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Cover story new
Miles to go…
Three words that sum up the present state of the Indian road
construction industry. Agreed - it has come a long way. But
there’s still a long way to go to reach international
standards. CHARU BAHRI takes a closer look.
ndoubtedly, highways form the economic backbone of any country.
In India, state and national highways carry 60 per cent of
the freight and 80 per cent of passenger movement —
far more than the railways. Any improvement in the condition
of roads, then, directly affects the economy. No wonder then
that, in the opinion of Perwez Alam, Vice President - Transport
Business, Hindustan Construction Company Ltd (HCC), “The
Golden Quadrilateral project has resulted in better and faster
transportation leading to several economic benefits, such
as faster movement of goods and services, fuel savings, and
the growth of the commercial vehicle segment.”
And that is just one project. The $ 55-billion National Highways
Development Programme (NHDP) being implemented in seven stages
by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is the
most ambitious road project in India. In addition, 1,000 km
of expressways on new alignments will be constructed, 6,500
km of the main four-lane highways and high-density stretches
will be six-laned, 10,000 km of high-density national highways
will be four-laned, and 20,000 km of roads will be upgraded
and two-laned. All these projects translate into billions
of rupees. Add to this highway maintenance costs and you have
a staggering infusion of investment in the road construction
sector.
Evidently, the industry is experiencing growth as never before.
What we see today is just the tip of the iceberg. Consequently,
this boom will continue over the long term.
A positive push
Indians are already enjoying their new expressways, and looking
forward to the further expansion of the network. And this
clearly couldn’t have come about without the government
getting its act together. “The Government of India has
taken several initiatives in the form of duty exemptions and
concessions on essential inputs such as bitumen and plants
and machinery,” points out Samiran Sen, Executive Director,
Consulting Engineering Services (India) Pvt Ltd, and Vice-President,
Indian Roads Congress. “As a result, the availability
of plant and equipment for road construction
is no longer a problem. The import of world-standard products
is easier because of import duty and other concessions by
the government. Even domestic manufacturers are able to supply
equipment of high standard through collaboration. Further,
the tax regime for investments in road construction is liberal
and conducive. However, the government needs to do more in
training and education for capacity building.”
Indeed, both Alam and Satish Parakh, MD, Ashoka Buildcon
Ltd lament the paucity of skilled manpower, which poses a
serious problem to any industry in expansion mode. As Sen
explains, the acute shortage of skilled manpower and professionals
implies that
the benefits from having advanced tools of the trade are not
realised because of
poor operator skill. Also, the consequent poaching of the
limited pool of experts
is a scourge that currently pervades the industry. Another
problem is mana-gement of financial resources. But then, this
can again be linked to a lack of experienced managers.
The wishlist
India’s road construction industry is arguably still
in its infancy. As its growth has mushroomed almost overnight,
it will take time for all stakeholders to adjust to working
in top gear. Anticipating this need, in 2002 Ingersoll Rand
started IR Rasta, the first road institute in India, to bridge
the gap between paving and compaction equipment technology
and end-user applications. The aim is to fully equip the flurry
of small contractors who have entered this area with all the
skills necessary and guide them in core road-building issues
so India too can have international quality roads.
Besides contractors learning on the job, “The government
and bureaucracy have not fully adapted to the changed environment
in the sector,” observes Sen. “The master-servant
relationship still persists, resulting in a confrontational
situation. Red-tapism comes in the way of timely approvals
of variations, etc, severely affecting progress and performance.
There is a need for the bureaucracy to accept contractors,
consultants and developers as partners to a cause.”
Private contractors would agree. After all, they take on
the practical task of actually executing works at breakneck
speeds. It stands to reason, then, that their call for a faster
pace of change of working methods is justified. Their wish-list
includes government assistance in what are still perceived
to be roadblocks to development. For instance, even as Alam
endorses the fact that India is experiencing an unprecedented
boom in the sector, he points out that the government should
ease the process of settlement of land issues and other preconstruction
activities such as environmental clearance and land acquisition.
And apart from rueing the waiting time to secure forest clearances
for roads passing through forests, Parakh speaks of the difficulty
of relocating water pipelines, drainage pipes, and electricity
and tele-phone lines in urban areas as these are often laid
haphazardly.
The greenfield route
The availability of land is certainly a major issue hampering
the rapid construction of new roads and highways. But Sen
feels that “the upgrading of an existing network is
not unduly affected by this factor as right-of-way is usually
present, though sometimes encroached.” Nevertheless,
the difficulties related to the construction of wider roads
through existing townships has spurred a debate about the
relevance of greenfield road projects – a modus operandi
adopted by China to rapidly build a wide network of expressways.
Would this method suit Indian conditions, as well as hasten
the process
of construction?
As far as greenfield projects per se are concerned, World
Bank transport specialist Rajesh Rohatgi believes they have
significant adverse environmental and social impact compared
to widening or upgrading existing corridors. “Simply
on the basis of hastening or easing the process, greenfield
projects cannot be generally applied in all cases,”
he says. “Besides, the land ownership structure in India
is quite different to China and might not be very suitable
for Indian conditions. However, this is an option worth exploring
for access-controlled, high-speed road corridors even in India.”
The quality imperative
It is often said that haste makes for waste. So even though
all stakeholders in the road construction industry desire
rapid progress, the government and agencies implementing its
decisions have to safeguard against quality lapses.
According to information shared by Minister of State for
Shipping, Road Transport and Highways KH Muniyappa with the
Lok Sabha, agencies implementing works related to the construction
of national highways—the NHAI, State Public Works Departments
(PWDs) and Border Roads Organisation are responsible to ensure
the executed works adhere to the ministry’s specifications
and relevant publications of Indian Roads Congress. For this,
the implementing agencies have established control systems,
which include QC checks by supervision consultants, independent
engineers and technical examiners appointed by the NHAI, and
project directors of various field units. State PWDs and the
BRO also have QC checks done by field officials. Apparently,
any defects vis-à-vis the norms prescribed during construction
are rectified and re-tested.
“India has adopted international contract management
and quality assurance pro-cedures and developed a detailed
technical specification for road and bridge works comparable
to international standards,” avers Rohatgi. He also
agrees that there is robust in-house quality control in various
road agencies and independent quality monitoring and audits
are also adopted for large infrastruc-ture projects. “However,”
he adds, “actual compliance with quality standards on
the ground still remains sub-optimal owing to a variety of
reasons ranging from overall lack of quality awareness at
the field level to lack of training and substandard workmanship
of workers and diffused responsibility of independent supervision
consultant staff in quality management. There is an urgent
need to improve overall quality awareness through skills training
and capacity building, introduction of truly independent third
party quality control, and mechanisms to introduce citizen
and community monitoring in large infrastructure projects.”
So is there really a difference between quality specifications
in standard contract notes and constructed ground reality?
According to Sen, in spite of the checks and controls present
in standard contracts and the implementation set-up, regulatory
boundaries are often transgressed when a ‘progress at
all cost’ policy is adopted by the implementing authority.
Hence, he believes the way forward should include “more
road construction
under PPP and through performance-based contracts to ensure
timely delivery of quality roads in this rapidly expanding
sector.”
Keeping tabs on performance monitoring
In a sense, Sen introduces the importance of monitoring the
performance of contractors. Given that the industry is still
under-developed, it is besieged by a number of players all
seeking a generous share of the pie. Alongside traditional
players of repute with their grounding in the international
arena, he describes the present crop of road contractors and
consultants as “lacking not only experience and capability
but also in a culture of self-regulation and quality consciousness.
As a result, when subjected to the pressure to deliver in
time, they are found, more often than not, wanting.”
On the one hand, an outcome of having inexperienced contractors
on the job is that almost all contracts are encountering time
and cost overruns as well as disputes. But on the other hand,
Sen adds that the highly competitive market has pushed down
prices well below workable level. Consequently, quality is
the first casualty. Even a well-meaning builder is hard-pressed
to conform to specifications and standards. When challenged,
work progress suffers because of replacement or corrective
actions.
For his part, Rohatgi says, “Project delivery is also
being delayed owing to the poor quality of designs produced
by the industry, which are then prone to several variations
during construction. In many cases, designs are carried out
in time and cost pressures and consultants fail to anticipate
with reasonable accuracy the field conditions.” Apparently,
in India, average design costs are about 1-2 per cent as against
3-4 per cent of the construction cost in developed countries.
But sadly, the general lack of accountability and professionalism
at all levels in the consulting industry doesn’t help
the cause of quality control. Design and supervision consultants
are not held accountable for their performance owing to the
absence of any performance management system in the country
to measure their performance. Fortunately, Rohatgi believes
that NHAI
is aware of this and keen to resolve the problem.
In Alam’s view, “The reputation of being an efficient
road contractor comes from a combination of experience in
EPC projects and BOT operations in addition to good operation
and maintenance experience. Finally and more important, you
also need modern equipment and skilled manpower.”
The brass tacks
No review of the state of the Indian road construction industry
would be complete without a mention of the actual task of
constructing roads. Designs are one side of the picture, dealing
with bureaucracy for clearances and allied activities another.
But there is a third side to this multi-faceted job: the actual
implementation of projects. As Sen points out, road construction
is all about logistics and inventory control. When resources
are limited, these assume gigantic proportion. Besides, natural
constraints such as climate, topography and physical properties
of available materials influence progress in a vast country
like India.
The good news is that Indian road contractors seem well-equipped
for the job, no matter how daunting the conditions. Contractors
today use the latest technology, e.g. a total station with
GPS (see box) for road mapping and Tech Span (pre-cast) technology
for road and bridge construction. And Alam shares that HCC
uses Calcon 5/Inroads software for road design and quantity
calculation.
Equipped to build
Aside these modern surveying and mapping tools, the industry
is making full use of the array of heavy equipment now freely
available in India. Asit A Patel, Managing Director, Gujarat
Apollo Industries Ltd, believes the government’s continuing
thrust on road construction will help his company maintain
the over 30 per cent CAG growth rate it has marked in the
past three years, for at least three more years. He expects
to close the current financial year with a net sale of around
Rs 170 crore. Naturally, continuous high sales and growth
rates are conducive to starting new business lines. So Gujarat
Apollo has expanded its product line from the entire range
of equipment for the laying of asphalt roads to also include
the crushing plant segment. The aim is to keep adding more
products to its portfolio until the company is truly a one-stop
shop with a countrywide presence in the road cons-truction
machinery segment. Fortunately, the maturity of the road construction
equip-ment industry in India suggests that this goal is achievable.
For its part, Atlas Copco (India) Ltd is setting up a new
unit for the production of compactors and pavers at Nashik,
and will invest Rs 17 crore in the project. The first compactor
will roll out by the third quarter of 2008. Another interesting
titbit: Volvo Construction Equip-ment, which acquired the
road machinery business from Ingersoll Rand in April 2007,
is now producing the line in Volvo colours!
“The Indian road construction equipment manufacturing
industry will grow even faster if a level playing field is
provided,” says Patel. “For instance, equipment
allowed to be imported under zero customs duty should also
qualify for zero excise duty. This would include equipment
like asphalt batch plants and 9 m sensor pavers, which are
usually imported by customers.”
Roadmap for the future
Undoubtedly, road cont-ractors have gone the whole way, investing
in tech-nologies that make for better roads. Along the way,
they have learnt that their journey isn’t always a smooth
ride. So contractors in for the long haul have learnt to perceive
difficulties as a challenge and plan ahead to avoid imple-mentation
problems.
Yes, ‘planning ahead’ is the key with the road
construction industry passing through a growth phase of massive
proportion. But, as Sen points out, “This growth has
pushed the industry to the limits of its capacity.”
It doesn’t come as a surprise, then, that capacity building
is on everyone’s agenda, but still requires massive
government support and the need for all stakeholders to adopt
a futuristic vision.
“Even if a start is made now, the results will only
be visible after five years at the earliest, but that does
not mean a road- map should not be drawn for such a goal,”
adds Sen. We couldn’t agree more.
Surveying, in Style
An optical instrument comprising an electronic theodolite
(transit), an electronic distance measuring device (EDM) and
software running on an external computer, a ‘total station’
is used to measure angles and distances from the instrument
to the point(s) to be surveyed. Trigonometric functions are
then applied to convert these angles and distances into the
coordinates of the point, representing its location to the
north and east and its elevation. After this survey, the data
can be downloaded to the computer to be used by the application
software to generate a map of the surveyed area.
Conventional total stations require a clear line of sight
between the instrument and the point to be surveyed. However,
modern total stations incorporate a GPS interface that enables
the accurate survey of points not within line of sight. Again,
conventional total stations incorporate a glass prism that
acts as a reflector for the EDM signal that is bounced off
the point (object) to be measured. By emitting and receiving
multiple frequencies, the instrument is able to determine
the integer number of wavelengths to the target for each frequency,
and convert this into its actual distance.
However, now newer ‘reflectorless’ instruments
are available that can measure distances to any object that
is reasonably light in colour out to a few hundred meters.
According to Rajesh Kumar, Manager - Marketing, Topcon South
Asia Pte Ltd, the company’s GPT-7500 series total station
is one of the most advanced reflectorless ones available till
date, with the longest non-prism range, now 2,000 m, with
a 350-m range to almost any surface.
Coming to India
As a subsidiary of the Hexagon Group (Sweden), Elcome Technologies
Pvt Ltd (ETPL) offers surveying and measuring solutions in
India and neighbouring countries. ETPL represents Leica Geosystems
AG (Switzerland) for positioning technologies, which include
Geodesy, high-end GPS, and highly specialised industrial measurement
systems (IMS) and high-definition surveying systems. Other
than Leica products, ETPL is a leading distributor of Magellan
hand-held GPS; Riegl 3D laser scanning systems; Newcon Optik’s
laser range finders and high-powered telescope; NovaTel GPS;
DMT’s Gyromat; Amberg’s rail positioning system,
tunnel seismic prediction system and tunnel measurement system;
and Campbell’s meteorological monitoring systems.
An ISO-certified (ISO 9000:2001) company, ETPL has two fully
equipped and Leica-authorised state-of-the-art service centres
in Gurgaon and Hyderabad that ensure timely support to minimise
downtime in cases of breakdown. According to Subrata Chakraborty,
Deputy General Manager - Technical Services, ETPL, Elcome’s
integrated solutions allow customers to collect, manage and
analyse complex information faster and easier, making them
more productive, efficient and profitable. Instruments like
the TPS800, TPS1200, GPS1200, Smart Station, and GPS900 with
a complete suite of onboard programmes are very useful for
survey activities. Road Works 2D and 3D in TPS800 and TPS/GPS1200
with Road Runner, Road Runner Lite, cross-section survey and
onboard mapping facilitate the practical display of profiles
and sections. In addition, instruments useful for road construction
include machine automation systems like Rugby, Distance Meter,
and Laser Locator.
Top of the Line!
Topcon’s GPS model HiPer Ga has standard GPS satellite
tracking capability with the added bonus of GLONASS satellite
tracking upgradeability via OAF activation code. Other features
are innovative, cable-free system design, advanced digital
radio communication system, integrated Bluetooth wireless
technology, powerful 40 channel GNSS board operating at up
to 20 Hz, user selectable and upgradeable internal memory,
and rugged and waterproof field proven system design. The
HiPer Gb has a similar hardware functionally as the Ga version,
but with only GPS tracking capability and fewer choices for
system upgradeability. It provides a fully functional GPS
RTK system that can also be used for static survey observations
and at a price that can fit nearly any budget.
Other widely used and fast moving total stations used in
road construction are the GTS-230 N series, with features
like improved operation software, on-board data collection,
field application programme and new road software, and the
GTS-750 series, with advanced 400 MHz Intel windows CE operating
system with TopSURV on-board software, larger backlit keypad
with bright coloured LCD touch-screen display, CF card, USB
type A and USB mini slots, and increased battery capacity
(5000mAh) and operating time. Topcon Green Label levels, models
AT-G4/G6, have distinctive features that give road contractors
an edge in their work. These include
a magnetically damped compensator, very short
0.5 meter focusing, dual-adopter base plate for fast set-up,
and clamp-less fine horizontal adjustment.
Smooth as Silk
Hindustan Construction Company Ltd (HCC) has been engaged
in road construction across India for a long time, having
been awarded projects worth Rs 4,845 crore involving 3,069
km of lanes to construct – of this 2,110 km valued at
Rs 2,822 crore has been completed. This includes a major section
of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and projects implemented in
challenging conditions in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh
and Maharashtra, notably the Mughal Road project in Kashmir
and the Allahabad bypass in Uttar Pradesh.
“It is always more prudent to build longer stretches
of road because of the economies of scale,” believes
Perwez Alam, Vice-President - Transport Business, HCC. “These
roads are also more likely to be of a higher quality. Broken
stretches, of course, create a rough riding surface.”
Otherwise, he explains that the smoothness of the road surface
along its length is predetermined in terms of the contract.
“Clients determine it by indicating the ‘Roughness
Index’ required for the road being built,” he
adds. “Eventually, the quality depends on various factors,
such as the rate of pavement. For example, a pavement rate
of 1.2 m per minute gives good results.” ‘Pavement
rate’ is the rate or speed of paving or laying of top
layer, which is an asphalt mix for a flexible road and concrete
mix for a rigid road. A paving rate of 1.20 m per minute means
the speed of the paver while paving should not be less than
1.20 m per minute to get a good riding surface.
Building cement concrete road of good standard requires a
proper mix design, proper slump, and temperature and wind
control during laying. Similarly, building a proper bituminous
road requires a proper mix design, a void design, proper laying
temperature control and correct rolling. As far as the cost
rates of different kinds of roads are concerned, they depend
on factors such as terrain, scope of work, and end use.
Border Roads Organisation
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) plays a vital role in
connecting the inaccessible border areas. The organisation
has till date constructed 28,342 km of formation cutting,
32,885 km of surfacing, 12,200 m of permanent bridges and
has undertake Rs 2,039 crore worth of permanent works. It
is currently working on 42 projects, including a 293-km road
through Naxal-dominated areas between Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
BRO will also be involved in building over 1,100 km, largely
in Arunachal Pradesh, over the next couple of years.
Allied Activities
As the build, operate, transfer (BOT) business model takes
over the road construction industry, a number of leading road
contractors have gained experience in the business of operating
toll roads. Ashoka Buildcon, for instance, operates or has
a BOT interest in 23 roads and bridges, totalling approximately
2,061 km of lanes in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh.
Sixteen of these BOT projects are in operation, four are under
construction and three have been constructed, operated and
handed over after completion of the concession period under
the BOT Agreement.
NHAI Projects Under Implementation as on Feb 29, 2008
On Golden Quadrilateral
Kolkata to Delhi on NH 2 …1,407 km
Mumbai to Chennai on NH 4, 7, 46 ….1,251 km
Chennai to Kolkata on NH 5, 6, 60 ….1,573 km
On North South & East West Corridor Phase I
East-West………82 km
North-South……119.1 km
On North South & East West Corridor Phase II
East-West…….2,869.82 km
North-South…2,413.11 km
What Ails the Industry
• Acute shortage of skilled manpower.
• Benefits of advanced tools not realised because of
poor operator skill.
• No robust in-house quality control and independent
quality monitoring and audits.
• Quality compromised due to pressure to deliver on
time.
• Inexperienced contractors mean time and cost overruns
as well as disputes.
• Poor quality of designs results in several variations
during construction.
• Consultants fail to anticipate actual field conditions.
• Design and supervision consultants not held accountable
due to absence of any performance management system.
The Road Ahead
• Government can help in clearing roadblocks to development,
and assist in settlement of land issues, environmental clearance
and land acquisition
which lead to time and
cost overruns.
• Ease the process of relocating water pipelines, drainage
pipes, and electricity and telephone lines in urban areas.
• Improve quality awareness through skills training
and capacity building.
• Introduce citizen and community monitoring in large
infrastructure projects.
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