An Investigation on final provider lifetime of rular roads

Abstract

Road construction work is well documented in India through an extensive library of technical guidelines, manuals and specifications. As such, the quality standards of road works are well detailed and resulting in high quality outputs reflecting the functional objectives of such guidelines. Road maintenance forms part of the works carried out to provide adequate transport infrastructure. From a technical point of view, there is no shortage of technical guidance on how the works should be carried out. The challenge seems to be more related to how maintenance should be organized and when it should be carried out.
The technical aspects of road maintenance are addressed in several good publications guiding the provision of a functional rural road network in India. A number of these documents are referred to in this Guide. The intention of this document is however not in any way to replace any of the literature currently available on this topic but rather to complement it by presenting a series of good practices and management arrangements that have proven effective in terms of providing timely maintenance to rural roads.
Observations regarding rural road maintenance practices in this document are based on findings from an extensive situation analysis carried out by the ILO in the states participating in the Rural Roads Project as well as earlier studies carried out in India and elsewhere. As such, it includes lessons learnt and best practices from within the country and elsewhere.
Maintenance practices vary in different parts of the country. Equally, the environment and traffic patterns show a high level of diversity depending on the location. Finally, it is recognised that the organization of the road sector and its technical and managerial resources vary from one state to the other. It is therefore important to acknowledge that there is no standard solution to be applied in terms of reaching optimal arrangements. Still, there are key issues which apply everywhere and which need proper attention in order to secure adequate and timely maintenance of the rural road network.
This Guide has been prepared with inputs from the technical assistance team of the ILO in close consultation with technical staff from the various road agencies in the participating states of the Rural Roads Project.