PRECASTING SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS
Pradip Kumar Nayak
Senior Construction Manager (Civil), TI IC
By all accounts, the Mumbai-Vadodara Expressway project was a runaway success, and as Section In-charge (Structure & Precast), Pradip Nayak is delighted to have made a sizeable contribution to that winning effort. In fact, the timely completion of the project depended critically on how Pradip and his team could complete casting 1,350 precast I-girders to drive progress. “The number of structures required for this project was voluminous,” he says with a shake of his head, “but we managed,” his thumbsup says it all.
Pradip was undeterred by the volumes; perhaps holding him in good stead was his rich 27-year experience, the last eight of which have been with L&T since 2015. At his first L&T project, the Unnao- Lucknow Expressway, he was Section In-charge (Precast Girders), after which he moved to the Mumbai-Vadodara project. “I am now Precast In-charge for the entire Meerut-Hapur Ganga Expressway Project,” he smiles, hinting that life has moved on but he is certainly proud of what he has achieved at his previous project.
Sharing a defining moment, Pradip mentions his task to construct a 240 m flyover on National Expressway-01 from Lane 6 to Lane 10 by widening two additional lanes on each side in a stipulated time frame of just 3 months. “I meticulously planned all the activities, took the opportunity to make myself more agile and killed the fear of not being able to achieve my target. Once I had overcome my fear, the result was joyful,” he says with a laugh, “and we completed the work in time, boosting my confidence even more.”
Pradip’s responsibilities included managing the site casting yard, planning all activities pertaining to the casting of girders by considering the cycle time, material required & proper deployment of manpower and machineries, reviewing the same periodically, and ensuring safety and quality. “Since shifting the precast girders from the precast yard to the individual locations was difficult in a greenfield project, we decided to cast the girders close to the locations, which reduced cycle time,” he points out. Workmen attrition was a recurring problem, especially post the pandemic, and Pradip took it upon himself to coordinate with the subcontractors to speed up labour mobilization.
Delighted at the support he received at site, Pradip says, “There was unconditional support from all my team members including the Project Manager, Planning Manager, QA/QC, procurement, and EHS teams. Even the smallest things were escalated and dealt with urgently.”
Proud to be part of a nation builder, Pradip is from Odisha’s Kendrapara district and is married to Itirekha, who, according to him, is a homemaker with a keen interest in cooking. His most joyous moments were the birth of his two daughters, Maitree and Aaradhya. His hobby is watching sports on TV.
HAVING A GREAT TEAM MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE!
Vivek Asati
Engineer (Mechanical), TI IC
A DET from the 2015 batch, Vivek Asati has worked on three challenging road projects thus far. At the Mumbai-Vadodara Expressway project, his team delivered a tough project in time, and presently, at the MAGRP Pkg-3 Project, he was part of the world record-setting team laying 100 lane km in 100 hours. No wonder, it has been a pleasure for him to work for L&T! “I admire the Company’s adaptability, and for inducing a positive attitude in me that there is no problem that cannot be solved; there is no target that cannot be achieved.”
At MVEP, the team did several things right to be successful, like creating and prioritizing deadlines for each objective in line with Project Management needs, prior budgeting of the available resources in terms of manpower, equipment and tools, and introducing micromanagement, accountability and responsibility in the last task owner. “We conducted regular short meetings for a clear, two-way communication about the targets, requirements, shortfalls and to address concerns,” informs Vivek, “and a real-time open dashboard to track progress.”
To build his team, Vivek shares, “I encouraged subordinates to share their ideas, give feedback, implemented some of their ideas to reduce downtime of equipment, and developed a team of ten members with multi-skillsets to handle all the equipment and workshop activities. It was like my A-Team,” he laughs, realizing that the efficiency of his ‘A-Team’ contributed significantly to the success of the project.
Retaining manpower, especially post the pandemic, and regaining full momentum was an uphill struggle for the team, adding to their troubles of a remote location with limited access over a hill to one section. “The monsoons were heavy and long,” he mentions with a long face, “and it was challenging to arrange for material, equipment and manpower to meet sudden changes in project targets.” Vivek is delighted that they succeeded, thanks to “Automation that empowered us to meet ever-changing business needs with agility and innovation to significantly reduce the overall process cycle and eliminate human error.”
“Having a great team makes a huge difference,” enthuses Vivek, proud of his talented, fun-loving, and motivated team, and thankful to his Project Director and Project Manager for their guidance, encouragement, and full-fledged support. “I am following our team leader SPR. Also thankful to VKS and Pawar too for their constant support and giving me the freedom to perform and to enhance my skills.”
From Damoh in Madhya Pradesh, Vivek is still single. His father, Mr. Ramkumar, works in a private company; his mother, Mrs. Seema, is a homemaker; and sister, Vidhi, works in a government post office. “When free, I read books and blogs to keep me updated, expand my horizon and learn about new, trending, and diverse subjects,” he grins.
After earning his spurs at the Yadagiri Warangal Road Project (YWRP), his first after joining L&T as a DET in 2017, C Mariappan moved to the Mumbai–Vadodara Expressway Project in 2020 to take care of finishing activities. “Finishing activities are critical for the project because of the very nature of the work involved,” he points out, “and therefore, we first analysed the delays and errors that could happen and took the necessary steps to ensure easy implementation even during some difficult times.” He is happy that due to an excellent team and good coordination, everything ran smoothly.
It was, however, not easy by any stretch of imagination, for the team continuously faced environmental and local issues. “Due to the irregular monsoon pattern, some challenges kept coming unexpectedly,” he shakes his head, “but fortunately, we were well ahead of our schedule and that helped us to face these challenges.” Even the workmen were instructed on how to keep working in these conditions. “We even faced issues from the local people during construction, but every challenge was faced convincingly with necessary actions and/or precautions taken,” he nods reassuringly.
About his own method of working, Mariappan says, “To finish my part of the work before the target date, I divided it into multiple subcontracts so that parallel work could be executed and that saved us both cost and time,” acknowledging that technology too played its part in easy execution and tracking, mentioning digital solutions like Procube and RTR for routine work.
Mariappan is proud to be working for a company that builds nations. “It inspires me to be a part of L&T and to be a responsible citizen building a better tomorrow,” he says with awe, so it is no surprise that his most memorable moment was when he received his call letter from L&T, where he has been challenged and has come through with flying colours. “The most defining moment of my career was when I first achieved my monthly target given by the management, which inspired me to move forward,” he recalls with a great sense of achievement. “Another fulfilling moment was during my time at YWRP when I had to take up a 23 km stretch of earthwork with a fellow batchmate who was also then a DET.”
Still searching for his life partner, Mariappan, who hails from Ayikudi in Tamil Nadu’s Tenkasi district, loves to watch movies and travel when he is not finishing projects.