Buyer's Choice!

01 Oct 2010 CW Team

After analysing the critical equipment required for project deliveries across sectors, Charu Bahri presents an overview of contractors' preferred construction equipment.

It's a simple equation. The fortunes of the construction equipment industry in India are directly proportionate to the growth of the construction industry. With the key drivers – infrastructure development followed by affordable housing – witnessing steady expansion, sales of equipment have been looking up in recent months, a distinct improvement over the lows of the past year. CRISIL put the growth in the industrial sector at 9 per cent for FY 2008, among the highest globally. During the ensuing slowdown ...in FY 2009, growth slowed down to 2.7 per cent, which somewhat affected the demand for construction equipment. The slowdown, however, was partially offset by a healthy increase in the construction order book: 6.5 per cent in the quarter ending March 2009 over the previous quarter and 9 per cent in the quarter ending June 2009.

According to Shushmul Maheshwari, CEO, RNCOS, "The construction equipment market is currently estimated at around $5.1 billion and has been growing at around 15 to 18 per cent in the past three years. The market is dominated by earthmoving equipment, which constitutes above 50 per cent of the market share, followed by material handling equipment with nearly 25 per cent share in the pie."

The future of the Indian construction equipment sector looks promising. Increase in infrastructure spending in all prominent segments, including roads, power generation, telecommunication, railways, urban infrastructure and ports, is slated to drive the industry to new heights. With each sector being a prominent consumer of construction equipment and the demand for affordable housing also rising rapidly, Maheshwari expects the industry to grow at around 12 per cent CAGR during the period from FY 2011 to FY 2014.

Project type: All kinds of civil and road construction
Proposed by: Lanco Infratech Ltd - Construction Division

Pros: "Of all the plant and machinery used for civil work including flyovers, bridges and culverts for roads, batching plants for concrete and crushing plants for aggregate making are key production assets," says SM Roy, CEO, Lanco Infratech Ltd - Construction Division. "These assets backed by delivery and transportation equipment, ensure that production assets are utilised to their fullest capacity to guarantee the highest return of investment. Batching and crushing plants directly create revenues."
Cost benefits: Construction sites in cities do not normally offer adequate space to install batching and crushing plants in the vicinity. The contractors have no option but to buy ready-mix concretes or aggregates from branded or local suppliers who have such installations around the cities. If concrete is required in small volumes or for a short duration, this is not such an issue. But medium and large construction projects benefit from their own production set-up as arranging an assured supply of quality concrete from outside agencies can be a concern.
Preferred model: Batching plants manufactured by Schwing Stetter as well as Greaves; Crushing plants from Metso and Puzzolana.
Why: The equipment is manufactured in India and available in various capacities backed by the manufacturers' after-sales services. The equipment facilitates a full range of functions including receiving raw materials, processing facilities, and delivery and conveying facilities for finished products. Roy elaborates further, "The plants are automatic, robust, flexible to changes in product mix, and possess features facilitating remote monitoring for performance enhancement." They are truly cost savers as they have a minimum threshold capacity level below which any production would be uneconomical. They assure best return of investment when used at their fullest capacity. Users simply must maintain the plants and ensure an uninterrupted supply of input raw materials to run the plants at full capacity.

Project type : Roads
Proposed by: Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd

Pros: Pavers are the key to the quality of the finished road as well to finishing a project in time.
Cost benefits: Workhorse pavers that have the capability to work almost non-stop and have an expandable range and high lay-down rate adapt to the project at hand. Choosing from the wide variety of pavers available in the market – indigenous and imported – is a critical decision.
Preferred model: Vogele pavers of various capacities.
Why: "Contractors awarded road projects work under tight deadlines to finish the job," says Sarath Kumar, Senior Executive - Plant & Equipment, Navayuga Engineering Co Ltd. "At the same time, sometimes, equipment is specially bought for a project, that is, if the project tender does not specify that the equipment be mandatorily available at the time of submitting a bid. So a short order-to-supply cycle for critical equipment becomes the key to starting and completing the project in time. Vogele supplies its pavers in six weeks whereas we believe that the delivery period for other brands varies up to 12 weeks. We prefer Vogele for its supply time advantage and excellent after-sales services. The company offers services at the project site; this is also a major time-saver."

Project type: Large structures required in SEZs
Proposed by: Vascon Engineers

Pros: Concrete pumps help contractors handle greater volumes of concrete in less time and without compromising the quality of construction. The pumps also reduce labour requirements, thus saving costs and allowing contractors to manage with less number of skilled labour at project sites. As only concrete that has been homogenously mixed may be pumped up using such equipment, the use of a concrete pump also assures the contractor of some control on the quality of concrete.
Cost benefits: "The conventional way of working that was popular a decade ago when working speed was not a criteria to reckon with, was to use a hoist to lift concrete," says Kumar Krishnan, President (Operation), Vascon Engineers. "But a hoist could at the most perform 200 bags of cement in a day whereas a concrete pump can lift the same volumes of concrete in
one hour."
Preferred model: Putzmeister and Schwing Stetter concrete pumps with the actual specifications depending on the height of the structure.
Why: "German brands are known for their longevity and maintenance-free operations," adds Krishnan. "These companies also offer good services and their spare parts are readily available."

Project type: Roads, bridges
Proposed by: Ashoka Buildcon Ltd

Pros: "The quality of aggregates matter most when constructing roads of high quality," says Sanjay Londhe, Director, Ashoka Buildcon Ltd. "Metso and Sandvik offer two to three stage crushers based on sound technology. The final, properly shaped aggregate output, 40 mm, 20 mm, 10 mm and dust, is exactly what is needed to build long-lasting roads."
Cost benefits: These imported brands, though expensive, are preferable considering the output and quality.
Preferred model: 50 tonne per hour to 250 tonne per hour models are widely chosen in the market but the most popular crusher considering the output of quarries is the 200 tonne per hour three-stage crusher.
Why: Although there are Indian companies that are giving strong competition to imported machines, in the present
scenario overseas brands are a step ahead in performance and therefore a preferred choice for the purpose despite being more expensive. This is because they are technologically advanced owing to the services provided by the vendors.

Project type: All kinds of infrastructure construction projects
Proposed by: EPC Division, GVK Group

Pros: "Time is money for contractors," opines Pankaj Agarwal, President - EPC Division, GVK Group. "Large-capacity equipment is the key to completing larger size projects, such as ports, airports, long stretches of roads, hydel and other infrastructural projects in shorter timeframes." However, equipment that is too bulky may not be roadworthy. It is essential to choose earthmoving equipment that is roadworthy as well as capable of being used within site to make its usage versatile.
Cost benefits: If bucket sizes of 1 cu m were popular earlier, now larger contractors are going in for 3 cu m capacities. This indicates the speed of work that is possible using this equipment.
Preferred model: Models from trusted brands such as Caterpillar, Volvo and L&T, etc; Ingersoll Rand rollers are also good.
Why: The equipment is manufactured by reputed brands and backed by the vendors' after-sales services. However, vendors need to build up backup services including inventories as the downtime of higher productivity equipment throws large project schedules in disarray. Large capacity earthmoving equipment tend to have more hydraulic pipes and other parts, that get damaged fairly soon and replacements have a long lead time.

Project type: All kinds of construction projects
Proposed by: BE Billimoria & Co Ltd

Pros: Front and backhoe loaders are especially useful as they can be used to excavate and load. Skid steer loaders can only load but they are fast and capable of turning 180° on the spot.
Cost benefits: "The right kind of loaders helps speed up excavation work as well as load aggregates into batching plants," opines BC Desai, Chief Engineer - Plant & Equipment, BE Billimoria & Co Ltd.
Preferred model: Front and backhoe loaders from Escorts JCB - 3D and Tata - JD 315 V and skid loaders from Terex
HEMAN 175.
Why: "We are happy with the machines we are using," says Desai. "However, there is comparable front and backhoe equipment in the market."

Project type: Tunnels, metro
Proposed by: ITD Cementation India Ltd

Pros: Tunnel boring machines (TBM) are used to excavate tunnels through a variety of strata. They are one of the many methods available for tunnelling, such as drilling and blasting, cut and cover, forepoling and excavating, etc. Tunnelling methods for any particular project are only chosen after a detailed case-to-case techno-commercial study.
Cost benefits: TBMs are associated with high upfront cost. However, this method has been effectively used for long tunnels such as those required for metro projects. The famous tunnel below the English Channel and other undersea tunnels have also been done using TBMs. "We opted for TBMs for our Delhi Metro project as it was a part of the tender specification to be followed," says Dharmakirti Bhatta, Senior VP - Plant, ITD Cementation India Ltd. "The method helped us complete our project six months ahead of schedule using four TBMs, thus saving a lot of money. We are also using the machines for our Kolkata Metro and Kolkata water line projects."
Preferred model: Herrenknecht AG machines, though other companies such as Robbins Company, Hitachi, Atlas Copco, Sandvik, also offer similar machines. It is up to contractors to select an appropriate machine with desirable features for the kind of strata the machine will be used in and the challenges likely to be faced. For instance, in hard rock, it is well known that the major difficulty is in excavating material at the face. The walls of the tunnel are self-supporting. However, in soft ground, the difficulty is not in excavating the face but in supporting the tunnel. These variations in strata create room for a variety of models of TBMs.
Why: Contractors look for shorter delivery schedules, ease of operation, and excellent after-sales services. In the case of ITD Cementation, Herrenknecht AG machines have been successfully used at Delhi Metro and are now being used for its Kolkata Metro and Kolkata water line projects.

Project type: It is used in projects where rocks are encountered at shallow depths for excavation.
Proposed by: Consolidated Construction Consortium Ltd (CCCL)

Pros: The equipment breaks the rock from inside and works on the basis of the wedge principle. It may be deployed in places where conventional methods of breaking rocks fail.
Cost benefits: "The equipment enhances productivity and saves costs by enabling precise demolitions, ensuring that the vibration does not affect adjoining structures, and doing away with the need for precaution or safety measures," opines G Boopathi, Head - Resource Planning, CCCL India.
Preferred model: Darda Hydraulic Rock Splitters.
Why: "We are satisfied with the machines we are using," says Boopathi.

Project type: Dams, reservoirs
Proposed by: Gayatri Projects

Pros: Tower cranes provide an appreciable lifting height and flexible working radius while taking up a very limited area. They are generally used to lift of all types of construction materials to a desired height and location (within limit).
Cost benefits: The lifting and placing of materials is one of the most difficult jobs in construction if attempted manually or by using older techniques such as ramps or even hoist winches. In comparison, tower cranes offer speed, safety and economy. "We have saved a lot of time and cost by using tower cranes," says SV Vaidya, President, Gayatri Projects. "Using ramps to convey concrete through transit mixers up to a height of 48 m would have increased the time and cost of concreting activity of the dam by almost four times."
Preferred model: Ace Zoomlion tower crane QTZ 125 (TC 5023A) from Action Construction Equipment (P) Ltd, Pune.
Why: The travelling crane has the capacity to lift up to 10 mt in a radius of 2.5 m to 50 m and a maximum hoist height of 60 m. It is a self-climbing multipurpose machine with horizontal jib mechanism. Its performance is 18 cu m/hour for casting cement concrete at 60 m height. There are many brands available in the market such as Manitowoc Cranes India, Escorts Huata, Ace, Liebherr, Sumitomo, Xianhu and Comansaan. But each tower crane has its own application, cost and delivery schedules.

We selected our model after reviewing all these factors. An effective alternate with a similar lift capacity would be the Shirke-Potain MC-310K16 (RCS) travelling crane that has a jib length of 55 m and a height under hook of 50.9 m from Shirke Construction Equipments Pvt Ltd, Pune. However, at Rs 195 lakh plus taxes, this is more expensive than the Ace Zoomlion tower crane that costs Rs 108.50 lakh plus taxes.

Project type: Power plants, steel plants, refineries, bridges
Proposed by: Era Infrastructure

Pros: "Piling is the starting point of any major construction activity such as the erection of power or steel plants," says Joy Saxena, Group CFO, Era Group. "We own more than 30 hydraulic piling rigs with capacities ranging from 130 kNm to 260 kNm. These machines are used for the construction of cast-in-situ bore piles for foundations and soil improve-ment work."
Cost benefits: Hydraulic piling machines have revolutionised piling in India. Earlier, piling used to be a low-cost operation carried out by the standard direct mud circulation (DMC) method that was crude, time-consuming, and inaccurate. Hydraulic piling machines have improved productivity manifold by reducing time taken to complete a job while improving the quality and accuracy of work done. "Though the initial capital cost of acquiring hydraulic piling machines is huge, to the tune of around Rs 2.5 – 4 crore, the cost pays off in the long run," adds Saxena.
Preferred model: As modern hydraulic piling machines are invented in Italy, brands like Mait, Soilmec, Casagrande and Trevisoil are preferred.
Why: These machines have capacities ranging from 130 kNm to 260 kNm and can facilitate piling up to 68 m depth and pile diameters of up to 2,500 mm. We have now inducted vibratory extractors cum pile drivers to enhance our soil improvement portfolio and perform sheet piling.

After analysing the critical equipment required for project deliveries across sectors, Charu Bahri presents an overview of contractors' preferred construction equipment. It's a simple equation. The fortunes of the construction equipment industry in India are directly proportionate to the growth of the construction industry. With the key drivers – infrastructure development followed by affordable housing – witnessing steady expansion, sales of equipment have been looking up in recent months, a distinct improvement over the lows of the past year. CRISIL put the growth in the industrial sector at 9 per cent for FY 2008, among the highest globally. During the ensuing slowdown ...in FY 2009, growth slowed down to 2.7 per cent, which somewhat affected the demand for construction equipment. The slowdown, however, was partially offset by a healthy increase in the construction order book: 6.5 per cent in the quarter ending March 2009 over the previous quarter and 9 per cent in the quarter ending June 2009. According to Shushmul Maheshwari, CEO, RNCOS, The construction equipment market is currently estimated at around $5.1 billion and has been growing at around 15 to 18 per cent in the past three years. The market is dominated by earthmoving equipment, which constitutes above 50 per cent of the market share, followed by material handling equipment with nearly 25 per cent share in the pie. The future of the Indian construction equipment sector looks promising. Increase in infrastructure spending in all prominent segments, including roads, power generation, telecommunication, railways, urban infrastructure and ports, is slated to drive the industry to new heights. With each sector being a prominent consumer of construction equipment and the demand for affordable housing also rising rapidly, Maheshwari expects the industry to grow at around 12 per cent CAGR during the period from FY 2011 to FY 2014. Project type: All kinds of civil and road constructionProposed by: Lanco Infratech Ltd - Construction Division Pros: Of all the plant and machinery used for civil work including flyovers, bridges and culverts for roads, batching plants for concrete and crushing plants for aggregate making are key production assets, says SM Roy, CEO, Lanco Infratech Ltd - Construction Division. These assets backed by delivery and transportation equipment, ensure that production assets are utilised to their fullest capacity to guarantee the highest return of investment. Batching and crushing plants directly create revenues.Cost benefits: Construction sites in cities do not normally offer adequate space to install batching and crushing plants in the vicinity. The contractors have no option but to buy ready-mix concretes or aggregates from branded or local suppliers who have such installations around the cities. If concrete is required in small volumes or for a short duration, this is not such an issue. But medium and large construction projects benefit from their own production set-up as arranging an assured supply of quality concrete from outside agencies can be a concern.Preferred model: Batching plants manufactured by Schwing Stetter as well as Greaves; Crushing plants from Metso and Puzzolana.Why: The equipment is manufactured in India and available in various capacities backed by the manufacturers' after-sales services. The equipment facilitates a full range of functions including receiving raw materials, processing facilities, and delivery and conveying facilities for finished products. Roy elaborates further, The plants are automatic, robust, flexible to changes in product mix, and possess features facilitating remote monitoring for performance enhancement. They are truly cost savers as they have a minimum threshold capacity level below which any production would be uneconomical. They assure best return of investment when used at their fullest capacity. Users simply must maintain the plants and ensure an uninterrupted supply of input raw materials to run the plants at full capacity. Project type : RoadsProposed by: Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd Pros: Pavers are the key to the quality of the finished road as well to finishing a project in time.Cost benefits: Workhorse pavers that have the capability to work almost non-stop and have an expandable range and high lay-down rate adapt to the project at hand. Choosing from the wide variety of pavers available in the market – indigenous and imported – is a critical decision.Preferred model: Vogele pavers of various capacities.Why: Contractors awarded road projects work under tight deadlines to finish the job, says Sarath Kumar, Senior Executive - Plant & Equipment, Navayuga Engineering Co Ltd. At the same time, sometimes, equipment is specially bought for a project, that is, if the project tender does not specify that the equipment be mandatorily available at the time of submitting a bid. So a short order-to-supply cycle for critical equipment becomes the key to starting and completing the project in time. Vogele supplies its pavers in six weeks whereas we believe that the delivery period for other brands varies up to 12 weeks. We prefer Vogele for its supply time advantage and excellent after-sales services. The company offers services at the project site; this is also a major time-saver. Project type: Large structures required in SEZsProposed by: Vascon Engineers Pros: Concrete pumps help contractors handle greater volumes of concrete in less time and without compromising the quality of construction. The pumps also reduce labour requirements, thus saving costs and allowing contractors to manage with less number of skilled labour at project sites. As only concrete that has been homogenously mixed may be pumped up using such equipment, the use of a concrete pump also assures the contractor of some control on the quality of concrete.Cost benefits: The conventional way of working that was popular a decade ago when working speed was not a criteria to reckon with, was to use a hoist to lift concrete, says Kumar Krishnan, President (Operation), Vascon Engineers. But a hoist could at the most perform 200 bags of cement in a day whereas a concrete pump can lift the same volumes of concrete in one hour.Preferred model: Putzmeister and Schwing Stetter concrete pumps with the actual specifications depending on the height of the structure.Why: German brands are known for their longevity and maintenance-free operations, adds Krishnan. These companies also offer good services and their spare parts are readily available. Project type: Roads, bridgesProposed by: Ashoka Buildcon Ltd Pros: The quality of aggregates matter most when constructing roads of high quality, says Sanjay Londhe, Director, Ashoka Buildcon Ltd. Metso and Sandvik offer two to three stage crushers based on sound technology. The final, properly shaped aggregate output, 40 mm, 20 mm, 10 mm and dust, is exactly what is needed to build long-lasting roads.Cost benefits: These imported brands, though expensive, are preferable considering the output and quality.Preferred model: 50 tonne per hour to 250 tonne per hour models are widely chosen in the market but the most popular crusher considering the output of quarries is the 200 tonne per hour three-stage crusher.Why: Although there are Indian companies that are giving strong competition to imported machines, in the present scenario overseas brands are a step ahead in performance and therefore a preferred choice for the purpose despite being more expensive. This is because they are technologically advanced owing to the services provided by the vendors. Project type: All kinds of infrastructure construction projectsProposed by: EPC Division, GVK Group Pros: Time is money for contractors, opines Pankaj Agarwal, President - EPC Division, GVK Group. Large-capacity equipment is the key to completing larger size projects, such as ports, airports, long stretches of roads, hydel and other infrastructural projects in shorter timeframes. However, equipment that is too bulky may not be roadworthy. It is essential to choose earthmoving equipment that is roadworthy as well as capable of being used within site to make its usage versatile.Cost benefits: If bucket sizes of 1 cu m were popular earlier, now larger contractors are going in for 3 cu m capacities. This indicates the speed of work that is possible using this equipment.Preferred model: Models from trusted brands such as Caterpillar, Volvo and L&T, etc; Ingersoll Rand rollers are also good.Why: The equipment is manufactured by reputed brands and backed by the vendors' after-sales services. However, vendors need to build up backup services including inventories as the downtime of higher productivity equipment throws large project schedules in disarray. Large capacity earthmoving equipment tend to have more hydraulic pipes and other parts, that get damaged fairly soon and replacements have a long lead time. Project type: All kinds of construction projectsProposed by: BE Billimoria & Co Ltd Pros: Front and backhoe loaders are especially useful as they can be used to excavate and load. Skid steer loaders can only load but they are fast and capable of turning 180° on the spot.Cost benefits: The right kind of loaders helps speed up excavation work as well as load aggregates into batching plants, opines BC Desai, Chief Engineer - Plant & Equipment, BE Billimoria & Co Ltd.Preferred model: Front and backhoe loaders from Escorts JCB - 3D and Tata - JD 315 V and skid loaders from Terex HEMAN 175.Why: We are happy with the machines we are using, says Desai. However, there is comparable front and backhoe equipment in the market. Project type: Tunnels, metroProposed by: ITD Cementation India Ltd Pros: Tunnel boring machines (TBM) are used to excavate tunnels through a variety of strata. They are one of the many methods available for tunnelling, such as drilling and blasting, cut and cover, forepoling and excavating, etc. Tunnelling methods for any particular project are only chosen after a detailed case-to-case techno-commercial study. Cost benefits: TBMs are associated with high upfront cost. However, this method has been effectively used for long tunnels such as those required for metro projects. The famous tunnel below the English Channel and other undersea tunnels have also been done using TBMs. We opted for TBMs for our Delhi Metro project as it was a part of the tender specification to be followed, says Dharmakirti Bhatta, Senior VP - Plant, ITD Cementation India Ltd. The method helped us complete our project six months ahead of schedule using four TBMs, thus saving a lot of money. We are also using the machines for our Kolkata Metro and Kolkata water line projects.Preferred model: Herrenknecht AG machines, though other companies such as Robbins Company, Hitachi, Atlas Copco, Sandvik, also offer similar machines. It is up to contractors to select an appropriate machine with desirable features for the kind of strata the machine will be used in and the challenges likely to be faced. For instance, in hard rock, it is well known that the major difficulty is in excavating material at the face. The walls of the tunnel are self-supporting. However, in soft ground, the difficulty is not in excavating the face but in supporting the tunnel. These variations in strata create room for a variety of models of TBMs.Why: Contractors look for shorter delivery schedules, ease of operation, and excellent after-sales services. In the case of ITD Cementation, Herrenknecht AG machines have been successfully used at Delhi Metro and are now being used for its Kolkata Metro and Kolkata water line projects. Project type: It is used in projects where rocks are encountered at shallow depths for excavation.Proposed by: Consolidated Construction Consortium Ltd (CCCL) Pros: The equipment breaks the rock from inside and works on the basis of the wedge principle. It may be deployed in places where conventional methods of breaking rocks fail.Cost benefits: The equipment enhances productivity and saves costs by enabling precise demolitions, ensuring that the vibration does not affect adjoining structures, and doing away with the need for precaution or safety measures, opines G Boopathi, Head - Resource Planning, CCCL India.Preferred model: Darda Hydraulic Rock Splitters.Why: We are satisfied with the machines we are using, says Boopathi. Project type: Dams, reservoirsProposed by: Gayatri Projects Pros: Tower cranes provide an appreciable lifting height and flexible working radius while taking up a very limited area. They are generally used to lift of all types of construction materials to a desired height and location (within limit).Cost benefits: The lifting and placing of materials is one of the most difficult jobs in construction if attempted manually or by using older techniques such as ramps or even hoist winches. In comparison, tower cranes offer speed, safety and economy. We have saved a lot of time and cost by using tower cranes, says SV Vaidya, President, Gayatri Projects. Using ramps to convey concrete through transit mixers up to a height of 48 m would have increased the time and cost of concreting activity of the dam by almost four times. Preferred model: Ace Zoomlion tower crane QTZ 125 (TC 5023A) from Action Construction Equipment (P) Ltd, Pune.Why: The travelling crane has the capacity to lift up to 10 mt in a radius of 2.5 m to 50 m and a maximum hoist height of 60 m. It is a self-climbing multipurpose machine with horizontal jib mechanism. Its performance is 18 cu m/hour for casting cement concrete at 60 m height. There are many brands available in the market such as Manitowoc Cranes India, Escorts Huata, Ace, Liebherr, Sumitomo, Xianhu and Comansaan. But each tower crane has its own application, cost and delivery schedules. We selected our model after reviewing all these factors. An effective alternate with a similar lift capacity would be the Shirke-Potain MC-310K16 (RCS) travelling crane that has a jib length of 55 m and a height under hook of 50.9 m from Shirke Construction Equipments Pvt Ltd, Pune. However, at Rs 195 lakh plus taxes, this is more expensive than the Ace Zoomlion tower crane that costs Rs 108.50 lakh plus taxes. Project type: Power plants, steel plants, refineries, bridgesProposed by: Era Infrastructure Pros: Piling is the starting point of any major construction activity such as the erection of power or steel plants, says Joy Saxena, Group CFO, Era Group. We own more than 30 hydraulic piling rigs with capacities ranging from 130 kNm to 260 kNm. These machines are used for the construction of cast-in-situ bore piles for foundations and soil improve-ment work.Cost benefits: Hydraulic piling machines have revolutionised piling in India. Earlier, piling used to be a low-cost operation carried out by the standard direct mud circulation (DMC) method that was crude, time-consuming, and inaccurate. Hydraulic piling machines have improved productivity manifold by reducing time taken to complete a job while improving the quality and accuracy of work done. Though the initial capital cost of acquiring hydraulic piling machines is huge, to the tune of around Rs 2.5 – 4 crore, the cost pays off in the long run, adds Saxena.Preferred model: As modern hydraulic piling machines are invented in Italy, brands like Mait, Soilmec, Casagrande and Trevisoil are preferred.Why: These machines have capacities ranging from 130 kNm to 260 kNm and can facilitate piling up to 68 m depth and pile diameters of up to 2,500 mm. We have now inducted vibratory extractors cum pile drivers to enhance our soil improvement portfolio and perform sheet piling.