Causes & Consequences of Delay in Surface Transport Projects

Introduction:


Construction projects could be undertaken by the public, private and international sectors or any combination of these three. Public sector projects are usually initiated by the government for the welfare of public deploying the resources generated through taxes , revenues etc collected from the people. These projects can be classified broadly into two namely, infrastructural & residential. The infrastructural projects include transport & communication , amenities , power plants , dams etc. They have a huge financial outlay and are vital in developing the nation and building a stronger national economy.

Delays in such projects obstacle the way of national progress .

Many construction projects are subject to delays, which can have severe financial penalties for contractor, subcontractor or client. Unfortunately , “delays” have become a repetitive syndrome and affect the entire national economy.

Hence , a study of causes and consequences of delay in public sector-long span surface transport projects would be of use in attempting an analysis and proposing a solution.

The aim ,objectives,scope & need for such a study could be summarized as below:


Aim :


To define & determine delay and its causes for long span surface-transport projects in public sector and to study the causes & consequences of delays through investigative survey.
Thus, to derive or develop or suggest an approach or method or tool in the form of a module or a template or flow chart that shall eventually provide for minimizing or eliminating delays.


Objectives:

#To conduct an investigative survey through various levels of the industry.
#To determine and define avoidable and unavoidable delay.
#To determine the variables of delays in surface transport projects through investigation.
#To determine the exponentials of the variables thus established.
#To compare the delay patterns or causes in public and private sectors through documentation.
#To develop a system to check and alarm the possible delay at various junctures.
#To propose a module or template to eliminate or minimize the delay in different situations. Scope

The research shall include the study of the causes and consequences of delay in public sector projects through investigative survey. The chosen area of study shall be of (estimated) long span – surface transport projects in the public sector.
The surface transport projects for purpose of this study shall only include roads, highways, subways, bridges or fly-overs.


Need of the study:


*There has not been much work on the subject to which one can refer to though various techniques are discussed in different works.
*The roads , highway , bridges etc construction involves huge investments and capital sum gets blocked for a longer period than estimated duration of project . This leads to escalation of cost and time . Public sector works suffer tremendously due this.
*The transport networks build communication between various places within and outside the country. The efficiency of transport systems determines the success of a nation. The connectivity between cities, town and villages helps in reducing the distances and travelling time too. Delay in transport projects damages the communication and affects trade & commerce . A lot of inconvenience is caused due to this to the traffic congestions , excavations etc to the general public.


Method of study :

The study shall be conducted in the phases mentioned below:


Phase 1: Literature Review and establishing the aim and objectives of the study.
Phase 2: Formulation of questionnaires and conducting a survey through various sections of construction industry.
Phase 3: Analyzing the survey and determining the variables of delay and their exponentials.
Phase 4: Comparative studies and documentation.
Phase 5: Analysis of the case study results.
Phase 6: Developing an approach on basis of the results obtained and determining the features and pattern of working of the module to be suggested.
Phase 7: Installing the model and observing the working.

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Cinema & Architecture

Cinema creates a visual frame for the viewers, that the viewers can co-relate only when the fundamentals of architecture are applied to the entire process of film making.

Architecture defines vividly, “the cinema” in its self explanatory but different lingo of spaces, forms, shapes, colours, textures, volume etc, so a layman may conclude that it is an artistic-scientific-logical approach that broadens the vision and gives direction to one’s thinking. In general, Architecture helps cinema to come close to reality or fly in the mythical land in a way that makes the film more acceptable by the audience.

“A frame” in a movie would be a dull, flat projection and perception of an incident if it was to be in 2-D. But, architectural elements give the desired 3-D to the plain film plane, thus making it worth watching. A provision for proper lighting, a perfect colour scheme and ofcourse, the structural elements like walls, floors, ceilings, arches, lintels, beams, pillars,piers, buttresses, and column. These not only add on to the grandeur of the film aesthetics but also help in defining the movement of the characters and understanding the space and scale.

At times, creating space for cinema in a restricted area becomes a very interesting job. Film studios are constructed with respect to the available area, the maximum cost of construction (allowable). It is quite possible that the studio space is insufficient for the purpose. In such cases, the creation of a particular environment is a tough job. This is art direction: a field that’s very closely connected with architect’s job. An art director should be a good designer and planner, apart from that he should have technical knowledge about lighting, camera moments, and the minimum space to be kept for the movement of people and equipments, after set errection.

Most importantly, the other spaces that are required in an institute for film education that support the major activity areas need to be well placed, planned and treated with proper consideration of the users namely: students, staff ( teaching and non- teaching), the production members, the actors etc.
An architect’s role is similar to that of the art director, so he has to understand every activity and its importance to design spaces and create conditions favourable to the user. The designer has to make an imperical study of the various requirements and hence finalize on the construction techniques, the construction materials, the treatments etc and thus modulating a space that shall stand upright to the test of time.

Moreover, cinema becomes a joy when we see the structural elements being emotionally and situationally being connected to the film characters played by distinguished actors and actresses on screen. For e.g., films like “devdas”, “ taj mahal”, “mugal- e-azam” etc would be unimaginable without those lavish sets and monuments in real because of the impact they create and keep us stuck to our seats during those two or three hours of shear technical magic to the wonderland in reel of reality!

The “sheesh mehel” becomes an immortal and integral part of Anarkali’s song of rebel and the acceptance of her eternal love for Salim. The architectural impact is visible in the gem studded seat and throne of the emperor which is later translated to emotional variations in form of the mirror reflections. So architecture and cinema are the two sides of the same coin, inseparable yet different.

At times architecture creates symbols for cinema and conveys the filmmaker’s perceptions of a particular expression or emotion. Aesthetics that architecture describes are quite different from the film aesthetics. As per film aesthetics, a girl sitting on the banks of a river with her face in her hands would depict sadness.
But, the same girl sitting in front of a huge, massive stone arch and a flight of stairs leading to the flow of the river would endorse the emotion of sorrow in a better way. It is almost like, Aishwarya Rai endorsing the donation of eyes in contrasts to the plain posters campaigning for the same! In ad world this is using one’s star status to publicize for a social cause.

Thus, cinema closely connects with art, literature, poetry, and in general aesthetics, then architecture lends cinema scientific approach in the form of constructive technology.

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Just like that!

...... have been working on a long report assigned by the institute.i spent really a lot of my "precious" time on extrapolating a suitable subject for the cause.barely thought so much even before finalizing the final year thesis topic.well, as usual landed up selecting a topic that has no references in the Indian construction industry's context!

HPFRCCs is a very innovative technology and thanks to all the researchers i managed to read 1000 pages and gulp down a 100 in the nut between the ear drums.

actually, i stopped dreaming at night,,,,i hardly got to sleep for the past 2.5 weeks.the reason or should i say reasons were reasonably deserving.but it was a fun ride and enjoyed every bit of it,alas one more time it was confirmed that my inclinations are flexing towards research oriented fields of technology and sustainability.

after putting in a bit of effort and time, it was astonishing to see that i was not just the youngest but also the first one in the M.Arch{const. mgmt} batch to complete this assignment much before time.so, this sure calls for a self-acknowledgement,which signals me to work more!

i tend to be a little too harsh on myself when i am engrossed in my choice of work.but, had to and have to atleast till feb end!then i am going to treat myself luxuriously.............a trip to bangalore with ashu!!!!!lot of underlined intentions and aspirations from this trip....for all good reasons!

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