Indian Roads Thread

Javee · Post by **Javee** » 31 Aug 2009 17:55

Aralvaimozhi.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/Aral ... e007-1.jpg

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/OF ... EJGLcxW2aA

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 31 Aug 2009 18:27

the best photo would be up close to one tower but using
a wide angle lens to capture max number of towers, perhaps even a fisheye image from the height of the rotor axle of the nearest tower.

the two above while presentable look like taken from the
periscope of a Shang SSN before local fishermen chased it with harpoons.

Yogi_G · Post by **Yogi_G** » 03 Sep 2009 20:10

SwamyG wrote:
Yogi_G wrote:Abhijeet, at the end of the day, with all the shortcomings you mentioned the most depressing thing is handing out the 30 Rupees toll, my wife curses the highway authorities all day, I get to learn new curse words in Telugu that way.
Why is that? We were happy to pay the toll money. The roads were darn good but for the problems I mentioned - which is really a planning issue than maintenance one. Right from Hosur to Madras outskirts there was not one blemish on the road. I was impressed with the median and the bogan-villa plants. I saw personnel trimming them. The Bangalore-Hosur was really bad - but that I blame on the ongoing construction.

We too would be very happy to pay the 30 Rupees if everything were maintained well. The maintenance is really pathetic. The road has been essentially reduced to a single lane from 3 lanes and the connecting road (Karunanidhi Road) to the ECR road is as bumpy as can be and is just about as useful as a suggestion box in Tiananmen Square.

Abhijeet · Post by **Abhijeet** » 04 Sep 2009 23:56

I think it's sad that in 2009, India has such a problem building good roads. This is not new technology we're talking about - the knowledge of building maintenance-free roads has surely existed from at least when the US interstates were first built. Yet the roads in major Indian cities get regularly flooded and washed away with minor downpours.

Isn't India pretty much the last large country in the world (ignoring our beloved neighbour) to not have a national freeway system of any decent length?

Yogi_G · Post by **Yogi_G** » 05 Sep 2009 11:31

Abhijeet wrote:I think it's sad that in 2009, India has such a problem building good roads. This is not new technology we're talking about - the knowledge of building maintenance-free roads has surely existed from at least when the US interstates were first built. Yet the roads in major Indian cities get regularly flooded and washed away with minor downpours.

Isn't India pretty much the last large country in the world (ignoring our beloved neighbour) to not have a national freeway system of any decent length?

Some parts of our highway system is world class. I did 130 Kms in 1.5 hours between Chennai and MelMaruvathur. The problem is consistency, but that again is spread out across India. We are the country of extremes, as Gilchrist once said India amazes him, it has the richest people he has seen and also some of the poorest.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 05 Sep 2009 14:04

Abhijeet wrote:I think it's sad that in 2009, India has such a problem building good roads. This is not new technology we're talking about - the knowledge of building maintenance-free roads has surely existed from at least when the US interstates were first built. Yet the roads in major Indian cities get regularly flooded and washed away with minor downpours.

Isn't India pretty much the last large country in the world (ignoring our beloved neighbour) to not have a national freeway system of any decent length?

It wont improve unless they stop the tender system for laying down roads. You should see these contractors , some of them dont even bother using the road rollers. They just dump the stuff on the road and let us commuters do the rolling

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 17 Sep 2009 06:42

144 km rural roads built a day in FY09

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 17 Sep 2009 07:32

^^^^

The maintenance of these roads is, however, funded by the state governments.

This could be a problem as maintenance is the bane of Indian roads, be it rural or state highways. I saw how fast good rural roads deteriorate in a six month period, where there are heavier commercial vehicles plying along with rickshaws, cars and mopeds.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 18 Sep 2009 03:24

World Bank provides $3 billion for roads

The assistance will be utilised for converting 6,372 km of one-lane highways into two-lane, of the total of 19,702-km single-lane highways.

“They (World Bank) have, for the first time, informed me that they will be willing to fund the viability gap and also 50 per cent of our annuity projects,” Road Transport Minister Kamal Nath told the Indian media here after concluding his week-long tour to the US yesterday.

Nath also announced the construction of 18,000 kms of expressways in the country.

“We are going to set up an expressway division in the next fortnight and I propose bringing in legislation for Expressway Authority of India,” he said.

“Roads in India are not merely a matter of connectivity but also an important component of inclusive growth,” he said, adding that the total project costs for 2009-2010 was estimated at $20 billion.

Both debt-equity and pension funds were being invited to participate in this programme, he said. The share of private sector investment in this would be about $12 billion.

Over the next few years, of the total projected investment of $80 billion, the private sector investment is estimated to be $45 billion and this makes the road project the largest public-private partnership in the world, Nath said.

Hari · Post by **Hari** » 18 Sep 2009 16:20

First official Traffic Jam registered in Netherlands[22/07/1964]---Scenes of Traffic Jams in India flash throgh my Mind when i first saw this picture
http://picasaweb.google.com/hariks007/T ... 8018901458

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 30 Sep 2009 01:10

India's plastic roads a success

http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/ns_as ... 47155.html

The Public Works Department of Himachal Pradesh in northern India has started constructing roads with plastic and polythene waste.

It’s an attempt to save the environment from the menace of plastic waste. The plastic will actually make roads stronger. This effort by the state government has been well appreciated by environmentalists in the area.

[Rajinder Kumar, Road Inspector]:
"Plastic is dangerous to the environment, so we are making proper use of plastic waste and garbage. This will not only save the environment but also save the government money, as it is very economical and saves expenses on charcoal."

[PC Kapoor, Public Works Department]:
"Plastic is a menace and we have planned to use it more gainfully, for the construction of the roads. This is at the experimental stage. We shred the plastic bags or plastic material and mix it the tarring material. We have planned to use this kind of technology for the urban areas."

Kapoor added that the plastic roads will help improve the state’s economy by making it more accessible.

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 30 Sep 2009 06:18

I am not sure about plastic. People say it does not decompose for 100000000000 years, but the pots I used to plant the veggies crumbled after one season of sunshine.

These are regular polyethene troughs. I used them to plant bigger plants. After the season, they were so frail that they crumbled when I tried to just push them. If you pave the road with granules of them, you will end up witha lot of plastic powder.

SandeepA · Post by **SandeepA** » 03 Oct 2009 14:54

PVNR Expressway to open before Deepavali

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 11 Oct 2009 02:14

What kind of crazy fool drives along the edge of a precipice like that?

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 11 Oct 2009 02:31

Dileep those pots were likely recycled plastic.
The colored plastic jars we commonly see are 'recycled'. They are actually a mix of several different types of plastic that the local kabadiwala gets his hands on. All these are sorted by color, cut into small pieces and then melted and moulded into required shapes.

The result is a type of hybrid plastic, that although is recycled, is weak and breaks easily on exposure to weathering. Hell if you see all those colored jerrycans on sale in the bazaars, they might even break if you fill them up.

CalvinH · Post by **CalvinH** » 11 Oct 2009 03:07

Sanjay Ji, the video is made while riding a two wheeler.

rahulm · Post by **rahulm** » 11 Oct 2009 16:53

Its edge of the seat white knuckle stuff. Imagine this in the rain or at night with all vehicles on high beam. We need crash barriers and no loose debris at the road edge.

Either we are very cavalier about our and others life or have great faith in the divine.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 11 Oct 2009 23:45

video made from a royal enfield.

Rishirishi · Post by **Rishirishi** » 13 Oct 2009 15:42

Question to all the Mumbai whallas.

What impact has the sealink made?
Has it significantly cut down the travel time, or has is just moved the traffic jam to another place?

saip · Post by **saip** » 20 Oct 2009 18:22

SandeepA wrote:PVNR Expressway to open before Deepavali

Looks like this highway opened on 19th. Someone told me that there is no breakdown/ emergency lane and so it is being set up now at a huge cost. Is this true?

Jayram · Post by **Jayram** » 21 Oct 2009 04:18

saip wrote:
SandeepA wrote:PVNR Expressway to open before Deepavali

Looks like this highway opened on 19th. Someone told me that there is no breakdown/ emergency lane and so it is being set up now at a huge cost. Is this true?

I heard differently and know for sure this is true - in the entire length there are no exits anywhere hence now they are making breaks in the median to allow Uturns and exit back to the way you came from. Lack of experience ? But a difinete boon for Airport Users.
Lookign at the picture above another thing I just noticed is the lack of shoulder both between the median and the inner lane and also the outer lane to the wall. Why is this? Is this standard? Or is just missing some lane painting? I would have thought demarcating the lanes would allow drivers some sense of where they are postioned relative to the curb/wall.
BTW Google maps has a pretty detailed map of Hyderabad City. Google seem to have done an outstanding job in the mapping though the map would not recogonize my home address but did allow mapping/routing using Begin and End points.
-Jayram

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 21 Oct 2009 08:58

Jayram wrote:Lookign at the picture above another thing I just noticed is the lack of shoulder both between the median and the inner lane and also the outer lane to the wall. Why is this? Is this standard? Or is just missing some lane painting?

Jayram, what you have pointed out is true in most places in India. I would put it down to three things:

Non-existence of standards or non-following of standards if they exist at all
The all pervasive attitude of make-as-much-profit-as-you-can
The total disregard for safety exhibited by all levels of society & government

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 21 Oct 2009 09:25

New codes were adopted before building the Mumbai-Pune expressway. Possibly those are only used for highways while the standards used for elevated roads have not been updated yet.

Jayram · Post by **Jayram** » 23 Oct 2009 22:14

Dont know if I should post this one in the humor thread..
maybe less 24 hours after the PVNR expressway opened...
Going the wrong way too..
Only in India

Where is the banging your head aganst the wall smilie when you need it..
I can just imagine the conversation between the two riders on the scooter
"Kuch be nahi hota re.."

Yogi_G · Post by **Yogi_G** » 24 Oct 2009 19:14

Driving on the wrong side of the road, sigh

happens all the time in OMR, Chennai. I once stopped a vehicle by directly driving up to it, asked the driver if he knew what the rules were for which I got a sarcastic reply, turns out the bus was my company transport, escalated to the HR and admin and heard he got a piece of their mind. And there was this over-smart pedestrian who purposely walked slowly before my car with a grin on his face, I got down, chased him and smack!! let him have it, one tight slap, MTV kind, a whole group formed around but no one asked me anything and had a content look on their face that justice was delivered on the spot! My wife was not all that happy though, 22.46 minutes of lecture followed.

Yogi_G · Post by **Yogi_G** » 24 Oct 2009 19:22

SSridhar wrote:
Jayram wrote:Lookign at the picture above another thing I just noticed is the lack of shoulder both between the median and the inner lane and also the outer lane to the wall. Why is this? Is this standard? Or is just missing some lane painting?
Jayram, what you have pointed out is true in most places in India. I would put it down to three things:
Non-existence of standards or non-following of standards if they exist at all
The all pervasive attitude of make-as-much-profit-as-you-can
The total disregard for safety exhibited by all levels of society & government

Well summarized. I once visited my "co-brother" in Phoenix, AZ. He works in a company which designs and oversees construction of Interstate Highways. His "module" was to design the road for a 2 mile stretch. Thats right, one full time employee working a whole week (brings work home, slogs it out) to design the 2 mile stretch, scores of such people work weeks to design the entire stretch. In that one week he has to ensure that every info like pipes, cables, elevation, environmental regulation etc etc is taken care of and nothing is violated. The information from satellites and survey information is used for this purpose. After his work is done, it goes through 2 rounds of verification by his superiors before it is approved. Truly impressive, the attention to detail. Even a centimeter's divergence is not acceptable I am told. Sigh, the investment in safety reaps big dividends in terms of lesser accidents I can see.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 26 Oct 2009 11:05

Yogi_G wrote:Driving on the wrong side of the road, sigh happens all the time in OMR, Chennai.

The only good stretch of road I have seen with pedestrians not acting like idiots is the Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri-Thoppur (in Bangalore-Kerala route). The roads are good and it is tough for folks to come on the wrong side. Plus the area also seems to be thinly populated. I do not know the condition after Thoppur as we jump into the Mettur road, which is a state highway.

The worst I have seen is the Bangalore-Mysore express highway where it is a "free for all". Expect spead breakers with no markings every where, and bullock carts & tractors coming up the wrong way are regular happenings. The bullock cart drivers and tractor-wallahs move with an attitude that the car drivers are the people coming up the wrong side.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 28 Oct 2009 09:43

A long wait: The four-lane 9.9-km Hosur road expressway in Bangalore. Speculation continues over the inauguration of the toll road, executed as a Rs 765-crore project over three years. Once this opens, the stretch connecting the Central Silk Board Junction and the Electronic City will take 15-20 minutes.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 28 Oct 2009 11:55

SSridhar wrote:A long wait: The four-lane 9.9-km Hosur road expressway in Bangalore. Speculation continues over the inauguration of the toll road, executed as a Rs 765-crore project over three years.

Which project started of late? The elevation highway project which got completed in Hyderabad or this white-elephant of Bangalore?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Oct 2009 12:28

it will be a tolled road to electronic city. why is it a white elephant? from madivala upto forum mall
the road is widened. ofcourse 'teething troubles' extend beyond that to MG road

like what to do in adugodi.

for people like me - would be glad to drop into elec city jn quickly and decamp for points south of krishnagiri. once the BMIC gottigere mess is sorted out, going to mysore will also become much easier as this road connects to BMIC @ elec city.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 28 Oct 2009 18:12

Sachin wrote:. . . or this white-elephant of Bangalore?

Sachin, the elevated expressway from Silk Board is certainly not a white elephant. Only those who had experienced the traffic in that stretch can understand the pain. It is a highly welcome relief.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 28 Oct 2009 18:32

>>>Expect spead breakers with no markings every where,
That was so irritating in Bangalore under night driving conditions. How I wish I was a fly on the wall when the team was deciding to leave the speedbreakers without any markings let alone florescent markings.

Sriman · Post by **Sriman** » 28 Oct 2009 19:38

Singha wrote: for people like me - would be glad to drop into elec city jn quickly and decamp for points south of krishnagiri. once the BMIC gottigere mess is sorted out, going to mysore will also become much easier as this road connects to BMIC @ elec city.

GD, has the BMIC ring road from E-City to Mysore road thrown open yet? I remember there were protests about the proposed toll on that road. Until that road opens fully,i think BTM main road would still be a mess all the way to BSK.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Oct 2009 20:56

I think elec city to mysore road is complete except for a 500m stretch (dried up gottigere lake)
wherein it crosses bannerghatta road. this land was help up by political issues/owned by some MP but ultimately BJP govt + SC orders seem to have got it moving. spies speak of a flyover being
built over the bannerghatta road there. people were still driving across this kutcha rolling land,
though onlee suitable for trucks and buses. the BTM road to BSK is horrible...huge speedbreakers
and trucks...theres are also detours now due to flyover construction through narrow roads in BTM.

from mysore road to tumkur road has long been done.

ofcourse this is only a ring road! the original BMIC was for a expway parallel to mysore road SH17 but south of it. I hope my son sees it in his lifetime, such is the political issue over land acquisitions here.

Rishirishi · Post by **Rishirishi** » 29 Oct 2009 04:23

SSridhar wrote:

A long wait: The four-lane 9.9-km Hosur road expressway in Bangalore. Speculation continues over the inauguration of the toll road, executed as a Rs 765-crore project over three years. Once this opens, the stretch connecting the Central Silk Board Junction and the Electronic City will take 15-20 minutes.

It is just goint to shift the traffic jam. The bridge should be reserved for Buses ONLY. Then more and more people will opt for buses.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 29 Oct 2009 06:47

between wipro and infy alone there would 500 buses on this road in morning. few employees of
these cos use their own cars.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 29 Oct 2009 09:24

SSridhar wrote:Only those who had experienced the traffic in that stretch can understand the pain.

Have experienced it myself for nearly 3 1/2 years

. By "white elephant"; I meant it as a never ending project. This thing has been going on for donkey's ears. That is why I asked when was the Hyderabad elevated road project started?

Rishirishi wrote:It is just goint to shift the traffic jam. The bridge should be reserved for Buses ONLY.

I have heard two thoughts on the same lines.
1. Once the bridge is ready there would be two traffic choke points. One would be right in front of Madivala police station, where the bridge, a road coming from BTM Layout area, and the existing road to Electronic City (the Hosur road on the ground level) all meet up. The other would be inside Electronic city, where again traffic from Hosur road (ground level) and the elevated road meets up.

2. The elevated road is going to be a toll road. If the toll is too high, people would go back the old road itself.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 29 Oct 2009 13:21

500 buses? Thats a lot

manish · Post by **manish** » 29 Oct 2009 14:35

krishnan wrote:500 buses? Thats a lot

Not really. I recall having see a figure of ~230 or so a couple of years back just for the Infy campus at Elec City. So 500 is not at all surprising.

SSridhar wrote:
Sachin wrote:. . . or this white-elephant of Bangalore?
Sachin, the elevated expressway from Silk Board is certainly not a white elephant. Only those who had experienced the traffic in that stretch can understand the pain. It is a highly welcome relief.

Also, I think Maytas being involved in construction would have affected progress post-Satyam scandal I guess?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 29 Oct 2009 15:04

it was mostly done by that time. they brought in the highest level of tech I have seen used in any bridge in blr yet. very large sections precast on the ground then lifted up via gantry cranes and locked in.