STEEL BASED CONSTRUCTION SHOULD BE ADOPTED IN THE PROJECTS FOR FASTER CONSTRUCTION.

Siddharth Mishra

Chief of Marketing and Sales, Tata Steel Tubes Division

How optimistic are you about the government initiatives and policies in the airport sector, especially development of airports under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model?

There is a high growth trajectory in the aviation segment in last one decade and this temporary delay due to pandemic is seemed to be revived. There are several projects for expansion of Airports in metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Bangalore.

India to invest `1 trillion to set up 100 new airports by 2024 which includes expenditure of INR 25K Cr for terminal building with steel structures. This would be a good opportunity in terms of better utilization of steel, availability of steel and new technology with skilled manpower. Aircraft maintenance facilities has also been included in the plan with INR 20 Lakh Cr.

There is a need to complete the ongoing projects under the UDAN initiative in a time-bound manner. In addition, the existing capacity of international airports needs to be augmented under the International UDAN initiative. What measures do you think can help the government reach this target?

Since the demand is urgent, steel based construction should be adopted in the projects for faster construction. New and alternate faster construction strategies with disaster resistance and environment friendly material should be used where carbon footprint is minimal. Adoption of latest technology in the design stage of the project. Govt should encourage multiple expert agencies and start-ups to take part in these projects.

According to the locations and size of the Airport, project financing can be done with various mechanism e.g. Hybrid Annuity Model, BOT, BOOT (Build-own-operate-transfer), to fast track the project.

What is your view on adoption of advanced construction technologies aiding the transformation of airports for the future?

Incorporating advanced construction technology into practice will help to achieve higher level of quality, efficiency safety and sustainability.  Advanced construction technologies are suggested for important infrastructure projects where project timeline is critical.

Steel in combination with other innovative materials like Tensile Fabric can be used in multiple elements of Airport Structures. Robotic based fabrication methods should be encouraged for higher precision and faster execution. Various Project Management software and tools should be adopted for improved planning and timely execution of the project. BIM (Building Information Modelling) should be adopted for digital integration of various activities.

Can you tell us about the products and innovations offered by Tata Structura in airports space and how it is improving Terminal design and construction?

Tata Structura was the first brand in the country to come up with high strength Hollow Sections with yst 355 Grade and above. Now Tata Structura has the capability to serve with various other equivalent grades of foreign countries e.g. S355 J0H/J2H, ASTM A500 Grade C etc. which are applicable for structural application in Infrastructure projects like airports. Tata Structura has launched Square Hollow Sections upto 400×400 mm, which is for the first time in Indian construction industry. Such large size Steel Sections (e.g. 400×400 SHS, 400×200 RHS, and 610 CHS) are highly recommended for Airport Structures and Terminal buildings for Columns, Truss, façade etc. Under the brand name Tata Structura H&I Sections, factory welded sectionsare also useful for various beam applications and mezzanine flooring in Airport structures.

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