The New Indian Express 14.12.2009
GHMC hunts for road network consultant
As a majority of the roads in Greater Hyderabad are irregular and in bad shape, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has decided to engage a consultant to develop a uniform, durable and safe road network with minimum maintenance requirement during its design life. For this purpose, it is carrying out a systematic study as per IRC Guidelines. The proposed consultancy job will provide a scientific road map for the GHMC for the next 10 to 15 years.
The appointed consultant will identify the inherent defects in the existing roads,
forecast the traffic, assess the remaining life of pavements for the current and future traffic demands. The consultant firm would suggest remedial measures to rectify defects, strengthen existing pavements to cater to a future traffic demand
for a period of at least 10 to 15 years. Consequent to the formation of the
GHMC, the scope of providing civic infrastructure in tune with other metropolitan cities has increased enormously with particular emphasis on the development of road networks. Speaking to Expresso, GHMC officials
said that since the road network is a vital lifeline for any metropolis, the corporation has embarked on a focused long-term perspective study on roads in a multi-dimensional approach. Presently, the GHMC spends Rs 800 crore every year on the road sector. This huge expenditure is being incurred every year purely on certain technical assumptions and on an ad hoc basis, resulting
in recurring maintenance costs. Further, there is scope for investment of Rs
1,488 crore in the next four years on the road sector for the GHMC. GHMC officials said that the decision to appoint a consultant has become necessary as traffic has increased manifold beyond geometric progression in the recent years. The actual pace of development of road network within the GHMC limits is not meeting the demand requirements. The assignment would include recording the existing inventory of road assets, assess the condition of existing roads, footpaths, drains, determining the life of existing pavements. The firm would need to improve the geometric properties of roads and junctions, identify and eliminate bottlenecks along the roads, examine areas prone to waterlogging and propose suitable drainage measures. The other assignments will include labelling,
notation of roads, review of available traffic data on volume and forecasts. The
consultant would need to conduct hourly classified traffic volume count for a period of three days at mid-block locations