NEW DELHI: National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has made Automated and Intelligent Machine-Aided Construction (AI-MC) compulsory for all highway projects longer than 20 km in length and costing over Rs 500 crore, in what’s a move aimed at addressing quality issues, which have become a major concern for govt.As per an NHAI circular issued on Friday, contractors will have to use the AI-MC system while building the road from the ground up and continuously across the entire spatial footprint of the project. The technology will be used for every major layer of highway, including embankment (raised earth foundation), subgrade (compacted soil base) and Granular Sub-Base (GSB) — the first layer of crushed stone, sand and gravel laid over the compacted soil before the road surface is built.The move is aimed at improving construction quality and ensuring roads are built with greater accuracy and uniformity. AI-MC is a construction technology with on-board computers and sensors on heavy machinery such as graders, pavers, compactors and dozers. Deployment of AI-MC aims to improve the quality, durability and transparency of road construction by replacing manual monitoring with technology-driven, real-time execution and quality control.TOI has learnt that though AI-MC was first deployed during construction of Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway, it was not used on the entire stretch and at all grades.Officials said the move is designed to minimise human errors, ensure uniform construction standards and generate digital records of every stage of construction, from earthwork to pavement laying. “The new norms make it mandatory to share real-time data with NHAI officials.
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This is good for contractors and for us as well. Once the contractor gets real-time data, there will be hardly any scope for sub-contractors to cut corners,” said an official.Some of the industry players in AI-MC segment said that contractors are reluctant to share real-time data with NHAI and other highway construction agencies as this makes them accountable. “Unless NHAI and other agencies get the data in real time, the impact of using the technology will be negligible. It must not be used in a piecemeal way if govt is serious about putting things in order,” said one of them.
