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Hurdles & ground realities of hill road construction in NE state; Mizoram; India

Article · July 2020

DOI: 10.37896/GOR33.03/403

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Hurdles & ground realities of hill road construction in NE state;

Mizoram; India
Jayadeep Nayak[1], Satyajit Parija[2], Dr Siba Prasad Mishra[3], Saswat Mishra[4]
[1],[2] M.Tech Student, Centurion University of Tech. and Management, Bhubaneswar
[3] Professor, Civil Engineering Department, Centurion University of Tech. and Management,
Bhubaneswar, 2sibamishra@gmail.com , (Corresponding Author)
[4] PG Diploma Student, National Institute of Construction Management and Research, DelhiNCR,
bithal100@gmail.com
ABSTRACT

The road construction in hilly terrain is risky and challenging as it includes reconnaissance survey, due
alignment, formations, laying subgrade layers and blacktopping with other structures. The procedure
needs selection of appropriate men, materials and machineries in time during construction phases
considering the tangible and intangible aspects to optimize the benefits within limited available
resources of the agency. The anomalies faced in the hill road construction has resulted many legal
issues and disputes between the owner and the contractor in contract administration and construction
management in a ≈90% hilly state Mizoram in NE India. Appropriate ground survey, improper design
and poor contract documentation urges for the DPR drawings to be discarded and superseded by
revised/ new drawings. The provisions in codes and contract policies have not been updated to cater to
the needs of hill road construction or upgradation of existing roads. Present study probes to the short
comings and ascertaining ameliorative measures in construction procedure in hill road construction
problems in Mizoram state both for the government and the contractor.
KEY WORDS: Bidders problem, contractor’s risk; EIA/EMP, Hill Roads, Project scheduling,
Mizoram State,

1.0: INTRODUCTION

The World Bank (WB) Funded Mizoram State Roads Project (MSRP) was the first ever mega road
project implemented. The Project involves the construction of Aizawl Bypass (13.500 km), Major
Improvement and Upgradation of about 170 km of priority
road between Capital Aizawl and Lunglei, the 2nd largest
town in south along with Rehabilitation and Maintenance
(R/M) of ≈300 km of seven selected roads scattered at
various places. The overall original construction period
was from August 2002 to April 2006 but the project was
completed in December 2010. While major improvement
of priority road was implemented through international
competitive bid (ICB) contracts, and the R/M roads were
executed through national competitive bid (NCB)
contracts. Many other road projects in Mynamar is facing
hurdles like Aizawl-Siaha National Highway; Kaladan
Multimodal project and Mizoram-Myanmar highway
project and many other projects even during 2018 (Fig 1).
Negative EIA Impact:

The EIA report and management plan for Aizwal Fig 1: Index map of Mizoram (NE India)

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Bypass BP1 (Phase 2) has been submitted by Lea Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd., Project
Coordinating Consultants (PCC) (India & USA); report No E 498; 2003 pointed out the following;
http://documents.worldbank. org/ curated/ en/ 787291468041377957)/
Environmental-impact-assessment
1. Stability is affected due colossal hill slope cutting
2. Destruction of road formation,
3. Deterioration of flora and fauna in the hill slope,
4. Disruption to present traffic.
5. Inadequate R&R plan
Road status of Mizoram:
Roads are vital in Mizoram (hill state having least rail and air connectivity) though vehicles snake
through the long and challenging hilly mountains. The connectivity hinders mainly the growth of the
state. Mizoram is mostly a tranquil stable state in the North East (NE) India dwelled by tribal
community with Lushai as mother tongue, with population of 1.091mn and populace density 52
per/km2 (2011 census) following Christianity religion. The state covers Blue Mountains with shifting
cultivation; having area 21087 km2 and covered by about 91% forests (NCERT, 2017[1]). The state
receives high rainfall (2100 to 3500 mm),mountains of south-facing slopes, gorges, and canyons
covered with tropical wet evergreen forests. The state has 404 km and 318km long international border
roads with Myanmar and Bangladesh respectively (Lianzela, 2009[2]) (Fig -2).

Table 1: Status of road network, length, & types in hilly state Mizoram City, NE India (2019)
# Type of Roads Mizoram Length in Km Black topping (km) WBM/ unsurfaced
1 NH (National Highway) 1410.5 1322.5 88.0
2 SH (State Hihway) 170.2 170.2 Nil
3 Major Dist. Roads (MDR) 502.3 440.3 62.0
4 Other Dist. Roads (ODR) 764.73 580.33 184.4
5 Village Roads (VR) 1695.12 563.23 1131.89
6 Urban 353.71 315.24 38.47
Source: AR, Mizoram State PWD, 2017-18(https://pwd.mizoram.gov.in/uploads/attachments

The Mizoram state has connectivity roads of length 5745km (2017-18)as State PWD Dept, and
5948km (29.21km/100 km2) and population to Road density/1000 population is 6.35 (FICCI-
2014)(https://www.pwc.inassets/pdfs/publications/2014/gateway-to-the-asean.pdf). The total Surfaced
road were 3527 km (2006) which is 59%, of total road length. The state possesses 6numbers of NH
(NH-44A, 54, 54A, 54B, 150 and 154) of length 1500 km (25% of total).The main NH No 54, 54A,
54B connects Assam (Silchar), Aizawl, Lunglei, Tuipang and Saiha- plying north to south (Fig 2).

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Fig 2: Hills of Mizoram; a city on hills of North East India with all approaches hill top roads

The development activities of the roads of the state is delegated to PWD and BRO (Border Road
Organization), a GOI agency and the funds allocated by NEC, Ministry of Road Transport &
Highway, NLCPR , PMGSY, Central Road Fund NABARD, and state plan allocation. National
Highways are developed and maintained by the Department of Transport and Highway (GOI) whereas
state roads are developed with fund received from Central Road Fund, NABARD, NEC and Externally
Aided Project sponsored by WB (Lianzela, 2009[2]).

Project details

The project implementation of priority road, which was initially packaged into 2 contracts of phase 1
and phase-2, has been beset with problems right from the date of bid floating and has been delayed
from the outset. The phase-1 contract had to be terminated in June 2005 and in its place, 3 works were
awarded in December 2005. Notwithstanding, the Project still suffers from substantial time delay,
resulting in substantial cost overrun with all prerequisites ready at hand. During the course of
construction, the problems encountered are faulty structural design, the pre-bidding procedures and
technical specifications. On retrospection, the expected impediments and outcomes during execution
shall impound loss of time, cost and other constraints without any adaptive measures. Inexperienced
contractors and his work men in hill road construction add to the failure. Other natural back gears are
erratic monsoon, POL and scarcity of construction materials are beyond the Employer's and
Contractor's control. The present study includes these strategic problems and difficulties experienced
during the project planning and implementation (MSRP,2001[6])

Project Planning Stage

Preconstruction Issues

By their very nature, hill roads are frequently narrow, zigzag, winding and with steep gradients at
numerous locations. These roads have short straights, alternating hills and valleys with sharp bends of
short length. Other than settlement areas, they are generally bordered by alternate high/ steep or
deep/steep hill slopes. High volume of surface runoff from the hill side tends to discharge with high
velocity down the slope during heavy rain, carrying erodible trash materials and causing most of the
cross drainage structures to be choked with debris. Due to poor soil strata, slopes are inherently
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unstable at many locations and are susceptible to fail during the monsoon season. Pre-construction
Issues like EIA/ EMP studies, Land survey, investigations, design, construction and contract
management issues causes problems if not addressed prior (Chawala H. C. 2010[3]).
During reconssiance survey stage of construction, the observations during designed horizontal road
alignment never fit to the ground conditions at numerous locations. Primarily at settlement areas and
locations passing through steep valley are the strategic locations. Construction demands substantial
high embankments and extensive amount of retaining walls which are in many cases too costly and
technically not viable. These roads have number of sharp curves which pose safety problems and
needed to be attended.

Faulty Design and contract

Designing vertical alignments with long straights and minimum vertical curves would involves
excessive cutting and filling. The alignment design is purely software-based without detailed site
investigation and not considering existing topographical features. Extensive realignment are made
during construction stage to "best-fit" to the existing ground reality to avoid construction of expensive
high retaining walls which are also technically impracticable at many locations. Perfections in sharp
curves for safety reason need modification of vertical alignments later at many stretches to minimize
formation work. The stability of high hill slopes and drainage requirements had not been addressed in
the original design at vulnerable locations like settlement areas of flat slope. Compounding the unique
problems during construction roads hilly slopes, care for seepage and other technical requirements of
treating sub-grade in shady and damp stretches are left out.

The basic designs requirements for fulfilling the EIA and EMP with regard to protection of freshly cut
slopes and rehabilitation of disposal areas are found lacking. In situ construction stage delay progress
for detailed site investigation, redesign and new designs, vitiating the approved design and drawings.
Contract documentation has been found to be not clear standard and deficient in several aspects which
enhances ambiguities during construction (Fig 3).

Fig 3: Pilot Cutting 1; Narrow roads in confined right-of-ways must have crown or they will not
perform well without drains
Mobilization of Construction Plants and Equipment

The road construction in hilly terrain is risky and challenging as it deals with proper survey and
investigation for alignment, formation, subbase, materials, equipment, subgrade layers, curve
decisions and blacktopping need selection of correct equipment as and when necessary during
construction considering the tangible and intangible aspects to optimize the benefits within limited
available resources (Phogat V. S. 2013[4]). Construction plants and equipment with proper articulation
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are not available for lease or hire either by the host departments or from private parties in Mizoram.
The contractors are forced to source all the required plants and equipment from outside the State. This
has given rise to several problems like:-
a) Key construction plants and equipment are manufactured in western states of India. The
manufacturing lead time and their procurement to site takes minimum three to four months
from the date of award of contract are ignored by the successful bidder before tendering
invites delay in the actual period of completion.
b) The plant and machineries need to be transported from the fabrication/hiring state to Mizoram
over long distances. Logistical problems are compounded due to traverse time through narrow
roads with small bridges from Silchar to Mizoram work site. Delay occurs with bandhs,
atrocities and strikes during transport are also common.
c) Limited work space availability in Mizoram, the selection of suitable sites for store, on-site
hoarding of crusher, WMM and hot-mix plants take much time to arrange.
Supply of Construction Materials

Key construction materials like cement, steel and bitumen are not produced in Mizoram and are
procured from outside States. The purchase and delivery of these materials on site require ample lead
time and the logistic problems explicated prior. The coarse and fine aggregates are rarely available of
adequate quality and quantity for ready-to-use' though Mizoram a land of hills and rivers. The
contractors are forced to identify appropriate quarry, deploy his men and machineries to Search for
proper quarry, extract and process the materials which delays the work progress, and contract period
extra cost those are not included during bidding. Difficulties encountered in the material procurement
process are:
a) Lack of quarry sources and stones meeting specifications: Rocks in Mizoram are young
geological formation and sedimentary deposits, highly foliated and laminated. The hard rock
strata are underlying the soft rock and soil strata. Stone samples were tested which have high
water absorption, high Los Angeles Abrasion Value and, high combined flakiness and
elongation index are beyond IRC specification.
b) Long lead time for quarrying work: It takes at least 3 months to develop a proper quarry
source or even more and the source is located away from the project road corridor with
provision of haul road. The difficult terrain, thick soil overburden, amidst improper rock strata
takes longer time before stone extraction can start.
c) Ownership Issues: The well-developed quarries sources have disputes due to land ownership
conflicts; stone extraction is delayed and even sources are abandoned for long period (The
Mizo District (Transfer of Land) Acts, 1963).
d) Extraction and logistical problems: Stone extraction are slowed due to difficult terrain,
restricted working space, damaged haul roads to crusher yard and monsoon rain delay or
suspend the quarrying activity which delay the construction period.

Inexperienced Management Staff, & Labour force

The contractors face huddles in sourcing for trained/experienced staffs for project management, site
execution and at supervisory levels in hill road construction. Work force is not readily available in
Mizoram and the contractors are compelled to outsource them. Out sourcing involves high cost,
communication gap, and ladies dominated community. The problems faced by the working group in
Mizoram are the following: -
1. The pool of experienced project management personnel, engineers, supervisors and skilled
workers are inadequate to support the volume of road projects of Mizoram.
2. The present available experienced personnel in major hill road construction appear to be
limited and the novice staffs of the line cannot match with the required progress. The learning
curve tends to be long and gentle.

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a) Working conditions and living conditions on site are tough lacking adequate basic
amenities, social amenities and difficulty in adapting to local conditions.
b) Lack of language communications facilities on site.
c) Commuting daily on narrow, winding, damaged and steep hill roads is tiring and unsafe.
d) Mizoram is the most peaceful state in the country; the people are simple with open mind
but the out sourced staffs are in misconception.

Climatic Conditions

The failures of slope in hilly terrain and occasionally land slides are major concern for the highway
safety and stability during heavy rain Seehra S. S., 2012[5]. The monsoon season in Mizoram prevails
from June to October with exceptions. Sporadic thunder storms are expected in the pre and post
monsoon months. This limits the dry working season, essential for pavement work, to not more than 6
months in a year but DPR considers 4months only. With mobilization of equipment’s and rainy days
extends the actual period of completion. Past experience reveals that for completion of a road project
of length of 15 km can be completed in a working season but in Mizoram it take long time of more
than one year.

Monsoon rains invariably trigger landslides, soil erosion and sedimentation as well as result in valley
side slope failure. Clearing of landslide debris as well as debris from filled up drains and catch pits,
implementation of erosion control and slope stabilization measures, and construction of slope
protection structures would increase the scope of works and construction time and can be causes for
premature weakening of the completed pavement (Fig 4).

Fig 4: Climatic condition at Mizoram hill roads with curves and Jungles
Land Issues

The contractors are not handed over with full site possession free from encumbrances just after signing
contract. Evidences of disruption in works by the landowners by claims are common issues and law of
the land adds to it. It is observed that the contractor’s proceed with approved cross section drawings.
But the boundaries do not coincide with the extent of land acquisition at several locations. Some
purported landowners step forward and stake their claims for land compensation especially for the
ownership of valley side land where culvert outlets and slope protection structures are to be
constructed. Varying width of land are required for matching varying height of cut slopes,
embankment construction as well as for culvert outlets and slope protection structures; they had not
been considered during land acquisition. This causes work disruptions if excess land is not preserved.
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Work Encumbrances and Interference by Other Parties

Some interrupting obstructions are due to presence of shallow depth water pipelines, standing
electrical and telephone poles, and other temporary structures in the roadway. The need for shifting of
residential buildings too close to the roadway also arises. Some local residents in construction areas
have also been unreasonably posing obstructions to construction of drainage, roadside quarry and
slope protection structures. The after myth concerns are not considered during project scheduling
which need land acquisition and compensation payment.

External Factors

As most of the plants, equipment and construction materials are sourced from outside Mizoram;
certain external factors have a direct impact on the project implementation.

Contractor's Inexperience and Lack of Adequate Resources

Problems encountered during the construction are at times beyond the control of the At times the
contractors themselves are part to the delay due to own shortcomings, inexperienced to work in
Mizoram environment. For the fresher’s, the MSRP experience proved to be a long and painful
learning curve.

For reasons stated in the preceding, the Contractors' work planning and site management are found to
be grossly lacking. Being the "Doers" as opposed to the Employer's and Supervision Consultants' roles
as "Sayers", the contractors' inexperience in hill road construction shows up conspicuously and has a
direct significant adverse impact on project implementation. Most if not all, the contractors have
grossly under estimated the complexity of road construction in Mizoram. Lack of thorough insight and
advanced work planning has led to the initial works programme being rendered unachievable within
the first working season. The Contractors have also failed to appreciate the long period of mobilization
and large initial working capital required, to their own peril.

While the Employer has recognized the various constraints impeding project implementation and
generously granted extension of time and provided all possible assistance, the Contractors' willingness
to fully grasp the constraints and overcome the same is puzzling.

Lessons learnt

Implementation of MSRP had gone through much trials and tribulations. While numerous setbacks
were suffered during the execution of the works, problems and challenges had also been partly
overcome. Crucially, the implementation revealed certain hard facts which one has to come to grips
with when implementing any major road project in Mizoram, as well as certain shortfalls and
weaknesses which need to be addressed comprehensively at the procurement stage for mitigating the
risk. There are obviously valuable lessons to be learnt from the implementation of MSRP, few of
which may be enumerated below:-

High Execution Risk

Having identified the many impediments that almost derailed the implementation of the
project, it may be stated that the implementation of any major road project in the State would face
similarly high execution risk. This is because of certain external factors and ground realities which are
beyond everybody’s control and cannot be mitigated even with detailed planning and comprehensive
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engineering design. The high execution risks must be the first fundamental lesson to be drawn from
the MSRP.

Trade-off between Time, Cost and Quality

Another fundamental lesson learned from the implementation of MSRP is the need for trade-
off between time, cost and work quality if any major road project is to be completed in Mizoram. One
needs to accept the hard fact that conditions in Mizoram are far from ideal for constructing good
quality roads. The conditions include long monsoon seasons, lack of good quality stones and many
other impediments.

The supervision consultants held several discussions with counterpart of the management about the
problems. It was stressed that work progress was critical and that ‘something was better than nothing’.
It was accepted that a project could not go on forever and must be wrapped up at some point. Delay in
project shall escalate costs. In the context of MSRP, the trade-off between time, cost and quality was
found to be inevitable or else the project would never be completed. This is another fundamental
lesson to be learnt from the project (Fig 4 and Fig 5).

Fig 5: Execution at hill portion of the road and a portion of hilly road under landside

Adverse Impact of Monsoon Season

The long monsoon season is one of the external factors and ground realities that adversely impact
progress and quality of road works. The impact is so extensive and far-reaching that its mechanism
must be clearly understood. This may be rated as one of the major lessons to be learnt from MSRP.

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Fig : Monsoon at Mizoram and protective measures with culvert and side slope protection

Detailed Site Investigation and Comprehensive Engineering Design

One of the bitter lessons learnt was the inaccuracies, omissions and discrepancies in the originally
designed horizontal and vertical alignments which were the main disputes persistently raised by the
contractors, so much so a re-design had to be done for major sections of the alignment. The DPR
drawings were not good for construction and had to be abandoned ultimately. The supervision
consultants were burdened with re-design of the works which was too tough a call due to time
constraint. The lesson learnt here is that a comprehensive engineering design and complete
documentation would go a long way in smoothening out the execution of the works and minimizing
disputes from the contractors (Fig 5).

Delay in completion and High Cost of Construction

Contractors are to face the problem of extension of time to be granted and at large increase in
construction cost. External factors like adverse climatic conditions, topographical restriction,
geographical limitations, long rainy season and problem of sourcing of good stones will not go away
and cannot be mitigated. The lesson to be learnt here is that the time of completion cannot be fixed
arbitrarily without due regard to the several external factors and many impediments likely to be faced
during work execution and that provisions have to be made for the likely increase in scope of works
and construction cost.

Procurement of Adequate Good Quality Stones

Though, securing substantial source of good deposits of stones within manageable lead
distance is necessary for timely completion of major road project, this is not possible in Mizoram
because good quality stones, even if available, are in small deposits which are few and far in between.
Therefore, the three key lessons to be learnt are:
a) Availability of substantial source of good quality stone is a fundamental issue in road
construction in Mizoram
b) The non-availability of substantial source of good stones will leave the time for completion
indeterminate, which leads to (c) below
c) The use of certain quantities of sub-standard aggregates is unavoidable and has to be accepted
or, else no major roads can be constructed.

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Specific Design Consideration for Hill Roads

Because of its typical topographical condition and heavy & long rainy season, Mizoram roads
need specific design considerations which include, inter alia, the following requirements:
a) Adoption of different pavement composition at different sections to cater for different sub-
grade conditions.
b) Emphasis on sub-grade drainage.
c) Careful selection of bituminous base and wearing courses to ensure the overall stability and
durability of the pavement.
d) Particular emphasis on selection of binder and binder content to take care of likely thermal
stresses and brittleness in bitumen as well as use of porous stones which tend to absorb
bitumen
e) Complete sealing of shoulders to prevent ingress of water into the pavement layers and sub-
grade.
f) Careful selection of type of wearing course at sharp bends and/or stretches with steep gradient
g) Need for an efficient sub-surface and surface drainage system for ensuring road stability.
h) Comprehensive measures for slope stability, erosion control and landslide correction.
The key lesson to be learnt here is that engineering design for Mizoram road is a very complicated
matter and people entrusted with the design must have the requisite hill road experience.

Short supply of Key Consumables and Construction Materials

This refers to diesel, critical plant spare parts, bitumen and cement which are critical to the
timely completion of the works but had to be sourced entirely from outside the State and hence
extremely vulnerable to disruption in the supply chain. Supplies of these materials were disrupted by
bandhs, hartals, road blocks etc in the neighboring States. In order not to affect progress of works,
contractors need to have sufficient stock of key consumables to last at least for a month. The key
lesson to be learnt here is that shortage and disruptions are the norms rather than exceptions and will
continue to affect future major road projects, thus adding the time for completion.
Availability of Water for Construction and Other Uses

Water availability is likely to be a major problem in areas where there are no perennial water sources,
bearing in mind that future water requirement will be huge on account of much larger size projects.
The key lesson to be learnt here is that the problem of non-availability of adequate water cannot be
brushed off as a minor one and left to the contractor to fend for themselves, but has to be carefully
considered in the planning of future major road projects.
The Contractor’s Unpreparedness

In MSRP and other NH projects, the contractor’s bided and actually got awarded contracts in Mizoram
without knowing the risks entailed. Soon after commencement of works, they found themselves
unprepared and mired in big problems and resorted to raising many disputes in order to cover up their
own weaknesses. It was hence not surprising that they claimed to have suffered huge losses. If recent
bidding trend is anything to go by, new contractors who are unaware of the risks will bid low in order
to secure the contracts first while experienced contractors will be left out in the cold. The lesson learnt
here is that the execution risks must be explained clearly to the bidders during pre-bid meeting to
enable them to price in, and that the lowest bid may not necessarily be the best competitive bid.

Mitigation measures for –ve EIA

Geological setting and zoning are to be considered and cut slopes are recommended. Vulnerable
locations of avalanches/flooding zones have been earmarked. The recommended mitigation measures
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are rock bolting, culverts at vulnerable points and band drains provisions. The afforestation techniques
for hill slopes, stabilizing as cut slopes agreed. Sustenance of biodiversity, huge plants adjacent to
present carriageway on hillslopes were optimized to protect dense forest. Hume-pipe culverts, guard
walls, retaining structures and barbed wire fencing need to be provided to prevent ecological
imbalances. Identification of construction waste disposal spaces along with water harvesting structures
and traffic diversion and activity timing need to be taken care of. The rehabilitation and resettlement
for the native tribal and their income sources, employment need to be addressed.

Conclusions

The problems encountered in the implementation of MSRP have given rise to many disputes between
the parties as well as great difficulties in contract administration and construction management. The
substantial time and cost overruns mean that experience has been gained at great cost. While the past
cannot be undone, valuable lessons must be drawn for the benefit of implementation of future road
projects.
REFERENCES:
[1]. NCERT, 2017, North East India (People, History and Culture); National Council of
Educational Research and Training; Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi;
[2]. Lianzela; 2009; Problems of border areas in north east india: implications for 13th finance
commission, Mizoram, School of Economics, Management & Information Sciences; Mizoram
University
[3]. Chawla H. C., 2010, Some Critical Issues Pertaining to Road Const. Industry; Consultant
World bank; NBM&CW; https://www.nbmcw.com/tech-articles/roads-and-pavements /18234-
[4]. Phogat V. S. and Singh A. P., 2013, Selection of Equipment for Construction of a Hilly Road
using Multi Criteria Approach; 2nd Conf. of Transportation Research Group of India (2nd
CTRG) ; Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 104; 282 – 291
[5]. Seehra S.S., 2012, Slope Failures and Remedial Measures for Strategic Highway Construction
in Hilly Terrain; Former Director – Grade Scientist & Area Adviser, CSIR-CRRI, New Delhi)
https://www.nbmcw.com/tech-articles/roads-and-pavements/28475-strategic-highway-
construction-in-hilly-terrain.html
[6]. Government of Mizoram, 2001, Mizoram State road Project (MSRP),EA summery Phase-I,
Vol-1; E-498;Lea Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd submitted to Government of Mizoram;
Public Works Department.

IRC specifications to be followed

1. IRC SP 13, Guidelines for Designs for Small Culverts and Bridges
2. IRC SP 42, Guidelines for Road Drainage
3. IRC SP 48, Hill Road Manual
4. IRC SP 73, Manual & Specifications for Two Lane Roads
5. IRC 5, Standard Specifications of Road Bridges
6. IRC-37, Guidelines for Flexible Pavement Design
7. IRC 52, Alignment survey and Geometric Design of Hill Roads
8. IRC 58, Guidelines for Rigid Pavement Design
9. IRC 73, for Geometric Design Standards of Rural Highways
10. IRC 78, Bridge Design Foundation and Substructure
11. IRC Publication – September 2014

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