All the equipment machinery that we employed in the project was of the latest models with the updated technology for performance & monitoring

– Jagdish Kadam

Chairman & Managing Director, Raj Path Infracon

Your company has set a Guinness World Record by completing the longest highway length of bituminous concrete in a single lane between Amravati & Akola in the record time of 5 days? How was this record possible?

Success is a result of many factors coming together and all of them playing their part at the right time.  Many were already convinced and had declared that this was going to be an impossible task to accomplish. But it is all a mind game at the end of the day. Transforming the impossible to possible is Rajpath’s hallmark. We collectively pooled our positivity, determination and affirmed this was indeed going to happen.  We were going to make a new Guinness World Record for India and dedicate it to the Nation, to commemorate the Azadi ka Amrit Mohotsav.

They say Rome was not built in a day. Similarly, this Project was also challenging, and not limited to our attempt from June 3rd to June 7th, 2022. Everything about this task was learning for us- passing the eligibility, completion of the documentation, and constant communication with the Guinness Record Team in the UK. Our strategy was clear- make it right the first time! We had set our eyes on the target to achieve 75+ kilometers of continuous paving, and connected with our reliable, dependable partners of machinery and materials and shared our plans with them in confidence without ambiguity. Not only did we win their wholehearted support but also their zeal. This way we built a formidable team that would be fail-proof.

At our end, we established a Core team of think tanks first. Then there were various other teams like the Technical, Operations, Purchase, Finance, IT and Admin etc. that fed inputs to this Core team and helped them strategize. We were fairly sorted when it came to processes because of our ISO, ERP systems and customized monitoring software- Jawali Sutra. The planning and brain-storming went on for 5 long and intense months. The micro-management was also meticulously premeditated, that included arrangements of not just fooding round the clock from an ISO certified Canteen at odd hours, but also fire-fighting arrangements as well as a dedicated Ambulance with doctor’s services. We ensured that nothing went amiss when the D-day arrived.

During the 5 days all we could see was the fish’s eye (ref. Arjun’s aim from Mahabharata), and nothing else. Our front and back-end Teams worked tirelessly, round the clock. They did not change, ate food in the nearby fields or on the machines and never left their posts. It may get hard to believe, but those leading the Teams did not sleep a wink for 5 days.

How will this stretch play a significant role in easing the movement of traffic and freight on this route?

We were awarded the contract of road construction of one particular section on Highway No. 53 (old no. 6) between the cities of Akola and Amravati by The National Highway Authority of India. This highway runs across the width of our country, connecting the east to the west- from Kolkata to Surat, passing through prime locations of Dhule, Jalgaon, Bhusaval, Akola, Amravati, Nagpur, Bhandara, Rajnandgaon, Durg, Raipur, Sambalpur, Kharagpur finally reaching Kolkata.

This particular section of road that was awarded to us had been awaiting renovation for over 10 long years. Several earlier attempts to improve the situation had not worked out and this road kept claiming lives in accidents and injuring passengers. The poor, eroded and heavily used road continued to hamper connectivity and remained without attention for a long time. This section sees a load of heavy traffic of passenger vehicles as well as trucks and trailers carrying goods, as major cities across the country fall on this route.

What kinds of equipment and technologies were used in this project?

Rajpath Infracon has always focused on innovative solutions with the help of modern technology. We have never compromised on this because we believe in smart work and delivering the highest possible quality of work.

All the equipment machinery that we employed in this project was of the latest Models with the updated technology for performance and monitoring. They belonged to the best manufacturers of the world like Wirtgen, Tata Motors, Cummins, Volvo, Amman Apollo as well as few material suppliers like IOC, BPCL etc. We had their expert team to gear-up since a week before and even on the field, all throughout the 5 days, to provide every kind of attention and assistance in on-work maintenance, to ensure optimal output. Contingency planning was done to an advanced level.

The statistics of the entire project were incredibly astounding too! 36,634 Metric tons of bituminous concrete was paved in 105 hours and 33 minutes with the help of 728 workers. 80 Tippers, 5 Batch Mix plants, just 1 sensor paver with a hopper, 6 Tandem Rollers and 2 Pneumatic Tire Rollers were used.  Such a target has never been dreamt of, set or achieved before in the domain of infrastructure, in road construction and paving, especially in India.

We had employed Tipper vehicles with GPS monitoring to track their movement. We even developed special customized software called Jawali-Sutra that kept track of how much output each batch-mix plan was giving us, how much material was being consumed, and how much distance was being paved in how much time. With the help of such innovative technologies, all the critical control systems were closely and precisely monitored, recorded and analyzed on a real-time basis.

How many laborers were involved in this project and what were the challenges?

Managing our manpower of 728 workers with some 500 labours was not a challenge at all. I am sure you will be surprised at this statement. I already shared with you that the entire time of 5 days, work rolled on seamlessly, smoothly without any dispute or discord.

Let me share an incident with you. I had implored and invited a very senior authoritarian in the field of road construction, who is now retired and residing in Amravati, to visit our working site. I wanted him to assess and give me his expert opinion on the quality of road we were constructing during the Guinness World attempt. Following his visit, he called me to share his feedback. He was full of praise for the quality standards we had consistently maintained. But he remarked with admiration, during the 2 hour inspection at the work-site, he noticed that all the workmen were working without any shouting, instructions or skiving. No one was dictating, complaining or idling. That totally baffled him! I explained to him that the entire team was on ‘auto-mode’! Every team member- worker, operator to the Supervisor to the Management Lead knew exactly what their role was, and what they were to deliver.

What is your future plans for the company?

Our effort of aiming for the new Guinness World Record was not merely to win accolades or business expansion and growth.

I have always harbored this earnest dream to reach out to the aspiring youth of rural India and offer them opportunities to grow. I came from a rural background, and this is how far I have reached. I want to reach out to this segment of our youth and show them that the infrastructure sector is full of opportunities; it has rich prospects to break the barriers and offers great careers. I hope achieving such world records will just reinforce their faith that India is no longer a nation to feel hopeless about, and seek jobs overseas.

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