Entry of foreign players has made the specialized construction segment of India more professional says Kapil Bhati, Managing Director, Robbins Tunneling and Trenchless Technology (India) Pvt. Ltd, in an interaction with EPC World…
With increased focus on infrastructure; what are the scopes for specialized construction in India?
Indian Construction equipment industry looks promising especially with the Delhi Metro having in execution for phase 3 with envisages adding 140 km of the network and the construction is in process at Bangalore Phase I, Chennai Phase I etc. & the metro is planned in other cities of the country like Bangalore – Phase II, Chennai – Phase II, Lucknow, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Mumbai – Phase III, and Ahmedabad along with the road tunnels, highways, hydroelectric power projects that are under way and would require enormous number of equipment’s of all types which will bring boom in the construction industry.
Robbin’s has emerged as one of the world’s foremost developer and manufacturer of advanced, underground construction machinery. How did you achieve this?
For over 60 years, Robbins laid innovation in the arena of tunneling industry. Here are few innovations from our side, First main beam TBM, first successful employment of disc cutters to bore hard rock, first floating gripper design allowing continuous steering of a TBM, first double shield TBM, first variable frequency cutter head drive, first 19 inch cutters, first wedge – lock cutter mounting system, first successful rock boring head for auger boring machine.
We manufactured the world’s first rock tunnel boring machine (TBM), shortly when Mr. James Robbins founded in 1952. The TBM was built for Mitry Constructors who were working on some irrigation project near Pierre, South Dakota, USA. The company also invented both the Main Beam & Double Shield TBMs. We are best known for its very successful Main Beam TBMs, but a pioneer in hard rock Double Shield machines. Also we hold 90% of the world records for production of TBMs from 3 to over 14 m in diameter.
How important is selection of machinery and equipment for specialized construction like tunneling. What are your suggestions in this direction?
Right selection of machinery & equipment plays an important role in the timely completion of any project. We have an exclusive design team who studies the complete geological conditions of the ground before designing a TBM. Each& every machine is a custom made as per its geology. Hence, we deliver well suited equipment according to the project requirement.
Could you tell us more about your service part?
At Robbins, we not only provide machines – but also offers the below mentioned services as well.
- Equipment Leasing – We bring out the various options, where you can lease either a TBM or SBUs whichever suits the requirement.
- Spare Parts – With the Robbins Spare Parts Program, a full supply of spare parts are provided along with the machine & it gets replenished as when it is required or demanded at the job site accordingly.
- Efficient deployment of man power resources to our job site for operation & maintenance of the TBMs.
What are the latest value additions in your Tunnel Boring Machine?
The Robbins Company has recently launched our Crossover series of TBMs which can work in combination of mixed soils and rock respectively. The XRE stands for Crossover Rock/EPB is the most common type of dual/hybrid machine, and having features of Single Shield Hard Rock machines & EPBs for efficient boring in mixed soils with rock. Other types of Crossover machines are XSE (Crossover between Slurry/ EPB) and the XRS (Crossover between Rock/Slurry) TBMs.
Major foreign players have entered in specialized EPC segment of India. Do you think entry of foreign players made the segment more professional?
Yes, absolutely it has made the segment more professional. Players from different parts of the world along with us have made the market more challenging & price sensitive. Being the leaders in Hard rock, we have an upper edge in the market & as our names goes, the visibility, branding comes from within. That is why we are marketed as “Most trusted name in tunneling”. Since Robbins machines are strong, robust and durable & can do multiple projects starting from deployment, so it makes more value of money thereby reducing the cost of the project in long run.
Brief us about your man power training.
Man power training is the important part of our construction industry. We have certain programs which have been made exclusively for the same like: Provision of written training modules for all TBM related jobs; Classroom training of service and operational personnel; On-site, on-the-job training of service and operational personnel; Various safety programs are been conducted at our operational sites across the globe.
How do you overcome logistical challenges while carrying out a critical project? Could you give us one example in this direction?
The Robbins Company has a dedicated team of experienced logistics people in USA. Before initiation of the shipment, complete road survey from the origin to destination is done, Selection of a suitable vessel with proper cranage & proper lashing is checked in the vessel by our specialized team in US. We would like to highlight the example of our logistics challenge faced while transporting two 10m double shield machine for Alimineti Madhava Reddy Project near Hyderabad wherein the detailed road survey along with strengthening of bridges, temporary changing of road signs, correct selections of vessels along with all safety measures were taken to ensure safe and timely delivery of parts to the job site.
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