We are pioneers of solution providers for complex civil, geotechnical, mining & engineering projects.

- Vikramjiet Roy

Managing Director, Maccaferri, India & Regional CEO, ISEAP, Officine Maccaferri Group

Can you tell us about the technologies that are being developed in the geosynthetics space for sectors like mining, construction, etc? To what extent has India adopted the technology?

The rising awareness and shift in the demand for more sustainable and long-lasting solutions has made modern materials like geosynthetics a crucial aspect of the Indian infrastructural development.

Geosynthetics render some note-worthy applications in terms of strengthening existing ground, improving its bearing capacity, making highways last longer, supporting embankments, stopping landfill leachates and limiting erosion. Furthermore, geosynthetics comes with a lower maintenance requirement, faster speed of construction and reduced environmental impacts.

With more pros than cons and huge amount of investment and interest, the technology has been welcomed in most sectors. Based on their physical characteristics and applications, geosynthetics are further classified into Geotextiles, Geocomposites, Geogrids, Geomembranes, Geocells, Geonets, Geofoams, etc. These are used for various functions including:

• Reinforcement - Geosynthetics such as geostrip, geogrid, woven geotextile ameliorates the overall strength of the soil. In the case of embankments build over soft soils, they can also help in preventing the lateral spreading of the foundation, while increasing the confinement and thus, improve the distribution of vertical stresses of the sub-grade. These combined benefits can enhance the load-carrying capacity of the road and railway tracks by over 50%.
• Stabilizations - Geotextiles and Geogrids are routinely used to stabilize weak soils during construction.
• Drainage - This function ensures adequate liquid flow without soil loss. Drainage geocomposites show excellent results in plane drainage capacity and resistance to high loads which make them suitable for applications such as drainage behind retaining walls, drainage layer under roads and railways embankments and drainage trenches.
• Filtration - The geotextile function of filtration involves the movement of liquid through the geotextile itself across its manufactured plane. At the same time, the geotextile most serves the purpose of retaining the soil on its upstream side. Geotextiles have adequate permeability with an open fabric structure and soil retention with a tight fabric structure.
• Containment - The application refers to any usage that includes geosynthetics as a barrier to liquid or gas materials. They are significantly used in wastewater management, heap leach mining liners, secondary tank containment, and landfill liners. Geomembranes, clay liners, geocomposite, are the most common geosynthetics used for containment. Geomembranes or geosynthetic clay liners guard against seepage loss, improves the flow of fluids, prevents infiltration, protects groundwater, isolates contaminated soils, etc.
• Erosion control - Geosynthetics can protect the soil against raindrops and water runoff by keeping in place soil particles; moreover, they can help to propagate the vegetation and to increase by several times the shear resistance of the vegetation roots system. Geosynthetics can be used on soil slopes, along the banks of canals and river courses. Different geosynthetic materials such as geomats, geocells are effective in controlling erosion.

Reinforcement, drainage, and erosion control functions are widely adopted by the roads sector and in a limited way by other sectors like railways, ports and mines. Use of geosynthetics for stabilization has a lot of benefits specific to cost savings and carbon footprint reduction, but adoption is relatively negligible in pavements and railway formations. Engineered landfills in India have not adopted geosynthetics to its full potential either.

What is your estimate on the demand for geosynthetics and what is the rate at which it is growing. Also, what are the key drivers for the growth of geosynthetics in India?

Over the past few years, the demand for geosynthetics has seen a slow upward trend. Its adoption has been quite low in the past due to the limited knowledge of its benefits and lack of technical expertise. However, the demand is going to steep upwards rapidly as experts anticipate that the geosynthetics market will grow at an impressive CAGR of over 9% by 2025 in the country.

Geosynthetics speeds up construction time while reducing the capital and maintenance costs. They are known to enable the building of lean, safe and environment-friendly structures, make highways last longer, stop landfill leachates and limit erosion. These reasons have variably impacted its demand in the Indian market. However, the key driver for its growth has been the government's initiative to allow 100% foreign direct investment under the automatic route in technical textiles.

Can you please tell us about the Gabions & Terramesh technology and the areas where these have been widely used?

Civil constructions being one of the challenging and promising sectors involves designing, constructing and maintaining the physical and naturally built environment. From road construction to slope maintenance to rockfall mitigation, many materials have been upgraded from the conventional methodology. Mechanically woven hexagonal double twist steel wire mesh products, Maccaferri's Gabions and Terramesh are widely used in highways, railways, mining, river training and hilly terrains. These products have defined their own set of uniqueness, resulting in a significant increase in their demand. Our wire mesh products are produced with a special coating which protects them from environmental elements and hence promotes longevity and structural efficiency.

Maccaferri's PoliMac polymer coating is applied over these products to meet the durability, performance and cost-efficiency demands of today's civil engineering projects. Gabions and Terramesh are used in several engineering applications such as:

• Retaining structures such as retaining walls, embankments and cuttings
• Erosion prevention structures for riverbank protection, groynes, weirs, and sea walls
• As a noise barrier
• To change the direction of the force of floodwater around the weak structure

The outstanding and dynamic characteristics of Gabions and Terramesh make them more purposeful, economical and environmentally friendly as compared to concrete structures. Some of the projects completed by Maccaferri in India have shown how these solutions have been successful resulting in long term benefits and making them the preferred sustainable choice.

What is your take on the steps taken by the govt to prevent road accidents along the hilly regions? Do you think the initiatives taken are sufficient or the Government needs to do a lot more?

In an effort to reduce road accidents in India, the government has undertaken concentrated efforts towards improving road safety through various engineering measures, technology adaptation, and raising awareness amongst the public. By implementing a National Road Safety Policy that outlines step such as promoting awareness, establishing road safety information data base, encouraging safer road infrastructure, including the application of intelligent transport, enforcement of safety laws etc. The government is working hard to identify the causes of the mishaps and how to fill the gaps. For instance, Sukhad Yatra 1033 mobile app was launched for highway users. It enables them to report potholes and other safety hazards on National Highways.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has formed a multi-pronged strategy to address the issue of road safety based on 4 ‘E's i.e. Education, Engineering (both of roads and vehicles), Enforcement and Emergency Care. Additionally, the government has recently emphasised on the need for identification of “black spots” in every state, district and city in India and announced the allocation of Rs 14,000 crore for states, National Highways Authority of India and other stakeholders for the removal of the same. It is pleasing to witness that the plans being undertaken are highly focused on amalgamating technology, civil engineering and raising awareness. The government is focusing on infrastructure development through sustainable technology methods. The path chosen seems to be appropriate and can prove to be beneficial in the long run. To accelerate the result of their initiatives the government needs to thoroughly analyse the roads, its environment and the hazards that frequently occur by conducting regular audits of the roads/highways built in the country.

Does geosynthetics have a replacement market as well and what is the scope in India?

A complete market replacement for geosynthetics is not there in the current times. However, technology keeps modifying with newer solutions coming in the market to provide more stern and sustainable civil engineering tools.

Tell us about your journey in India and what makes Maccaferri different from other competitors? Tell us about your products and solutions.

We stepped into the thriving market almost two decades ago. It was challenging yet promising for us to create and sustain our presence here. Over the years, we've been able to position ourselves as the pioneers of solution providers for complex civil, geotechnical, mining and environmental engineering projects. We understand the dynamism of the Indian infrastructure industry and have customized our products and solutions to be unique. The solutions help resolve complex technical issues while having no to minimal impact on the environment.

Maintaining its global reputation of in-depth technical know-how, in India we engineer sustainable solutions after profoundly analysing the geographical conditions, terrains, and the need of the hour. Our research team developed, MacArmour - a revolutionary drapery system, that curtails the adversities of the most challenging scenarios while reducing the exposure to risks for workers in rockfall prone areas. We also launched the innovative and smart device ‘HELLOMAC' earlier this year, an alert system developed to monitor rockfall protection in the Indian market. Ensuring safety, reliability and accuracy, this easy to install system provides real time protection against risks.

HELLOMAC was recently conferred with The Best Innovative Product Award at the 19th Asian Leadership Awards 2021. We developed the polymeric cavity connector for Reinforced Soil (RS) walls taking into consideration the requirements of the Indian market. The new connector eliminates the steel component, making it a complete polymeric RS wall system. The new connector helps in reducing the inventory of the connections and the overall cost of the system is optimized.

Over the last two decades, we have worked on over 1200 projects in India with some of the leading private and public entities such National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL), Central Public Works Department (CPWD), Airport Authority of India, Indian Railways, L&T, Sadbhav Engineering, AFCONS, KNR Construction, GR Infra projects Ltd, and many more.

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