Use of Low-Cost Agricultural Implements in Low-Volume Road Construction

Abstract

In India there are 0.6 million human settlements scattered all over the country. Forty-eight percent of these villages are connected with all-weather roads and the remaining 52 percent of these villages are yet to be connected with all-weather, black-topped roads. The prevailing construction methodologies that use mechanized implements do not suit the construction of low-volume roads in India due to the high cost of machinery and unavailability of skilled labor and technicians. In view of the above, the present methods of low-volume road construction and maintenance are largely labor-based. These methods are slow and often result in substandard quality of construction. Therefore, it is considered essential to adopt an appropriate man-machine combination. Such an approach will be necessary in the future to improve the standards of construction required for low-volume road infrastructure development and also to meet the accelerated pace of rural developmental activities. Cultivation and farming are the main activities in the villages leading to the availability of farming tractors and other related implements. Since tractors are increasingly available in large numbers in rural areas, it is considered most appropriate to make use of various agricultural implements towed by tractors for the different road construction operations. A survey was made of the existing agricultural implements suitable for carrying out the various road construction operations. Based on results of this study, different farming implements were used for various road construction activities on demonstration projects. The data obtained from these projects were analyzed to determine the technical and economic feasibility of labor-intensive and tractor-towed equipment construction techniques. An economic evaluation of these low-cost road construction techniques was performed to identify relative cost factors. Different low-cost agricultural implements and their possible use in various road construction operations are highlighted. Based on these studies, it is evident that the deployment of tractor-based techniques would result in substantial economy with the added benefit of better-finished quality of work and considerable time-saving in projects.