RAILWAY SBG PROJECTS CONTINUE TO STAY ON TRACK

A strong digital thrust

The team found traction with digital solutions to maintain progress as Assistant Manager, Planning & Digital, Tejesh Karampudi shares enthusiastically. “We use Procube, Asset Insights, PREPS migrated to SHIELD and WISA at EMP-4. In fact, Procube was revamped and repurposed for our specific requirements and it is now relevant for all OHE projects.” He smiles, proud of his team’s achievement. EMP-4 is also the first project in the Railways SBG to have achieved 100% tagging of P&M assets as early as mid-2018. Ms. Saroj Singh, Manager Planning & Interface, informs how she has interfaced with various stakeholders like the PMC, the Employer, field teams, civil, track and signalling contractors, along with Indian Railways to connect various lines, reconcile differences and sort out issues between design and execution to course correct the project and mitigate delays.

“I strongly believe that systems and people are the binary constituents of an organization,” shares Tejesh. “People develop systems and systems, in turn, help people. It’s a two-way transaction. We have evolved concepts and developed systems for material estimation, progress monitoring, data management, client invoicing and cost control that are helping us to progress smoothly.” Mega electrification projects are often adversely impacted by the absence of an e-BOM and Sasisekar proudly shares that a young team of 5 of his engineers put their minds together to develop a standalone e-BOM for the project.

Even as challenges remain, Sasisekar has his sights trained on the larger milestone to complete the balance 630 TKM of the total 2,130 TKM stretch by December 2022.

Plotting progress at CP-305

A relatively smaller yet equally challenging EDFC project is the 225 km Khurja-Pilkhani section in Uttar Pradesh that involves design, supply, construction, installation & commissioning of 2x25kV systems including electrification, S&T, E&M and associated works. Sitting with his project progress statement, Project Director, Anurag Kapil, wears a serious expression but is optimistic about his team’s performance thus far. “In design, we have taken 63 m span approvals that have reduced the procurement of steel and cantilever followed by corresponding execution works.”

As the pandemic raged, Anurag’s and his Lead Planner, Vaibhav Dnyaneshwar Tidke’s primary concern was to coordinate and finalize the various critical materials from international vendors in China, Spain, and Germany. “At the same time, we had to closely monitor our domestic suppliers and solve supply chain issues to ensure the steady supply of cement, steel, aggregates and copper cable,” says Vaibhav. Manpower mobilization has been another tough nut to crack for which the team is rigorously coordinating with various subcontractors to get the right kind of workforce.

This 30-month project is in high gear and Anurag and team are confident of achieving their goals within stipulated timelines.

Finding solutions in adversity

Procuring zero slump M55 grade concrete for LVT sleepers was their next worry as the prior approved design mix proved incompatible with the sleeper casting machine from a workability point of view. Returning to square one, the team set about developing new trial mixes and producing blocks but were soon hit by soaring rejection rates of up to 60%. Project Manager, Harmeet Singh Sahni had to take a tough decision. “Having realized that our batching plant was incompatible to produce such kind of zero slump mix, we had to decide whether to continue with it or get a new, advanced technology batching plant that would cost us almost 30 production days in the process. After weighing all the pros and cons, we boldly decided to procure a new one and the result was immediate: rejections fell to as low as 0.03%!” Harmeet’s grin is wide.

Achieving the desired targets for LVT production was their next consideration, a novel space with no readily available precedents for reference. The pandemic cancelled out the team’s one source of support, their LVT technology partner, Sonneville, sitting far away in Switzerland. “We started with some digital help and our initial output was just 25- 30 sleepers a day against a target of 500,” points out Factory In-charge, Amit Shukla. “However, we soon turned things around and today we are running 100% surplus. In fact, Sonneville has remarked that our sleepers are even better than those rolled out from their facility in Switzerland!” Amit and his team have reasons to feel elated. Weighing 125-130 kgs, the team initially struggled to handle these sleepers. “We were unable to execute more than 12-15 track meters per day but now are managing about 50 track meters daily which we intend to ramp up to 100,” shares Amit, brimming with confidence.

Full steam ahead at the OPGC MGR Railway Corridor project

Involving the construction of formations, bridges, station yards, Goomties, electrical & S&T works, laying of pipelines and modification of power lines, progress at the OPGC MGR project over a stretch of 48.77 kms (66 track kms) is reflected in the several critical milestones achieved. The embankment was a priority deliverable on Project Manager Rajiv Kumar Thakur’s list that involved a total scope of earthwork of 9 lakh cubic meters and blanket of 23,000 cubic meters. “Working with the pandemic, we completed the earthwork by mid-May ’21 and the complete package of work including track lining by June 25^th,” shares a satisfied Rajiv, who mentions the guidance and supervision he receives from Akula S Phendera Kumar, Cluster Head (South Eastern-MLBU).

To modify the 132 kV EHV OPTCL Budhipada to Jorabaga double circuit tower line, the team had to finalize tower locations & vertical clearance measurements, obtain clearances, draw approvals from various stakeholders, finalize a shutdown plan to string the conductor and complete a huge amount of concreting during the rainy season. “Our work commenced right in the middle of the pandemic conditions on June 21^st, and we were mandated to complete by July 31^st,” remarks Construction Manager – Civil, Niraj Kumar Nayak. “Speedily mobilizing specialized equipment and manpower, we overcame all the challenges and completed the modification work 6 days ahead of schedule,” he shares proudly.

Considerable bridge work and the construction of a Gabion Wall were other stiff challenges, the latter involving the procurement of some 2,000 cum of boulders in the specified shape and size in a month’s time. With planning and coordination, both these milestones were achieved in style.

Planning In-charge, Rajesh Kumar Kushvaha’s able ally in this process has been digitalization. “We have taken full advantage of the various digital platforms to fast forward the project,” he observes with relish. “Project monitoring is easy for we receive real time information. We are sharing site videos and pictures with the client and getting their approvals digitally, saving us a lot of time. In fact, we continue working even on holidays and they keep approving,” he laughs. Digital tools have helped the team to keep track of the attendance of workmen, monitor their health, maintain fitness records and other details.

With a wonderful combination of zeal, commitment, planning and digitalization, various project teams across Railways SBG have been powering progress despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. Here’s wishing them all the very best!