ACE Update August 2015

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Vol 5 Issue 7 • Pages 44 • August 1, 2015 • `100/-

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LICENSE TO THRILL Walking on the world’s tallest and longest glass bottom bridge

Inside...

An I-Tech Media Publication

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Cover Story Roads in India: A quality check

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Interview Rakesh Kumar, Assistant Director, NRRDA

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Industry Analysis Driving growth in the slow lane

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Special Report Beneath India’s road tunnels

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Cover Story

Interview

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An inside look at India’s road quality.

CONTENTS

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Roads in India: A quality check

CONNECTING RURAL INDIA Rakesh Kumar, Assistant Director, NRRDA sheds light on the utilisation of financial support received by PMGSY by drawing the future rural road map.

The Big Project

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License to Thrill Walking on the world’s tallest and longest glass bottom bridge.

The EPC Player

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18

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PNC Infratech: THE road expert Yogesh Kumar Jain, Managing Director, PNC Infratech explains the company’s future plans and what challenges lie ahead on the road in building India’s road network.

Industry Analysis

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Driving growth in the slow lane An in-depth analysis on road making machines in India and growth potential.

Special report

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Beneath India’s road tunnels With a rising number of tunnel projects being constructed in the country, a sneak into what are the challenges and technology used for constructing road tunnels.

One-on-one

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ACC lays concrete roadmap Anil K. Banchhor, Chief Executive, ACC Concrete Business highlights the company’s significant achievements and aggressive future plans.

Green buildings

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Green Malls: An inevitability waiting to happen Ashok Jain, Director and Strategist at Terracon Ecotech explains why mall owners should go for green

Promotional Feature

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Aquatek Conchem develops world-class waterproofing solutions The Big 5 Construct India comes to Mumbai

News Update

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Stanadyne launches new fuel injection systems in India JCB introduces telematics technology Livelink Schwing Stetter’s Anand Sundaresan becomes President of ICEMA

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Trimble to set up first educational centre of excellence in India Credit rating of Glass Wall upgraded Dalmia Cement ventures into Maharashtra

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Editorial

The Road to Growth

India, having the second largest road network in the world at 4.7 mn km, road plays a crucial role in moving the cycle of growth. Though the sector has gone through sluggishness during the past few years, the present government is making all efforts to rejuvenate the sector. It has announced a whopping investment of Rs. 5 lakh crore in the road sector to be spent in the next five years. National Highways of 8,500 km in length are also targeted to be undertaken in the current fiscal under various schemes of the roads ministry. www.aceupdate.com

I-Tech Media Pvt Ltd, 15/2, 2 Floor, Chandroday Co-Op Society, Swastik Park, CST Road, Chembur, Mumbai - 400071. (India) Tel.: +91-22-32682214 / 15 nd

In an aim to speed up the road construction activities in India, the government plans to lay 30-km of roads per day in the next two years, up from the current level of 11-km a day.

However, amidst all these positive announcements, the concerns remain are: timely execution of project and quality of construction. To achieve these, there is the urgent need to adopt new technologies and equipment in the entire process across the country.

GROUP EDITOR* Subhajit Roy Email: editor@aceupdate.com

On this note, while taking an inside look at India’s road quality in this issue, we have discussed on the factors causing ‘bad road’ and the scopes of improvements.

EDITORIAL Kshitija Kolhapure Shahzad Bagwan

Recently Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari talked about the need to manufacture road making machines in India. He said that all steps should be taken to develop new technologies and equipment so as to bring down the cost of construction and improving the quality of road infrastructure. He also suggested the need to develop partnerships with foreign companies in this field.

ADVERTISING Kamlesh Balkrishna Email: kamlesh@i-techmedia.com Call: +91-9819464242 SUBSCRIPTION subscribe@aceupdate.com Telephone: +91-22-3268 2214/15 *responsible for selection of news under PRB Act

Our in-depth analysis on road making machines in India is an attempt to highlight the product innovation, standardisation and market potential.

In a country like India where agriculture plays the major role in economic prosperity, it is quite impossible to achieve holistic growth without the growth of rural India. In an aim to transform the rural economics the government needs to provide good all-weather road connectivity to unconnected villages. Rakesh Kumar, Assistant Director, NRRDA briefed us on the rural road development progress. He also sheds light on the utilisation of financial support received by PMGSY by drawing the future rural road map.

China is all set to open world’s longest and highest glass-bottom bridge. Spanning 1,410 feet long and hovering 984 feet above the ground, the new transparent walkway will be thrill-seekers paradise.

Hope you’ll also get thrilled at turning every page of this issue.

We are keen to hear your comments. Please write to us at editor@aceupdate.com

Printed and published by Subhajit Roy on behalf of I-Tech Media Pvt Ltd. and printed at Print, Process Offset Printers, B-23, Royal Industrial Estate, 5-B, Wadala, Mumbai-400031 and published from I-Tech Media Pvt Ltd. 1, Gayatri, Karumari Amman, Chheda Nagar, Chembur (West), Mumbai - 400089. Editor: Subhajit Roy All rights reserved. While all efforts are made to ensure that the information published is correct, ACE Update holds no responsibility for any unlikely errors that might occur. The information on products and services / technology on offer is being provided for the reference of readers. However, readers are cautioned to make inquiries and take their decisions on purchase or investment after consulting experts on the subject. ACE Update holds no responsibility for any decision taken by readers on the basis of information provided herein. Tel.: +91-22-32682214/15, +91-9821667357

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Equipment Stanadyne launches new fuel injection systems in India Stanadyne, one of the global leaders in the design and manufacture of diesel and gasoline fuel systems launches EcoForce - a next generation diesel fuel system developed for the below 50 HP engine market.

EcoForce is designed for farming, construction and industrial sectors focused on improved fuel economy, increased engine performance and reduced particulate emissions. Stanadyne plans to launch the new product in 2016 with an investment of ` 100 crore over the course of the program.

Since 2004, Stanadyne has produced over 18 lacs pumps for sale within India and in international markets.

Recently, Stanadyne achieved over 50 per cent local market share of mid-sized generatorsets along with broad penetration into farming and industrial sectors.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. John Pinson, Stanadyne

JCB introduces telematics technology Livelink Construction equipment manufacturing major JCB India unveiled Livelink – an innovative technology which allows the user to remotely monitor the machine.

Commenting on the feature of Livelink, Vipin Sondhi, Managing Director and CEO, JCB India said, “JCB Livelink is an advanced telematics system which provides information on service, operation and security of machines. The manufacturers, customers and dealers will now have a better control on their equipment usage.”

JCB Livelink provides alerts on real time location, maintenance alerts, machine and fleet hours etc. putting the user in entire control of the machine from any location.

It can assist in ensuring that the machines are operated at correct times and helps to protect them from theft.

The user can monitor the machine through SMS, Email or by visiting the JCB Livelink site.

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President and CTO said, “EcoForceis based on an innovative design concept for the below 50 horsepower market that offers superior engine performance and fuel economy with a lower total cost of ownership.”

Speaking on the occasion, Sanjay Chadda, Managing Director, Stanadyne India said, “EcoForce will address the dual concerns of high fuel costs and air quality emissions resulting in better quality of life in India.

With investment plans in place, we are expanding our plant production capacity to accommodate the increasing demand. As a result of strong market interest, we anticipate sales to more than double by 2018.”

Schwing Stetter’s Anand Sundaresan becomes President of ICEMA Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association (ICEMA), a representative body of the Indian construction equipment industry affiliated with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), announced the appointment of Anand Sundaresan as its President.

A. Sundaresan taking over as President ICEMA

Mr Sundaresan is the Vice Chairman and Managing Director at Schwing Stetter India. He succeeds Amit Gossain, Executive Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Business Development, JCB India.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Sundaresan said, “ICEMA has played a key role in propelling the growth of the Indian construction equipment sector.

It would continue to work closely with the government and extend its full support to ensure we all construct world-class infrastructure with the latest technology machines.”

ICEMA also announced the appointment of Arvind Garg as the Vice President of the association. Mr Garg is the Vice President and HeadConstruction and Mining Machinery of L&T India.

Building Solutions Trimble to set up first educational centre of excellence in India Trimble has appointed Chennai Institute of Technology (CIT) as the first educational centre of excellence in India for the company’s Trimble Buildings business segment.

“The main objective of this initiative is to educate technology students and ensure that the future engineers are well equipped with technology skills valued by the growing number Indian industry employers,” the company said.

The Chennai Institute of Technology’s curriculum would include a special certification course on Trimble’s portfolio of Design Build Operate (DBO) technologies. In this course, students will learn about Trimble Buildings’ construction solutions, including the advanced Tekla Structures and Tekla BIMsight software applications.

“The course is intended to make the students industryready with skills in Building Information Modelling (BIM) skills. Moreover this approach is geared toward

Credit rating of Glass Wall upgraded

Trimble would assist CIT to set up a technology lab in the college, which will allow students to learn construction software solutions such as Tekla Structures for structural and civil engineering, SketchUp for architecture and Vico Office for project time and cost estimation.

Dalmia Cement Bharat Limited (DCBL) announced the launch of its superior grade cement in the Maharashtra market.

The rating revision takes into account improvement in gearing levels and comfortable debt protection metrics of Glass Wall Systems (India) Pvt Ltd’s (GWSIPL) on account of improvement in profitability in FY14 coupled with infusion of capital in FY15.

“The rating also factors the long track record and strong competitive position of GWSIPL in the design, supply, manufacturing and installation of architectural facade system, GWSIPL’s established relationships with a diverse and reputed customer base built over time and increasing presence in the relatively high-margin premium real estate segment,” a statement said.

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Nirmalya Chatterjee, Executive Director and COO, Trimble Buildings SAARC said, “We believe in educating the next generation with the latest technologies, and this partnership will not only benefit the students but also provide the industry with a larger talent pool. Together with CIT, we’re ensuring that the best professional education is offered to students keen on joining the industry. This new Centre for Excellence allows enables technology experts to upgrade their skills, which will benefit the industry in the future.”

Dalmia Cement ventures into Maharashtra

CARE ratings has recently upgraded the credit rating of Glass Wall Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd. from BBB to A- for long term and from A3 to A2 for short term facilities.

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boosting the adoption of BIM within Indian construction industry,” the company adds.

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The flagship company of the Dalmia Bharat Group has commenced operations at its greenfield cement plant in Belgaum district, Karnataka.

Spread over 380 acres, and with a total capacity of 2.5 million tonnes per annum, the over ` 1,300-crore plant will cater to the needs of the customers in Maharashtra and Karnataka markets.

The plant is the company’s 11th manufacturing facility of the cement group commissioned in March. With 24 million tonne cement manufacturing capacity and the third largest manufacturing capacity in the country, Dalmia Cement wants to address the needs of its customers in Maharashtra.

With a commitment to provide excellent quality service to the end consumers, Dalmia Cement is engaging with over 800 dealers in the region, who will be constantly supported with end-to-end marketing, technical and logistics support. “Built on the most modern technology supplied by KHD Germany, the product will see premium positioning in the business,” the company said.

Speaking on the occasion, Mahendera Singhi, Group CEO, Dalmia Cement said, “We will deliver superior grade cement, including Dalmia Ultra Cement with HALC from our new plant in Belgaum, with all marketing, technical and logistic support to our customers in Maharashtra. This will re-define the market and product quality parameters.”

Roads & Bridges II Interview

CONNECTING RURAL INDIA “Rural roads are a means to achieve the broad objective of rural poverty reduction by providing rural population easy access to social and economic services,� said Rakesh Kumar, Assistant Director, NRRDA

PMGSY Road (Biaora to Moia)-2013-14, Vill.-Moia,G.P.-Moia, Block- Baiora, Dist.-Rajgarh, M.P

National Rural Roads Development Agency(NRRDA), an agency under the Ministry of Rural Development and also the implementing agency for the Pradhana Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY),is transforming the rural economics by providing good all-weather road connectivity to unconnected villages. In an interview with ACE Update, Rakesh Kumar briefs us on the rural road development progress. He also sheds light on the utilisation of financial support received by PMGSY by drawing the future rural road map. Excerpts: The government has planned to invest ` 3 lakh crore this financial year and ` 5 lakh crore in the five years. Do you think that the set target will be successfully implemented?

Let me start with the financial year 2013-14. In this year the budget allocation for PMGSY was ` 12,856 crore and 100 per cent of this was utilised. Against a target of connecting 3,500 habitations with all weather roads in 2013-14, a total of 6,500 habitations were connected by constructing 25,616.39 kms of PMGSY roads.

The budgetary allocations for PMGSY in the financial year 2014-15 was ` 14,200 crore which was again 100 per cent utilised. Against a target of 4,688 habitations to be connected, a total of 10,990 habitations were connected by constructing 36,883 kms of PMGSY roads. On an average, 101 kms of PMGSY roads were constructed everyday in 2014-15.

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In the year 2015-16, the budgetary allocation for PMGSY is ` 14,391 crore, against which, in the first three months of the financial year about ` 4,500 crore have been utilised.

Could you brief us on the new policies that have been introduced for rural road development?

In the present financial year as well as in future, plantation on the flanks of PMGSY roads and use of non-conventional materials and new construction technologies would receive focused attention under PMGSY. With a view to increase green cover and protect PMGSY roads, largscale plantation of appropriate tree species on the flanks of PMGSY roads would be taken up in convergence with MGNREGA. This has been started in the last fiscal, when about 56 lakh such trees were planted on the flanks of PMGSY roads. A detailed guideline for governing technical parameters of such plantations has been issued by NRRDA in collaboration with Indian Road Congress (IRC). This initiative would be further strengthened in 2015-16.

Also, the ministry and NRRDA are encouraging non-conventional construction materials and R&D in PMGSY roads to encourage green and environment friendly technologies in construction of rural roads,

Interview to reduce the average per kilometre cost of construction, and to increase the working season for construction of rural roads.

Some major technologies being encouraged are – cold mix technology, which replaces hot bitumen mixture in PMGSY roads. Use of cold mix technology reduces environmental pollution, cold mix roads can be thrown open to traffic within a short period of time and such roads could be constructed even in winter and rainy season. Another technology being promoted is jute and coir geotextiles. These are used in areas with bad soil where earlier good soil was to be transported at great cost from long distances. Now, with the use of jute and coir geotextiles, the requirement to transport good quality earth from long distances has been done away with. Use of flyash (a byproduct of thermal power plants), waste plastic and iron-ore is also being encouraged for construction of rural roads.

What about financial support given by Asian Development Bank (ADB)? How PMGSY is going to utilise such support?

The first and foremost thing that I would like to mention is, PMGSY program has also received financial assistance from World Bank and Asian Development Bank. World Bank has allocated an amount of $ 1,400 million under Rural Road Project (RRP)-II for PMGSY. This loan is for a project period of March 2011 to November 2015 involving 24,000 kms of rural roads in 8 participating states namely Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Punjab and Bihar.

Another significant contribution for the rural road development is from Asian Development Bank. Multi-Tranche Financial Facility (MFF) for $ 800 million has been signed in May 2012 by ADB with Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Rural Development in order to give financial support PMGSY. MFF involves construction of 9,000 kms of rural roads in 5 states of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odhisa and West Bengal. Both these projects have been characterised by the lending agencies as successful.

What are the major obstacles NRRDA faces when it comes to rural road development? And what are the ways to overcome them?

In the 14 years of implementation of PMGSY, about 1,10,000 habitations across the country have been connected and about 4,50,000 kms of all weather rural roads have been constructed. There are some limitations

PMGSY-Panchayat- Thachanbara, Block- Mannarkkad Dist-Palakkad,Kerala

II Roads & Bridges

in the implementation of this programme such as limited execution and absorption capacity of some states, particularly, in North-East and Himalayan states. Limited contracting capacity in left wing violence affected districts of the country. North-Eastern states as well as states like J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand has limited working season.

To address these limitations, constant support and collaboration with state government is ensured. Number of Project Implementation Units (PIUs) and field engineers have been increased in the states.

Also, NRRDA organises training for field engineers, contractors and contractor’s engineers on a regular basis. In left wing violence affected areas, the standard bidding document for PMGSY roads has been rationalised and simplified and special dispensation or relaxation have been granted for award of PMGSY works.

What are the social, environmental guidelines that are supposed to be followed for rural road development?

When it comes to social, environmental guidelines, NRRDA has issued Environmental Codes of Practice including Environmental Management Framework for all the states. The main thrust of PMGSY in the road sector remains to build a sustainable and environment friendly road infrastructure for low volume rural roads. To achieve this objective, regular training of field engineers and local community on Environmental Codes of Practice is organised by NRRDA. What is your rural road development vision?

The long-term plan for rural road development would focus on ensuring that all eligible 1,78,184 habitations across the country are connected by all weather roads. We have to ensure that consolidation and strengthening of rural road network under PMGSY-II is achieved by upgradation of 50,000 kms of rural roads across the country.

We have to also ensure that all states operationalise “Rural Road Maintenance Policies” and “Asset Management Systems” which would facilitate regular maintenance and upkeep of rural road assets.

Rural roads are a means to achieve the broad objective of rural poverty reduction by providing rural population easy access to social and economic services. Therefore, the long-term vision would facilitate rural road construction and maintenance along with development and operationalisation of rural transportation services. n

PMGSY-Panchayat- Thachanbara, Block- Mannarkkad Dist-Palakkad,Kerala

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Roads & Bridges II Cover story

Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway

Roads in India: A quality check An inside look at India’s road quality In India, modernisation of roads had less attention in the earlier days. However, since the year 1995, the country witnessed improvement in road infrastructure. Though India has proved to be one of the largest road network developers, one of the striking underlying facts that stains the road network in India is the condition of the roads. The fact is, it lacks the quality.

It is important to build, expand the road network, but with quality. Despite of having the second largest road network, there’s a strong urge of having the quality roads in

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India. For example, during the last summer, there was a horrifying scene of road melting like Delhi, which has fuelled many questions on the quality of road building material.

There can be several reasons such as poor geometrics, insufficient pavement thickness, low standards building materials, unpaid attention to quality check etc.

But one of the major reasons damaging road is overloading. Due to changes in lifestyle the number of vehicles are also increasing, urban areas are becoming congested day by day. The designing of the road depends

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India still has a long way to go when it comes to quality of the road network in the country.

Ashish Tandon, Managing Director, Egis India

Cover story

The extended time period increases the cost of project and by this way, we spend almost double the cost on construction.

Ajay Mishra, Managing Director, Segmental Consulting & Infrastructure Advisory upon the pressure created by the vehicles.

The quality of Indian roads are mixture of unpaved roads, narrow and modern highways etc. Construction of roads with low quality materials will definitely disfigure the road, causing recurring improvement, renovation and high investment. All these things need attention to improve from the safety point of view.

Many road construction materials and technologies have been proved successful.

But the same is needed to check under the Indian climatic conditions, traffic, rainfall, soil conditions etc. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highway is very keen to promote new material and techniques.

In this article, experts detail us on the quality of road making in India. They have also put forth their view on how Indian roads can be better in the future.

Where does India stands India’s road network stands second largest in the world, but the quality of roads is still not satisfying. Most highways in India are narrow and congested with poor surface quality and 40 per cent of India’s villages do not have access to all-weather roads, resulting tough time during the monsoons. According to Gaurav Soni, General Manager, K.K. Gupta Constructions Pvt Ltd, “Infrastructural deficit is the main cause why India has not been able to develop labour-intensive manufacturing industries which could have provided employment opportunities for its millions of unskilled-skilled workers as China has done.”

From the view point of the road users, quality of a highway basically translates to the level of “smoothness” of its surface, which is measured by a Roughness Index. While major national

highways and expressways in India are of international quality, the secondary and tertiary road networks leave a lot to be desired. Ashish Tandon, Managing Director at Egis India thinks India still has a long way to go when it comes to quality of the road network in the country.

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“Quality should conform to the users’ requirement in all activities and projects.

The quality is considered as conformance to specifications particularly in construction sector.” He thinks, there is a requirement of QAM detailing in all QA or QC procedure well in advance for commencement of service; review of all mix design and suggest modification if required; evolving a system of QA of works; inspection of performance of the work with regard to workmanship, compliance with the specifications, and necessary all tastings required for acceptance; assess and check the laboratory and field tests including independent tests etc.

Factors causing ‘bad road’ Quality determines the durability. Conducting quality test before the product is out is must in terms of checking every minute details. Same is to be applied to the road checking. Various factors which govern the quality of a road are: robustness of design, quality of construction, type of pavement (bituminous or concrete), level of precipitation in the area etc.

Prior to the implementation of National Highways Development Programme (NHDP), almost all the national and state highways were of either single-lane or two-lane undivided roads with poor riding quality causing traffic congestions, increased journey times, accidents, higher vehicle operating costs etc. Yogesh Jain, Managing Director at PNC Infratech, noted, “With the implementation of National Highways Development Program (NHDP), the standards of roads both in terms of capacity and riding quality has improved significantly.”

Ajay Mishra, Managing Director, Segmental Consulting & Infrastructure Advisory Pvt Ltd states the reason that is responsible for road damaging in India is no proper planning. He says, “Poor condition of our road network is also because of lack of proper planning and funds. Earlier roads were built without proper plan and insufficient funds. Hence, no attention was being paid on quality control and time deadline. The extended time period increases the cost of project and by this way, we spend almost double the cost on construction.”

However, with the continuous growth in road traffic and huge road network of 33 lakh km including district and rural roads, there is still a great need for improvement of condition of roads in the country in terms, connectivity, capacity and quality.

According to Mr Soni, factors address timely for proper quality are: proper survey of traffic load carried on a road so as to determine the required strength of the material; ensure zero leakage in the budget allocated to the task so as to buy better quality material for construction of roads; seeking examples from other countries to study proper drainage facilities around the road to drain off rain water as fast as possible; and proper quality tests regularly.

Cost factor Roads indirectly contribute to the economic growth of the country it is extremely essential that the roads are well laid out and strong. It is found that road building

The main roads in India are under huge pressure and suffering capacity constraints.

They are in great need of up-gradation in order to handle the increased requirements of the economy. In addition to maintenance, the expansion of the network and widening of existing roads is becoming increasingly important. This would then enable the roads to handle increased traffic and also allow for a corresponding increase in the average movement speed on roads.

Quality should conform to the users’ requirement in all activities and projects.

Bhubaneswar Koner, Sr. Consultant, CETEST Engineering

Bhubaneswar Koner, Senior Consultant, CETEST Engineering, highlights the factors that needs to be improved upon. He says,

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Roads & Bridges II Cover story materials are not the only reason that is damaging the quality of road, sufficient fund for developing desired road is dominant among the other reasons.

“India does face major problems mainly due to large scale corruption that leads to bad quality of material being used and faulty design of construction of roads, which are defaced as soon as rainfall occurs,” Mr Soni acknowledges.

“It is said that about 70 per cent of funds meant to be spent for the maintenance of roads actually goes behind paying labours.”

However, Mr Soni believes that cost is not the only factor that determines the quality of roads. He says, “Generally roads are primary funded through budgetary allocations. Central government release to national and further state to others zone. A huge difference in variations of tender cost and bid awarded value also effected to cost.

Government has to work out tenders awarded on below BSR rates and to avoid this govt keep to focus on availability of new tenders on regular basis.” He also stressed, “Indian market contractors volume ratio is also high and all depends on routine works contract but when we find time gap between completion of project and new bidding process then every bidder wants to get that new tenders in any cost. There should be proper cycle and specially govt need to release calendar cycle to avoid lower rates.”

In the present scenario of budgetary constraints, road maintenance funds are spread out very thin over the entire road network, which directly translates into poor road quality. Mr Tandon says, “Once constructed, most roads which are not developed under the PPP mode get

With the implementation of NHDP, the standards of roads both in terms of capacity and riding quality has improved significantly.

Yogesh Jain, Managing Director, PNC Infratech

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maintained through the budgetary allocations.”

Modernising Indian roads Modernising the Indian roads is a huge task for the government and is of high priority.

In general, roads in India are primarily bitumen-based macadamised roads. In the near future, bitumen prices will inflate, as it is made from petroleum crude oil, which is very costly. In substitution, concrete roads due to its advantages such as: durable, weather-proof and require lower maintenance compared to bituminous roads, will be preferred. Moreover, new concrete pavement technologies have been developed such as cool pavement, quiet pavement and permeable pavement, which have rendered concrete more attractive and eco-friendly.

Many new technologies have emerged, which hold promise for adoption in the country as well. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has accordingly been issuing guidelines for the usage of the new materials and technologies from time to time.

At the initiative of the Ministry of Road Transport and the Indian Road Congress (IRC) have set up a committee for accreditation of new materials and technologies to be used in highway construction. A number of stateof-the-art materials and technologies have already been used under this scheme. Most of these are modern, global interventions in road construction and will go a long way in modernising India’s road network.

Mr Soni opines, “Uses of latest equipment would also result in saving in construction period. Working on PPP model, BOT projects, special repair category is good action. releasing special package for tribal plan, gaurav path, cc road etc. Ministry has decided to take up road projects as turnkey Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) contracts basis which would help to reduce construction time and is expected to improve quality of work as well.”

Govt’s role The Government of India (GOI) has already announced a policy to link all villages with population of above 500 through all-weather roads. As part of implementation of this policy, the government has commenced PMGSY (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana)

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government’s

It is said that about 70 per cent of funds meant to be spent for the maintenance of roads actually goes behind paying labours.

Gaurav Soni, General Manager, K.K. Gupta Constructions years back which has been a huge success.

The PMGSY is primarily funded by GOI, with assistance from World Bank and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). In addition, the Asian Development Bank has announced of funding construction of over 31,000 km of rural roads in India to lend support to the PMGSY. Indian democracy is a federal form of government. Power to enact and implement laws, such as those relating to infrastructure, are distributed between the central government and the state governments. State governments, thus have the authority and responsibility to build road networks and state highways.

The Ministry of State for Surface Transport in India administers the national highway system whereas state highways and other state roads are maintained by state public works departments. The central and state governments share responsibilities for road building and maintaining Indian roads.

Issuing of e-tenders for roads and infrastructure sector is an welcome move toward bringing transperancy. The government is also attempting to promote foreign investment in road projects.

Conclusion India is home to many bad roads. The country is under sever need to upgrade road sector, that will ultimately contribute towards economic growth. With the objective of rejuvenating the road sector in India, road ministry has several plans in line to be accomplished. Hopefully, India will bring new technology, skills and infrastructure that will aid to boost the road sector and change the entire road building system. n

Roads & Bridges II The Big Project

License icense too Thrill hrill Walking on the world’s tallest and longest glass bottom bridge

How about walking on a bridge where you can see right below as you walk. Exciting and adventurous isn’t it. Yes, this is something people will be experiencing in China. Designed by internationally renowned architect Haim Dotan, the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge is located near Zhangjiajie City in Hunan Province, China. The bridge is 380 metres long, 6 metres wide and nearly 300 metres above the canyon floor below. Once completed, it will be the tallest and longest glass pedestrian bridge worldwide. Construction is all set to be completed and its official opening is expected in October.

Apart from its unique design, the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge is capable of holding up to 800 people. It will feature the world’s highest bungee jump and also serve as a runway for fashion shows.

Zhangjiajie is a 56 square-kilometre designated tourist park in China inside the bigger Wulingyuan scenic area. It has been open to public since 2009 and is believed to have been the inspiration behind the beautiful planet of Pandora in James Cameron’s 2009 “Avatar” film.

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Design Concept “As the designer of this bridge, located in an incredible and magical national park, I believe in nature, harmony, balance and beauty. Nature is beautiful as is. One wants to make the least impact upon it. Therefore, the Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge was designed to be invisible as possible a white bridge disappearing into the clouds,” says Ar Haim Dotan.

The Big Project

As the ancient Chinese Dao Master, Lao Tzu, says, “Great sound is unheard; Great form is invisible”. A horizontal bridge incorporating a transparent glass floor with handrails and side suspension cables, it will create an experience of being in pure nature while suspended in mid-air, between heaven and earth, like a bird with its wings open wide.

“Hundreds of metres above a canyon, it is definitely a Bridge of Wonder, a Bridge of Courage. I called it ‘Bridge of Courageous Hearts’ and wrote this poem ‘Floating in mid-air, Open hearts – I love you’, says Ar Haim Dotan.

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Bridge Data The glass bottom bridge is a suspended bridge constructed of two side steel beams and a structural glass deck and banisters with side hanging stay cables.

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Roads & Bridges II The EPC Player

PNC Infratech: THE road expert

“We have proven track record of completing projects on time and our core competency in EPC of road projects is time tested and firmly established,” says Yogesh Kumar Jain, Managing Director, PNC Infratech PNC Infratech Ltd is one of the pioneers in infrastructure construction, development and management, having wide experience and proven expertise in the execution of major infrastructure projects. The company has been a major contributor to the development of roads and highways in India. In an exclusive interview with ACE Update, Yogesh Kumar Jain explains the company’s future plans and what challenges lie ahead on the road in building India’s road network.

The country’s roads and bridges infrastructure, was valued at $ 6.9 billion in 2009 is expected to touch US$ 19.2 billion by 2017. How do you think India can achieve this target?

I implicitly believe that road construction industry in India has huge potential and should be able to deliver and meet the targets in terms of quantum, time and also investment, provided the project sponsors

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and proponents from the government create an enabling framework and adopt a proactive and participative approach that could unleash the potential. Given the inherent investment and implementation capabilities of road construction companies in India, no challenge is too big to meet, its only question of what should be done to unleash their potential.

The government has decided to invest ` 5 lakh crore in the road sector in the next 5 years. How exactly will this help to boost road facilities and infrastructure in the country?

The total aggregate length of national highways in India is over 90,000 km.

The development requirements include strengthening and widening of existing roads, construction of bypasses, cross drainage structures, grade separators, elevated roads, under passes and road over bridges etc.

Even we assume ` 10 to 12 crore is spent

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on augmenting or upgrading each kilo-metre stretch of highway, government should be able to develop 50 per cent of the entire network over the next five years, which would certainly boost the whole highway infrastructure in the country in a big way.

As national highway network carry about 40 per cent of total road traffic including freight and passenger, the proposed development will greatly help in accelerated economic development of the country.

How as a company you plan to support the government in building the country’s road infrastructure?

Our company has successfully completed 44 major projects and is currently constructing 20 road and bridge projects on EPC format that include national highways, state highways and expressways of aggregate contract value over ` 7,500 crore. Total length of roads including bridges being executed by is over 2,500 lane-

The EPC Player km. We would be completing 15 of these ongoing projects with an aggregate length of over 1,700 lane-km, before end of the current financial year. In addition, through our various subsidiaries and associate or joint venture companies, we are also implementing 7 BOT or OMT road projects, of which five projects are already operational. We are also in the process of bidding for more than 20 road projects with more than ` 15,000 crore estimated value in the next two months only.

We have proven track record of completing projects on time and our core competency in EPC of road projects is time tested and firmly established. Another significant competency of our company has been having end-toend construction capabilities in-house, right from the mining till final product stage that includes mining (boulders for aggregates), state-of-the-art stone crushers, transportation vehicles, concrete and bituminous plants, paver finishers, rollers and other equipment. These distinct abilities give our company a great control over execution, quality, time and cost of our projects even in challenging situations and times. We undertake construction activities of our entire fund based projects (BOT Toll

and BOT-Annuity) on our own, which makes us the least dependent on third parties in implementation and delivery of projects. Given the capabilities and competencies in terms of investment, development, construction and O&M of road projects, we should be able to support the government’s initiatives significantly in building the country’s road infrastructure in sustainable manner.

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in case of toll projects the potential challenge would be unpredictability of future traffic and revenue levels. Moreover, many of road developers having being highly financially leveraged, further sourcing of funds for their BOT projects is also becoming difficult.

With a country having 4.7 million km of road network. Is there a need to increase participation of PPP projects for building roads and highways in India?

Yes, continuous and active private sector participation in investment in to the roads and bridges infrastructure is not only a necessity but an imperative to meet the infrastructure needs of the country including road sector. However, due to various reasons as discussed earlier, investment by private sector in to infrastructure has been subdued over the past few years, which needs to be revived by taking wide ranging confidence boosting measures including re-looking at the risk allocation framework and exit mechanism etc by government. Government should also facilitate availability of funds for the projects at lesser cost and longer tenures to encourage private sector participation and stimulate investment cycles. n

What are the challenges road developers face when working on road building projects?

Many of the challenges faced by road developers are similar to those faced during implementation of other infrastructure projects. Typically road building projects can be categorised into two modes, fund based such as BOT-Toll or Annuity and nonfund based essentially EPC. There are certain common risks and challenges for both the modes that include delays in land acquisition, utility shifting, environmental and forest clearances and shortage of raw materials leading to inflation in cost of construction etc. However, in case of BOT projects, whether it’s on toll or annuity any delay in implementation and commissioning of project would increase burden of interest on debt and

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Roads & Bridges II Industry Analysis

Driving growth in the slow lane An in-depth analysis on road making machines in India and growth potential The road equipment market in India has gone through sluggishness in the past few years. However, since plans have been made for revival of the road sector, there is ray of hope for the equipment industry which will certainly increase demand for different kind of equipment.

Commenting on the current status of road equipment market in India, Ramesh Palagiri, Managing Director and CEO, Wirtgen India observes, “The last year has been very good due to number of road projects been awarded by the new government. Around 3,000 kms of projects have been awarded in 2014-15 and for 2015-16, the target is 5,000 kms.

This directly would be a boost to the road equipment manufactures and the scenario looks very positive.”

Ajay Aneja, National Head of Sales, CASE India, says, “Last few years have not been conducive to infrastructure sector including construction equipment.

The overall earthmoving and construction equipment market has declined by 15 per cent in 2013 and by 16 per cent in 2014.”

recent years and contracting firms are adding better technology products with higher degree of automation. Domestic manufacturers and international players are offering range of products like compactors, graders, paver, miller, concrete mixer and hot mix plants etc. These are with different capacities, application based attachments and attractive schemes to adopt the technologies.”

Mr Aneja opines, “All steps would be taken to develop new technologies and equipment, so as to bring down the cost of construction and improving the quality of road infrastructure.

This will be bring growth in the in the road construction equipment segment and also encourage the manufactures to launch competitive products in the Indian market.”

Product innovation Focus on building new roads and upkeep of the existing road network will stimulate demand for different kinds of equipment. To cater to the need of the clients, latest equipment have been introduced in the market by the market leaders.

Now the government has planned to award road projects worth ` 5 lakh crore in road sector. The road ministry targets to expedite the construction of national highways in India. The revival in the sector will demand technology innovation.

There are technological advancements taking place globally in order to make machine more efficient. Such as lock up clutches for motor graders and front end loaders. This helps in bypassing the torques converter at higher turbine speeds. Auto idle engine shut off during phases of utilisation.

Commenting on this aspect Sanjay Wadnerkar, Vice President, LiuGong India Pvt. Ltd. said, “Road equipment market has shown revival in

CASE introduced the new EX Series of Loader Backhoes in 76, 86, 96 HP as well as a new Soil Compactor 1107 DX. The

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products offer intelligent compaction, turbochargers in engines, intelligent hybrid hydraulic regenerative systems, fuel efficient technology, GPS systems in the equipment which do provide benefit to customers.

Wirtgen Group offers a 360-degree solution for road building as well as road rehabilitation.

Wirtgen Group has an extensive product portfolio in the line of road construction equipment. It offers Wirtgen range of milling machines, slipform pavers, soil stabilisers and recyclers and surface miners. The group also has Vogele range of asphalt pavers both wheeled and tracked and special equipment for paving; Hamm range of compactors - tandem and soil and pneumatic tyred rollers; and Kleemann range of crushing and screening plants.

Similarly Caterpillar offers a wide range of road building equipment to meet customers’ needs. It offers motor graders and excavators to carry out applications from small road

The execution of ambitious plans in effective manner can bring the good future to road construction machinery business.

Sanjay Wadnerkar, Vice President, LiuGong India

Industry Analysis construction and site development through to larger expressway construction up to demanding mining haul road construction and maintenance works. Caterpillar also offers Cat Connect Solutions – a technological offering is available to customers. Ramesh Tipirneni, Country Manager, Caterpillar India Pvt. Ltd. is quite satisfied with the way the customers look at Cat equipment for their quality, reliability, productivity and efficiency. He says, “It is the after-sales support and service provided by Caterpillar dealers that create the value proposition associated with Cat products.”

Standardising equipment In this competitive market every company would like to provide standardised quality products for their customers. Having international standardised products will certainly add value to the product as well as to the company’s stake which is again a plus point in attracting the customer.

When asked about the technology and machines used in India meet global standards or not experts have different views to share.

Commenting on this, Mr Wadnerkar, said, “We have good manufacturing and supplier base.

The absorption of technology by automotive suppliers is now extending the same to road construction equipment too. Many of the global players have set-up their subsidiaries in India due to market size, skills and capabilities.”

Rapid development in the technology has also changed the way of work. Mr Tipirneni says, “Today’s technologies can automatically gather the information our customers need to make smart decisions about their equipment.

Technologies built into today’s construction

All steps would be taken to develop new technologies and equipment, so as to bring down the cost of construction and improving the quality of road infrastructure.

Ajay Aneja, National Head, Sales, CASE India

equipment can tell where machines are, how much fuel they’re burning, when they need service and more. That data is transmitted directly to our customers’ offices via webbased systems like VisionLink, giving them timely, useful information that helps them make decisions faster, without guesswork.”

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In the field of road building and road rehabilitation machines, we are not only the global market leader, but we are also the global innovator for all these products.

“CASE offers the most advanced technological products in India which are suited to the basic Indian requirements of high fuel efficiency and productivity. This coupled with minimalistic maintenance intervention in CASE machines, be it from regular maintenance point of view or longer oil change periods, makes them absolutely trouble free. All of these on a holistic scale of owning and operating cost of the CASE machines, make them the highest value for money offering in the Indian CE market space and makes CASE the preferred choice,” Mr Aneja claims. “CASE product is designed incorporating the four main criteria viz. operator comfort, productivity, serviceability and low operating costs.”

Ramesh Palagiri, Managing Director and CEO, Wirtgen India made in India. OEMs will diversify their offering with larger machines going ahead with pace of development in this sector but being a developing nation building roads at optimum cost not compromising on quality is important to keep pace with our nations growth target.”

Citing examples from the past about highway development in India, Mr Wadnerkar shares, “India is not far-off in adaptation of modern machines and technology. We have good examples from past for the high quality expressways in India. The high speed in transportation is depending on the roads and highway layouts (as far as possible it should be straight), the quality of vehicles plying on roads, safety features used in vehicles etc.

Growing economy also needs the speed in implementation and magnitude of work which will make high speed transportation feasible and affordable.”

There has been a lot of upgradations in road construction equipment, specially the asphalt pavers and there are continuous innovations in the features of machines, to improve productivity, ensure right quality etc.

Speaking on the standard of the product, Mr Palagiri, says, “In India, we offer the same class of machines as we offer in the global market and for most of these technically advanced machines, they are well accepted in India. In the field of road building and road rehabilitation machines, we are not only the global market leader, but we are also the global innovator for all these products.”

The Wirtgen Slipform Pavers have built expressways in the country, such as MumbaiPune expressway, Yamuna Expressway, Delhi Airport runway etc. The machines are capable of building excellent quality of roads, are technically superior and also innovative.

“In the Indian market we have introduced new technologies like cold milling and cold recycling and milling is now reasonably well accepted in the Indian market and is being used for more and more Highway projects.

These are Green technologies where almost 100 per cent reuse of aggregates is done,” Mr Palgiri explained.

Targeting super highways Having huge road network and highways will bring in the connectivity and network but also save travel time and fuel as well. The government is expected to start working on 10 national express highways which are of world-class.

India has the second largest road network in the world with about 33 lakh Km of road network. Out of this about 2.5 lakh km is in the form of national and state highways which are capable to handle large volumes at high speed. Mr Aneja thinks that India can develop better highways in future. He says, “We have a lot of room to grow but we have created this network using machines mostly

Potholes free India Pothole is the huge problem in India. Expert gives their views on, how India can be pothole free? Also what solution the companies are providing to reduce clear the potholes.

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Roads & Bridges II Industry Analysis Mr Aneja suggested some solutions for potholes free road. He says, “Tandem asphalt compactors with smooth drums at front and back are used for this application. Case 752 is a right fit with its ease of transport, easy manoeuvrability and high forces. Customers agree as it is a market leader in this product segment. Over a period of time all asphalt roads will undergo wear and tear but never the less maintenance of these at the right time will make this problem less noticeable.”

Mr Wadnerkar thinks that occurrence of potholes are result of materials used. He says, “Potholes are result of material used, technology adopted then, weather conditions and surface preparation to lay down good quality roads. We have world class runways for the airports we have Mumbai-Ahmadabad, Mumbai-Pune express way, Delhi-Agra expressway as live examples of sustenance by proper maintenance, used of good technology material and equipment.”

The government has already announced many ambitious projects such as smart cities, AMRUT, Pradhan Mantri Sadak Yojana, PPP on largescale road connectivity, industrial corridors etc.

The country’s roads and bridges infrastructure, which was valued at $ 6.9 billion in 2009, is expected to touch $ 19.2 billion by 2017.

Market potential Comparing last two years the road construction equipment sale has shown some improvements.

About the road equipment market and its potential, Mr Tipirneni, finds, “We anticipate that better economic growth should result in

On this note, Mr Aneja says, “Each segment in the road sector has potential to grow 20 per cent plus per annum, which means we can expect the industry size to almost double by the end of the year 2020. We are also likely to witness technologically superior equipment on offer from different manufacturers.”

Expressing optimism on the future market potential Mr Wadnerkar says, “The future looks to be brighter with the plans. The execution of ambitious plans in effective manner can bring the good future to road construction machinery business.”

We anticipate that better economic growth should result in an improvement in sales in the equipment market in India.

Ramesh Tipirneni, Country Manager, Caterpillar India an improvement in sales in the equipment market in India. The growth will vary in terms of the industries, but the build-out of infrastructure that must occur as the country urbanises is going to provide a large platform for growth. We believe that Caterpillar and its dealers are in a good position to help meet this demand. Also, with the government’s focus on building smart cities and modernisation of smaller cities, it provides a greater potential for the equipment market.” n

Samsung ‘safety truck’ could revolutionise road safety drivers behind to see the road ahead and decide whether it’s safe to overtake.

Samsung has conducted a test with a local B2B client in Argentina.

Argentina’s statistics on traffic accidents are among the highest in the world. Majority of these is due to the high numbers of semi-trailers and long stretches of single-lane highway and particularly in situations of overtaking. With this in mind, Samsung developed a technology for trucks that seeks to enrich the lives of people through innovation.

With a forward facing camera and rear-mounted television screens, the Samsung Safety Truck prototype allows drivers behind to see the road ahead and decide whether it’s safe to overtake It’s a situation most drivers experience almost every day: Driving on a two-lane road, stuck behind a slow-moving truck, unable to overtake it due to its size, and cannot see what is happening in front of the truck.

The Korean tech-giant Samsung has developed a solution that may make this problem a thing of the past. With a forward facing camera and rearmounted television screens, the Samsung Safety Truck prototype allows

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According a recent Samsung Tomorrow blog post, “The Safety Truck consists of a wireless camera attached to the front of the truck, which is connected to a video wall made out of four exterior monitors located on the back of the truck. The monitors give drivers behind the truck a view of what is going on ahead, even in the dark of night.”

The Safety Truck allows drivers to have a better view when deciding whether it is safe to overtake. Another advantage of this truck is that it may reduce the risk of accidents caused by sudden braking or animals crossing the road, the blog said.

Though the prototype truck built is no longer operational, Samsung confirmed that the technology works and that this idea can definitely save the lives of many people. “The next step is to perform the corresponding tests in order to comply with the protocols and obtain the necessary permits and approvals,” Samsung said. n

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Roads & Bridges II Special report

Beneath India’s road tunnels With a rising number of tunnel projects being constructed in the country, a sneak into what are the challenges and technology used for constructing road tunnels India’s longest road tunnel between Chenani and Nashri in J&K

Road transport has emerged as the dominant segment in India’s transportation sector with around 3.3 million kilometres road network the second largest in the world, consisting of national highways (NHs), state highways (SHs), major district roads (MDRs) and rural roads (RRs) that include other district roads and village roads.

Road tunnels in India India is one of the fastest growing markets for tunnel construction. Major growth drivers are railways, highways, water resources and hydropower, metro rail, and urban utility projects. Tunnel works have gained momentum in the last 10-15 years and will further increase with major investments envisaged for country’s infrastructure in the near future. Around 45 billion USD is expected for the construction of tunnel.

“Tunnel construction in roads and highway sector has also seen growth with NHAI and various other implementing agencies coming up with new road tunnel projects that are in various stages of planning and construction in various parts of country,” says Heman Manchanda, Manager - Geotechncial, Geodata India Pvt. Limited. Though to date

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we have only around 11 kms of road tunnels constructed (out of 1,508 kms of total constructed tunnels in India); another 49kms of road tunnels is under construction and 120 kms at an investment of about USD 2.5 billion are at various stages of planning and approval from nodal agencies. Though these figures are still on lower side as compared to total tunnel construction projects being envisaged in India (975kms under construction, and 1,830 kms under planning); there is a constant intention to go more and more underground even for road transport. .

He further adds, “Using tunnels as a key enabler for integrated transport and environmental improvement schemes in rural areas, can deliver outstanding environmental benefits, albeit at high cost, in areas of outstanding natural beauty.” Several highway tunnels are utilised in mountainous terrain where building the roadway on the outside could be very difficult. The benefit of tunnels in mountainous environment will improve the roadway alignment and reduce the vertical grade.

The Chenani-Nashri Tunnel which is being blasted through the Mury formation range

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of the Shivalik range — derived from Mury village in Pakistan from where it starts — at an elevation of 1.2 km is 9 km long and will be the longest tunnel in the country when completed in 2016. The 8.8 km Rohtang Tunnel is the world’s longest road tunnel being built at an altitude of 10,000 feet.

“Road tunneling has a history of more than 100 years with maximum excavations in the Himalayan ranges. All the excavated tunnels whether it is for road or railways have shown favorable status and are still intact till date without a question mark on their stability,” states Ajay Mishra, Managing

Over designing of support system is the main challenge which is being faced by the developers in most of the ongoing projects in India.

Ajay Mishra, Managing Director, Segmental Consulting & Infrastructure Advisory

Special report Director, Segmental Consulting & Infrastructure Advisory (P) Ltd. In Himachal Pradesh, Kiratpur – Nerchowk project NH-21 has 5 tunnels. 4 main tunnels and 1 escape tunnel are under construction in sedimentary rocks (sand stone, clay stone shale, and silt stone). The overall development of road tunnels in India has emerged successfully by virtue of proper geological assessment of rocks, geotechnical studies, and appropriate excavation of tunneling within the scope of design parameters and technical specifications.

Technologies used in tunnel construction In most of the tunnel construction, Q value system of N.Barton (1974) and RMR system of Z.T. Bieniauski (1973-1989) are being followed to find out exact rock mass class and its suitable support system and this has proved to be most successful. However, New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) (1957-64) and Russo’s multiple chart system (2007) (Drill and Blast) by heading and benching method is also being followed nowadays in most of the projects such as Chenani-Nashri highway tunnel in (Jammu & Kashmir) and in all 5 Tunnels of Kiratpur-Nerchowk section of Himachal Pradesh cut and cover, a simple method for shallow tunnel is also adopted.

From the view point of risk management; the correct choice of the excavation methods for a given tunnel is the “first riskmitigation measure” or simply, the primary response to the identified principal risks. A robust approach should be adopted for determining the optimal method (or combination of methods) of construction for a tunnel, based on the principles of risk analysis and multi-criteria analysis. In making the correct choice for a given project, the presence or absence of adverse conditions and if present, the frequency of their occurrence in a given tunnel section are of paramount importance to the choice. The point is to recognise the risks as most risks can be effectively managed through the use of a Risk Management Plan, or RMP for short, a robust, transparent and effective methodology, which can be adopted from the early design stages to the construction and operation phases, to minimise the occurrence of risks and mitigate their consequences.

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from soft to hard ground, or visa-versa, NATM is usually a more economical tunnel method.

Determining appropriate methods Factors that affect the selection of tunnel construction method vary from geological to economical to sociological. Geological factors often effect economical considerations because ground conditions such as whether the tunnel passes through rock, soil or mixed ground can drive the construction method decision since some methods are more efficient in certain ground conditions. Shallow tunnels are often constructed using cut and cover techniques, especially in urban areas.

Tunnels that cross bodies of water can be either bored or constructed using sunken tubes depending on the depth of the water, ground conditions and the length of the tunnel. Jacked tunnels have been used in urban areas to construct tunnels under active transportation facilities. An engineer having experience of various methods of tunnel construction will be best equipped to help an owner/operator select the best method(s) of tunnel construction for their project.

Geographical challenges Road tunnels in hilly terrains may have to pass through varying geographical conditions like active faults, tectonically disturbed zones, karstic forms, Cavities, voids, water inflow zones, Abrasive/ resistant/hard materials, zones of In-situ stress anisotropy, Swelling clay minerals etc.

Related hazards include rock wedge instability, pronounced tendency to rock fall, mild brittle failure even associated to rock minor rock

Common methods of tunnel construction include: drill and blast, with support being provided with either the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) or sets and bracing; shield tunneling; tunnel boring machines (TBMs); sunken tube tunnels for underwater crossings; and cut-and-cover tunnels. TBM methods are best suited to soft ground tunneling whereas drill blast/NATM to hard rock tunneling. For intermediate ground conditions, a road header, with or without a shield, or tunnel jacking can be used depending on the consequences of ground movement.

A TBM generally is a device for excavating a tunnel in such a way that the material to be removed is disintegrated by the continuous rotation of a group of cutting tools thrust against the surface of the material at the working face. A TBM works most efficiently in relatively homogeneous ground, (all soft or all hard), because it is very difficult to change cutters during the tunneling process. For mixed ground, where the tunnel passes

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Roads & Bridges II Special report

Fixing of wire mess in Tunnel-3, Portal 1 on Kiratpur Nerchowk NH-21, Himachal Pradesh Picture by Segmental Consulting & Infrastructure Advisory (P) Ltd

block ejection, sudden and violent brittle failure, rock block ejection, development of plastic/viscous deformations resulting in a significant extrusion of tunnel face and radial convergences, intense development of plastic/viscous deformations, resulting in a large extrusion of tunnel face and radial convergences, severe gravity-driven instability, with immediate collapse of the tunnel face/excavation contour.

One of very common problem specifically in Himalayan regions is over break. It can be controlled in tunnel blasting, as in general rock slope blasting, by using controlled blasting techniques such as pre-splitting, trim blasting and line drilling which work best in massive rock formations. In geologically complicated material a simple

Tunnels need to be designed with a proper cross section to effectively and efficiently provide a safe passage for its users.

Heman Manchanda, Manager - Geotechncial, Geodata India

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crack does not form between adjacent blast holes. There is a broken shatter zone that forms that serves to act as protection for the final rock face from the effects of radial cracks emanating from the production blast holes.

Detailed geological investigations along the tunnel alignment and in its vicinity should be carried out seriously before going for excavation of tunnels. Proper rock mass class should be worked out by assessing correctly all the geological parameters exposed on the tunnel face after each blast.

If these geological parameters are not assessed correctly, then you cannot expect correct results from the rock mass classes as these geological parameters are the back bone of all the rock mass classifications which suggest us to install a proper support system to be installed within their stipulate stand-up time. So, proper assessment of Geological parameters, correct evaluation of rock mass class and installations of suitable support system are the biggest challenges to work out for its implementation.

Economical Challenges There are many factors affecting the economics of a tunnel. A tunnel is composed of many elements. Every tunnel is different depending on where it is located, its use, method of construction, environmental and safety requirements.

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“Tunnels need to be designed with a proper cross section to effectively and efficiently provide a safe passage for its users, some kind of lighting always needs to be provided, and proper ventilation, security and safety requirements are always needed,” says Mr Manchanda. Road Tunnel costs depend on many factors and variables. For example, these factors and variables include, depth of tunnel, need for temporary support of excavation, geometric dimensions of the structure, materials to be used, need for safety and security systems, traffic volume, need for temporary structures, utility relocation, soil properties, location of water table, loads to be supported by the tunnel, and mitigation of environmental impacts. “Over designing of support system is the main challenge which is being faced by the developers in most of the ongoing projects in India,” remarks Mr Mishra.

Solutions for good quality road tunnels Road networks in India are being constructed using best of engineering practices adopting state of the art technologies. However, some of them are now showing signs of premature failure due to cumulative effect of inadequate maintenance and structural inadequacies to cater the need of increased traffic volume and heavy axle loads.

We build roads and remember them only when they reach in extremely bad condition.

The pavement management system and the systematic approach contained are not adequately implemented for repairs and rehabilitation. Road maintenance forms part of the works carried out to provide adequate transport infrastructure. Speaking on the technical points for quality tunnel construction Mr Manchanda says, “There is no shortage of technical guidance on how the works should be carried out. The challenge seems to be more related to how maintenance should be organised and when it should be carried out.”

Quality of roads can be improved by optimum utilisation of available resources and blending of quality materials to achieve the required quality as per specification requirements.

During construction stage, the supervision should be strictly monitored. “In India, we have to make effective planning and its implementation for periodic repair and maintenance of constructed roads, which is at present inadequate,” concludes Mr Mishra. n

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Roads & Bridges II Interview

ACC lays concrete roadmap

“We plan to set up around 1015 plants in the current fiscal with investment generated out of internal accruals,” says Anil K. Banchhor, Chief Executive, ACC Concrete Business Holcim-owned ACC Concrete, a major manufacturer of ready-mix concrete, has chalked out an impressive plan to capture the Indian market with product innovation. In a tête-à-tête with Subhajit Roy, Mr Banchhor highlights the company’s significant achievements and aggressive future plans.

Mr Banchhor, how do you look at the market scenario for concrete business as of now?

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Laying, Finishing of Concrete and Curing after finishing (ACC’s Chennai road demo)

As of now the concrete market in a better shape compared to last year. The growth rate is improving in the metro cities like Bengaluru and Mumbai whereas Delhi NCR region is quite down. The market is expected to grow faster after the first quarter of next financial year.

certain new initiatives on the sustainable road development like green concrete that requires less cement as compared to conventional concrete. Green concrete has the better properties like lower abrasion and higher durability as compared to normal concrete roads.

What is the year-on-year growth you have experienced?

ACC Concrete achieved around 23 per cent year-on-year growth which is quite higher than the industry growth. We are expecting a better growth during the current fiscal.

We are expanding our business across the country by setting of plants in tier two cities.

Have you done any pilot project using this type of concrete?

Yes, we have done a pilot project in Noida over a 30-metre stretch. We prepared the trial sample with conventional concrete as well as high volume flyash concrete with number of panels with different thicknesses of 200

How do you see the business opportunities in the road and bridges sector?

The requirement of concrete for road sector is typically being met by the road projects developers having their own batching plants.

So we have not much significant roles to play. However, we had supplied concrete for Mumbai-Pune Expressway, Indore-Dewas bypass project, and Kolkata and Delhi metro rail projects in the past. We have taken

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Brooming (ACC’s Chennai road demo)

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Roads & Bridges II Interview 32 f Road after open to traffic (ACC’s Chennai road demo)

for traffic after 10 to 12 days after curing.

However a concrete road made with Speedcrete or UTWT24 can be opened for traffic within 24 hours.

ACC also offers Supercoat which is used for road repairing of existing concrete roads and filling of potholes of bitumen roads wherein roads can be opened to traffic within 8 hours.

These products are productivity enhancers that can increase the speed of road development.

mm to 350 mm. To check the stress inside the concrete, we have inserted strain gages inside the concrete in different locations: top fibre, middle and at the bottom.

Present concrete design methodology is based on the empirical formulae of Westergaard’s equation and broadburry’s coefficient, which was developed in Europe where temperature is low. However, India being a tropical country, temperature is quite high here. So if we formulate concrete according to the European formulations, the resultant stress would be higher and we may also land up in overdesigning the roads. To address this, we carried out the trial in NCR region and developed the product Ecocrete, whose performance has been found to be better than OPC concrete stretch.

We found that even a lower thickness of road can be made which is comparable with the higher-thickness roads, based on the performance analysis. Today the roads are being constructed in the thickness of 350 mm and 400 mm. We can bring down the thickness with HVFAC based green concrete.

Further, we have also developed UTWT24 (Ultra Thin White Topping) which allows us to achieve superior quality concrete roads on top of existing bituminous roads by using lesser quantity of concrete, and is therefore truly sustainable material.

In general, once completed, bitumen roads can be opened for traffic after few hours, whereas conventional concrete roads can be opened

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What are the advantages of high volume fly ash concrete roads over conventional fly ash concrete?

The lesser quantity of cement leads to larger contribution to the environment by limiting CO2 emissions. So optimising the use of cement is the key for sustainable construction.

The major advantage of high volume fly ash concrete roads is use of lesser quantity cement while offering superior quality and durability.

How do you see the acceptance of high volume fly ash concrete in India?

It is increasing nowadays. Private players have accepted the concept of high volume fly ash concrete for road building quite proactively.

For example, HCC has used high volume fly ash concrete while constructing the iconic BandraWorli Sea Link.

Though, many government agencies were reluctant initially, now the scenario has started changing. Road Minister Nitin Gadkari is propagating the ideas of exploring new technologies and new materials for road building so that we can reduce the costs and improve efficiency. All relevant government agencies and industry bodies have to come up with new ideas to support the government’s new mission.

Where do you see the ACC Concrete Division in next 5 years?

ACC and Lafarge are part of Lafarge Holcim in India. ACC and Lafarge, both put together, will be the biggest ready-mix concrete (RMC) player in India. We would continue to expand and maintain our leadership position.

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Could you name some of your products that can speed up road and bridges building?

Concrete normally can achieve the strength in 28 days. However, we can achieve the same strength of concrete just in 7 days using ACC-Jet-setcrete. This type of concrete has self-levelling features which help to achieve desired strength within a short span of time.

ACC also offers a self compacting concrete namely Flowcrete which is used in structures wherein congested reinforcement are unavoidable. This also reduces manpower costs since external compaction equipment is not required.

What are the innovations happening in ACC at the moment? By when will the products be available?

To meet the market demand, our innovations are focused multipronged which include increased productivity, faster delivery, better aesthetics and of course at reduced cost.

On this note, we are developing the pumpand-gun application of mortar for the plaster work. We have developed ACCOFIX which helps to speed up the fixing of blocks.

We also have readymade plasters. One needs to just cut it and put it in the machine and then spray the plaster.

We have already launched some of these products in markets like Mumbai and Delhi.

We’ll also be launching these products in Kolkata and Bengaluru shortly.

What is the production capacity of ACC concrete as far as RMC is concerned?

What will be your expectation in terms of revenue growth?

To meet the current market demand, right now we are producing 24 lakh cubic metres concrete per year though the production capacity is much higher. We expect robust growth in the next year. n

Interview

II Roads & Bridges

Road making machine market set for solid growth “With road works being allocated regularly, there is an increase in demand for road construction equipment,” says Rajinder Raina, General Manager – Marketing, Escorts Construction Equipment As the government is making all efforts to fast-track the road building sector, how do you look at the opportunities as a road building equipment manufacturer?

Road is one of the top priorities of the current government. With the PM monitoring the progress like a CEO, asking for powerpoint presentations and pushing for increased targets. This was shared by Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in a recent conference held in New Delhi.

of existing highways. The new road construction is comparatively very low in contrast. India is going to see construction of new roads and widening of the existing roads. Therefore Indian market will grow at a much faster pace and it will also make economical and business sense for the international players to make India the manufacturing hub and export equipment from these facilities. Compaction equipment manufactured in India is export worthy.

are on cards in the coming few months. Also changes on the existing models have been incorporated to make the machines more rugged, robust and reliable.

With road works being allocated regularly, there is an increase in demand for road construction equipment. A part of the demand is getting met by deployment of idle machinery. The demand for new machines is encouraging.

Is the road building equipment industry going through a radical change in terms of technology?

The road construction equipment in India has all the international players offering contemporary technology. There is going to be no radical change in near future except for the BS IV engines. GPRS and other remote and intelligent compaction systems are already an option being offered.

What are some of your long- and shortterm objectives to maintain your position?

Road construction remains one of the focus areas of Escorts. The compaction product range shall be regularly upgraded to match the demand of the customers and deliver as per the application. The upgradation of engine to next levels of exhaust emission norms, reduced noise levels, operator comfort, ergonomics and safety is a constant on-going process for R&D department of Escorts as the demand from the project side keep growing. n

Could you share your outlook on the road building equipment market in India?

Road construction shall be undertaken by NHAI for highways and expressways and under PMGSY for rural and tier-III roads.

Besides, smart cities and other international funded road works are going to come up in the coming years. For executing these works, the industry is equipped to supply requisite machinery. The installed capacities and appropriate technology is available with the manufacturers.

However, with more concrete roads coming up, demand for construction equipment for such roads is going to grow much faster.

How are road building equipment industry faring? Domestic vs. global markets?

In developed countries, there is more demand for equipment used in maintenance

As changes are expected in the road construction processes, we at Escorts are keeping an eye on the same to offer the right equipment as and when the demand in the market comes up. Not to forget that Escorts pioneered vibratory compaction in India.

However, there would be some equipment like 15-tonne and above compactors getting used in the coming years.

Further, cold milling machines have started finding favour with contractors for relaying asphalt turfs on the existing expressways and highways.

Are you planning any product launch in this domain to cope up with market trends?

Given the fierce competition, to stay in one of the top three positions, it is important to offer competitive advantage to the end user.

Escorts has the widest range of compaction equipment to offer. A couple of new launches

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Green Buildings II Expert Column

Green Malls: An inevitability waiting to happen Ashok Jain, Director and Strategist at Terracon Ecotech explains why mall owners should go for green Over the last few years the world has begun paying heed to the ever increasing carbon and green house gas emissions, water pollution, soil contamination, fluctuating temperatures, depleting biodiversity and drastic weather conditions. All buildings use up natural resources in their construction and operations directly as well as indirectly.

Malls are known to consume great amounts of energy and have high emission rates, their massive building structures are continuously lit up to give off an exquisite appeal. Going green and malls have never been paired until very recently and this concept has yet to take over the Indian retail industry.

Commercial architecture has swept our nation from the moment urbanisation started growing rapidly. India’s cities and towns are affected economically and socially with the tremendous increase in malls and commercial buildings, changing their landscapes and continuously growing in size. The concept of sustainability is what most corporate and multinationals are driving down through their processes and operations globally, with malls housing all the major brands that are environmentally conscious it is thus obvious that looking into this would be of great importance to mall owners. The need for sustainable malls has become the need of the hour and a business strategy that will boost its image.

Sustainable approach Retailers globally have focused on the development of eco-friendly and sustainable malls right from their conception to keeping up with new processes, strategies and technologies to improve the sustainable development of the mall once the building has been constructed. Malls have the impression of being lavish, opulent and beautiful; thus a great proportion of their energy consumption goes into lighting, elevators and lifts, and running air conditions to create the perfect atmosphere within the mall for shoppers. What mall owners need to do is first analyse the energy used by their buildings and understand in detail how they can go ahead and not compromise on every shoppers experience and comfort.

Malls have greatly changed over time, extended working hours and bigger areas to cater to our continuous needs and house everything we want. In 2012, malls in India were said to have consumed 250 kilowatts of power per square metre in a year, with an average consumption of 120,000 -600,000 litres of water a day Traditional malls have been taken over by huge shopping complexes with modern amenities, play zones for children, large food courts and various other entertainment facilities for shoppers of all ages to socialise and have a good time. Shopping has now become an experience and not just the mere act of purchasing. For a mall to do well it needs to possess what every other mall does not have and it needs the competitive advantage to succeed financially. Some

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older malls are looking at getting upgrades through retrofitting while newer ones are adapting global strategies, sustainable solutions fitting in both the options.

‘Green’ practice Malls can integrate various practices into making them eco-friendly and greener to do their part in conserving the environment.

Comprehensive innovative energy and water efficiency features are what can greatly help reduce every malls carbon footprints, some features even include harnessing natural light to brighten up malls and the use of glass façade’s to increase visibility. Not only is it important to use updated technologies, recycling methodologies and sustainable infrastructure to consume energy efficiently but also to educate the staff of the mall about each feature and its importance.

Better aesthetics should be worked out by using local technologies and materials in the green design of the mall before its construction.

Success stories Countries like Singapore and United Arab Emirates have spearheaded this movement and lead the way by example. Dubai’s Mall Of The Emirates is the first and only mall to have received the LEED gold award. The City Square Mall in Singapore is a benchmark for sustainable malls with some of the most innovative solutions and features that prove that sustainability has remarkable perks as well.

Both these malls have created opportunities and exponentially grown, completely opposite to the perception people have towards sustainable solutions.

Conclusion The green revolution for malls will always be uphill battles that will only be overcome by the economic benefit at the end it all. India still has significant ground to make on the sustainable mall forefront, small steps is all it takes. Changing every stakeholder’s mindsets about this is the greatest challenge that mall owners’ face; they need to understand sustainability as well as profitability from green investments. Malls have the ability to go above and beyond to help be a part of the change. However, the question is, will they take that step? The global push to ‘go green’ is what is going to make India move forward with more retailers looking at India as a viable option to broaden their businesses.

The sustainability initiatives at malls will eventually be driven by investors, shoppers and retailers who insist on sustainability and environment friendly infrastructure in the construction, operations and management. n Authored by__ Ashok Jain, Director and Strategist, Terracon Ecotech

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Aquatek Conchem develops world-class waterproofing solutions “Our products and solutions are made to perform at extreme conditions. It has been our endeavour in developing new solutions in pace with international products and standards and durability.”

Atul Admane, Managing Director, Aquatek Conchem, Nagpur Waterproofing has become need of the hour.

It not only saves costly interiors but also extended the life of structure.

Waterproofing products and systems are essential whether it is a very small house to palatial bungalows or sky scrapers or any other structure. The products and systems available in the markets are excellent but lack proper application, skilled manpower and supervisors.

There are no shortcuts in application of waterproofing systems and products and

one has to be very cautious while executing the waterproofing jobs. Cleaning of surface is most important factor for effective waterproofing as dust, dirt, loose concrete and debris are enemies of waterproofing products and systems.

Sometime, combination of different waterproofing techniques has to be used to get optimum results.

According to Atul Admane, Managing Director, Aquatek Conchem, “There has been a lot of changes and upgradation in waterproofing products and systems in the past five years. Many international brands have come to India and a lot of new Indian companies have come up with really good products.”

Bitumen-based products are most polluting and hazardous to human beings and nature.

Now the trend is fast changing towards the green products and systems. Looking at this opportunity, Aquatek Conchem has developed some of the state-of-the-art eco-friendly products and systems based on acrylic, polyurethane and silicones which meet international green standards and are easy and effective.

Some of the highlights of Aquatek Conchem products are: • Ease of application • All surface compatibility i.e. concrete, metal, wood.

• UV light resistant, heat reflectance, all whether proof, working temperature from 5 C to 50 C etc.

• Zero VOC • Extended life of systems • Cost effective. n

The Big 5 Construct India comes to Mumbai The Big 5 Construct India is an international exhibition and conference for building, construction and infrastructure industry which brings together over 8,000 professionals for business, learning and networking.

Taking place on 10th, 11th and 12th September at Bombay Exhibition Centre, in Mumbai, the event offers action-packed 3 days with latest technologies and solutions on display along with jam-packed technical sessions, workshops along with panel discussions, Q&As and much more.

With a large variety of products, solutions and technologies on display, the exhibition

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is particularly beneficial for architects, engineers, builders, contractors, consultants, interior designers, procurement heads, infrastructure companies and all kinds of building and construction professionals who use building materials, equipments and related technologies.

Why The Big 5 Construct India?

Construction sector meets here: Meet and connect with who’s who of building and construction sector decision makers attending from India, South East Asia, Middle East and Europe.

End-to-end

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solutions:

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materials to stones, marbles and floorings, from PEB, steel and interiors to cement, glass, piping and IT solutions – explore and source from over 250 represented brands.

International pavilions: Get international flavour with around 15 countries participating and pavilions from Germany, Turkey, Italy, UK, China,Korea, Malaysia, UAEand many more nations.

Knowledge supply: Get action-packed 3 days technical sessions, workshops on LEED v4 rating system, advanced project management and IGBC Green New Building (NB) rating system along with panel discussions, Q&A’s and much more. n

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