Road construction technology

During 2012-13, there has been a general economic slowdown, and this, along with other external factors, adversely affected the performance of Highway projects in India. Out of total targeted award of 8,100km, NHAI could award only 1,116km of NHDP projects. However the performance on the construction front was much better ? against a target of 3000km, 2702km was achieved. In the year 2011-12, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways was able to award only 1,933km of projects as against the target of 9,500km. The Ministry has made sustained efforts to identify the issues ? delay in land acquisition, environment and forest clearances, shortage of equity, management of contracts etc ? that affected the performance of the highways sector and worked out some solutions. The following article by Vijay Chhibber, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, gives an overview of the Indian Highways and the measures taken by the Ministry to speed up the road building activity.

The authors take a look at Land Value Capture, a method of land-based financing for funding infrastructure improvements that is employed in the US, and holds promise for an emerging economy such as India.

Roshan Toshniwal of Transparent Chennai talks about the work done by the organisation with citizen groups in Chennai in creating public / community participation for improving the pedestrian infrastructure in the city.

Dr. Narasimha Murthy, a registered traffic engineer in California and currently an independent engineering consultant to NHAI for Highway Projects near Nagpur, writes on a few points that, if addressed, will improve and lead to better management of highways     It is important for Governments to recognise that ?transportation is the bloodline of any economy.? Most of the developed ...

Tender SURE, an initiative of Bangalore City Connect Foundation along with the Government of Karnataka, the City Corporation and Bangalore Metro Rail, has changed the very premise and procedure of designing and maintaining roads. Implemented on Vithal Mallya Road, the City Connect project rests on one basic principle ? if people outside of government can work with the government on ...

In today?s age of massive urbanisation, strong efforts are being made to find alternative, sustainable and economical modes of transport. Bicycle, in such a scenario, comes right at the top. Hitesh Mehta, MD and CEO of Protek, who facilitated the construction of Mumbai?s first Segregated Cycle Lane, answers some quick questions.   What is a segregated cycle lane? And why ...

Dr Guruprasad Mohapatra, Municipal Commissioner, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation tells TrafficInfraTech that in order to bring a method to administering the city, the Corporation has decided that certain roads will have no vendors, and certain zones will be no encroachment zones. It is also forcing the road facing shops and malls to have adequate parking and is allowing three wheelers to ...

Information Technology has played a key role in enhancing efficiency in different industries and Highways is no exception. With growing emphasis on faster and quality infrastructure development to place Nation?s economy on growth trajectory, the time is ripe for deployment of IT in Highways for effective and efficient delivery.? Venkata Subba Rao takes a closer look. Natioal Highnways in the ...

Good Origin Destination Surveys are key to planning better and more effective transport infrastructureGood Origin Destination Surveys are key to planning better and more effective transport infrastructure Quite often governments plan transport infrastructure, based on prospects suggested by construction companies, product integrator or simply ?obvious need?. As the country progresses, it is necessary to make these decisions based on more ...

Vienna: A traveller?s delight Vienna is an ideal city to be emulated for multimodal transport, says Bina C Balakrishnan. Here, she writes an experiential piece on how, despite being new to the city, she could comfortably travel using public transport ? without any fear of a motorist hitting her on the street, and could get information on the modes of ...