. 8055-

//,. 3

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Anticipating an increase in the volume of motor traffic among

the republics of_the Central American Isthmus, regional agreements were concluded providing common legal standards in respect of road traffic. At the fifth session of the Committee, both the Central

American Agreement on Road Traffics/and the Central American Agree ment on Road Signs andSignals^were signed. These agreements had

"been.prepared previously, with the aid of UN Technical Assistance and Central American experts, at meetings of road traffic authorities of the Isthmus and Panama sponsored by the Committee,

.'. .'■"■■". -■ , ■ ■ '' '' ' '

The purpose of the Central American Agreement on Boad Traffic is to achieve a high degree of unification of highway codes and of traffic

laws and. reflations throughout the region. Based on the provisions

of the worldwide Convention on £oad Traffic (Geneva, 1949), the eight sections of the Agreement contain general provisions applicable to all. users, provisions applicable respectively ■ to motor vehicles,

motor cycles and,sidecars, bicycles, animal-drawn vehicles, pedestrians, persons in charge of animals, and agricultural and public works

equipment. The Central American Agreement on Hoad Signs and Signals is developed fro^the recommendations of the 1952 draft Protocol on Uniform Signs and Signals (E/CN.2/119)•

Under the auspices of the Committee, the competent authorities

j^ve also co-operated in developing a co-ordinated programme of

highway construction, and improvement of all roads of regional importance, Following its revest, a United Nations Technical Assistance expert

prepared detailed drafts of highway and bridge specifications for Qentral America. In conjunction with this project ample attention 'was,paid to related questions,. ,such as co-ordination of investment

and construction programmes for highways of regional importance . specialized.training.for highway departments personnel, technological investigation of.soils;and construction materials-

^/CN.12/4921,' Annex 3.

. 12/492, Annex 4-

B/CH. 14/TR6JTS/WP. 3

Page 8

This work, carried out in close collaboration with national highway departments and laboratories, resulted in the establishment of the

following set of technical guides—=4 . .

(i) General specifications for the construction of roads and'

bridges in Central America and Panama: The purpose of the document is to achieve uniformity in contracting systems and to standardize contractual provisions on preparatory work, earth work, bases, pavements, complementary work and bridge

construction. ■

(i:0 Norms for' bridge design in Central America and Pananra, estab

lished with the view to adapting the specifications of the

American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) to

the actual conditions of the area, simplifying methods;of design and calculation, and applying the results of more recent research into the properties of materials and struct

ural elements. .

(iii) Recommendations on general matters and road network plans,

which concentrate on the regulatory aspects of preparation of national road plans', classification of roads, geometric

characteristics etc., with the purpose of providing solutions to specific questions such as the contracting of consultants,

the execution of works by appropriate methods (force aocount, unit-price contracts, lump-sum contract), cost estimates and

~ . bids analyses.

The countries concerned have undertaken to use the above documents on a experimental basis for a trial period of two years. Thereafter, the overall experience gained will serve for their revision, where required. The intention is to continue with drafting specifications for low-cost surfaoing, unification of highway terminology, establish ment of a manual on laboratory control of construction workj introduc tion of training courses for construction technicians and other

specialized personnel of highway departments and road laboratories.

This work is necessary to eliminate gaps representing real obstacles to joint action "by countries on road planning and development*

12/ E/CN. 12/158 and Add, 1 - 3-

^r. 14/traits/wp . 3 Page 9 '■;'-' . >;

■ ■ ; IV. -REGIONAL ROAD 13BCTOEK: OP CENTRAL-

-'-'-■ :■'■ -1-'-" ■■ ' ■ ■ - AMERICA ' ' .-.:;■

The achievements in road transport development described above have made it possible to focus attention on the desirability of reaching agreement on the designation of roads to form the Central American network and on priorities for their construction. From a tentative plan suggested in 1953 recommendations have developed defining routes of regional interest and proposing connecting points for them at national frontiers. It has since become practicable to go thoroughly into -the co-ordination of road-building activities and the financing of the "regional network"1 (see map 3). When the economic integration programme :for Central America was initiated in 1952, the total length of roads in Central America (excluding Panama), was estimated at 21,100 kilometres. In this^total there were10,230 kilometres of all-weather roads-, but only 2,040 kilometres surfaced.

The main route connecting these countries - the inter-Anierican highways- was 2,018 kilometres long, 1,666 kilometres (673 surfaced) being open all the year round and 352 kilometres still unbuilt. Tha*t is to say, 82.4 per cent of finished roads were usable in all kinds of weather.

There were, however, three strategic links connecting finished roads on which construction had not started^ thus impeding international traffic, namely, the 40 kilometres across the frontier between Mexico and Guatemala - the 105-kilometres section from the Hicaraguan frontier into Costa Roca, and the 207-kilometre stretch in Costa Rboa'at the

Panamanian border. ..■■■-

Although there had been some expansion of Central'America1s road network up to 19523 certain very important factors limited its development and prevented the full utilization of investment; Among these were the bad condition of existing roads,1 poor technical and

economic planning and maintenance, and the shortage of secondary roads branching off the main highways. These and other restrictive factors

:e/cn. 14/tkaits/wp • 3

Page 10

adversely affected the cost of motor transport, which was further increased by the high cost of equipment? motor fuels and repairs.

There were other impediments to road transport, varying from country to country, which obstructed the rapid and easy flow of passengers

and goods.1 ' : ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ - ■■ :■; ■■:■■;..■. ■

Progress achieved to date has had a considerable influence on trade among the countries of the area and, consequently, on economic

integration. The"Regional Road Plan of 1952 envisaged a 7-year

programme of construction and improvement' of both international and

"national routes, simultaneously integrating the domestic systems, investment'requirements were estimated at 206 million TJS dollars, comprising some 88 million for 2,870 kn.of major and secondary

national roads and some llS million for developing the regional system of 3?93O km.of roads. The latter has since been expanded to

consist of the Inter-American Highway (CA~1, '2,003 km), the dorsal

spine of the network; the Pacific Littoral Highway (CA-2, CA-3,

915 km.); the'Transisthmic Highway of El Salvador and Honduras (CA-4, 383 km.); the Transisthmic Highway of :Hon<iuras (CA-5, 432 kin.) j the Honduras - Nicaragua Highway (CA-6? 200 km.); the Honduras - El

Salvador Highway (CA-7> 213 km,); the Guatemala - El Salvador Highway

(CA-8, 150 km.)5 the Transisthmic Highway of Guatemala (CA~9> 417 km.); the link roads of Guatemala - El Salvador - Honduras (CA-10,

CA-11, CA-12, 355 km.); and the Guatemala - Honduras 'Atlantic Highway

(CA-13, 96 km.).

In June 1961, out of a total of 5>2OO km. of ro,ads only some

600 km, were dry-weather roads and just over 100 km. still unconstruct- ed. However, a very high proportion of the network is not up to

required standards. So far the network represents an investment of

294.2 million dollars, while the cost of its urgent improvement will amount to a further 144 million dollars.

E/CH. 14/TRAITS/WP. 3

Page 11

When the Integration Programme was initiated, the total value of intra-Central American trade was about 10.3 million dollars (i.e.

some 3.1jt of the world trade of the area). As a result of the system of trade treaties and also of the opening of the road network, this trade had grown to 20.5 million dollars (86,000 metric tons) by 1958

and 22 «mlon dollars (l5M00 metric tons) by 1959. In the lattep

year, 8# of this traffic estimated at some 48 million ton/km., was

moved by road at a oost of more than 1.7 million dollars.

The Central American Integration Bank, which was set up in early 1961 as an instrument for financing and promoting integrated national

economic growth on a basis of regional balance, will certainly play an Important part in procuring the financial resources for the comple tion of the network, one of its purposes being to ensure the financing of infrastructure projects of regional interest which complement

existing national ones.

AMERIQUE DU SUD

RESEAU PANAMERICAIN DE GRANDES ROUTES

U JSI J T E D r ATE £

MEXIQUE - AMERIQUE CENTRALE

GRANDE ROUTE INTER-AMERKAINE

DESETATS-UNISAPANAMA

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