Labour scarcity is spurring innovative uses of precast
Highways and roads
In highway projects involving flyovers, bridges, overbridges, underpasses and overpasses, many RCC structures are being done in precast, including segmental box girders or U-girders, piers and pier caps in the case of RRTS and MRTS projects, says Debashish Roy, CEO, Vollert India. “Underpasses or subways that are more like underground tunnels are being done in precast, which was not the situation a few years back. A precast concrete structure for underpasses can be an open-end box section, portal frame segments or separate wall and roof units.”Highway developers use high-end machinery to speedily and smoothly build roads but they struggle to develop small structures for amenities like kiosks, toilets and administrative blocks, which every contractor has to complete prior to the final handover, adds Ronak Dhoot, Founder & CEO, BLOKS Precast. To tide over this challenge, BLOKS Precast can build all the amenity structures for road projects in precast. The company has done so for a road project being implemented by GR Infra in Andhra Pradesh.
“We have also supplied U-drains to road developers, which they find convenient because the components are ready to be installed as soon as you have excavated the area,” he adds. “We are also looking at supplying components for the periphery walls of highway projects.”