Metro work picks up pace

Metro work picks up pace
Contracts To Be Finalized After Site Inspections By Bidders
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: Contracts for the underground work on ‘Namma Metro’ are expected to be finalized by March 2009. The seven bidders shortlisted out of a list of 10 will be in the city for a round of meetings and site visits starting November 26.
Addressing reporters at the inaugural day of F I B - D ay s 2008 on Friday, BMRC projects and planning director B S Sudhir Chandra said the teams will visit spots in separate groups over three days. As of now, the plan is to have separate contracts for two reaches.
Underground work involves tunnel boring, ventilation and air conditioning. BMRC will take a final call on the number of contracts based on the prebid meeting, he said.
FIB-DAYS 2008 ‘Shift from steel to concrete’
It’s global recession time but the construction industry will survive the test of time. This was opinion of experts at FIB-Days 2008.
Held for the first time in Bangalore, the two-day international conference this year is an attempt to showcase the importance of structural and pre-stressed concrete in technology.
Padmashree H C Visvesvaraya, executive vice-chancellor of Roorkee University and former NCB chairman, felt while it’s certain India will be a developed country within this century, technology must be enhanced to simplify development and the benefits should reach everyone. “Much of it will also depend on using effective alternatives like concrete instead of steel wherever possible,” he said.
Indian Member Group (IMC) chairman and former Institute of Engineers chairman C R Alimchandani stressed on the need to use concrete at a time when steel prices are really high. “There should be more structures of structural concrete, and less emphasis on steel,’’ he said.
“It’s also time we looked at using technology not just in terms of getting new structures, but also focus on maintenance and operations,’’ said B S Sudhir Chandra. Time spent on effective restoration in cases of structural damage during disasters should be reduced, he said.
The two-day event at Shikshakara Sadana organized by IMC provides an opportunity to civil engineers and others dealing with concrete technology to hear opinions of internationally renowned experts from Europe, Singapore and India.