The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has made utility surveys mandatory before road construction or resurfacing, in a move aimed at preventing newly built roads from being repeatedly dug up for water, drainage, electricity and other services.
The new standard operating procedure was issued through a circular by the municipal commissioner and will take immediate effect. Under the procedure, road designs must be prepared only after a detailed survey of all utilities located under or alongside the proposed road. The survey will cover water supply, sewerage, storm-water drainage, electricity, gas, telecommunications and street lighting networks.
The utility survey will record the location, depth, size, type and ownership of each line. This information must be incorporated into an integrated map before the road design is finalised. Where information about an underground utility is incomplete or unclear, the project engineer will have to approve trial pits to establish its location. Safety measures will be required during the investigation, and photographs and a report must be prepared before the site is restored.
The SOP also requires a detailed topographical survey before design work begins. The survey must record the road width, existing levels, town-planning and development-plan road lines, footpaths, junctions and trees. If any utility needs to be shifted or rehabilitated during the project, the estimated cost of that work must be included in the design.
The corporation has directed that water supply, drainage, storm-water drainage and street-lighting departments provide written comments before a road design is approved. A joint meeting and site inspection will then be held to determine the work required. If a new water or drainage line is needed, or an existing line has to be replaced, that work must be completed before road construction begins.
The procedure also introduces technical requirements for pavement design. Before an unpaved road is converted into a paved road, the soil must be tested and the pavement design based on its California Bearing Ratio, or CBR, value. For resurfacing an existing asphalt road, a Falling Weight Deflectometer test will be mandatory to assess road deflection and prepare a report.
The traffic load will be used to determine the road’s Million Standard Axles value, which will guide pavement thickness. Technical tests will also determine where and how much milling is required. Engineers must prepare level sheets showing the existing and final road levels, including the finished road level, as well as measurement sheets covering the road’s length, width and construction layers.
The new approach expands road design beyond the carriageway itself. The corporation has instructed project teams to integrate footpaths, cycle tracks, street lighting, traffic management, landscaping and utility corridors into the design. Space must be reserved for each utility within the road width, while ducts and cross ducts must be provided for future lines so that completed roads do not have to be excavated again.
These requirements will also have to be incorporated into tender documents and requests for proposals issued for road design consultants. The relevant project or zone department must obtain prior written views from water-supply and drainage officials before proceeding. The immediate implementation of the SOP makes these surveys, technical checks and departmental approvals part of the road-planning process across the corporation.
