THE ROAD AHEAD

Road building and earthmoving equipment will be in plenty of demand when infrastructure projects resume

- KANCHAN PRATAP

The thirty-fifth US President, John F Kennedy is believed to have said that America was rich because of its roads. While the statement could have been made a century ago, it holds even today. Road infrastructure will play the most important role as India readies herself to fight her economic battles in the post-COVID-19 era––within months if not weeks from now.

India’s recent focus on road infrastructure under schemes such as Bharatmala Pariyojana, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), is not new. While the government plans to spend Rs 50,000 crore on building 4,500 km long road network in 2020, under the Union Budget 2019-20, it has already allocated Rs 1.12 lakh crore for road construction projects across the country.

The success of its ambitious road infrastructure build-up projects and the rapid economic development it hopes to achieve through them will largely depend on, among other things, the quality of the roads being constructed. Adherence to standard processes and practices in addition to advancements in equipment technology, the material used, and processes determine the build-quality of roads. At the same time, factors such as traffic density and weather conditions determine the longevity of the roads constructed in a given area.

TYPES OF ROADS

The type of equipment used for road construction may differ by road type. While city roads (and inside city roads) constitute around 20% of the total road network in India, rural roads comprise nearly 70%.