Nov 12
Pearl for Pearl City
Pearl for Pearl City
BY NOW, many people know about the commissioning of the cable-stayed bridge over Durgam Cheruvu lake in the City of Pearls, Hyderabad. Constructed by Larsen & Toubro, the bridge is a magnificent piece of high-tech engineering. But there’s more to it, and that should be a matter of pride for India in general and the construction industry in particular!
 
The bridge has set a world record for having the longest precast segmental single span - from one pier to another - that runs 233.85 metres. That’s nearly quarter of a kilometre – and a construction feat! The bridge is 435 metres long, including the approaches at both ends, and is 25.8-metre wide. The approach viaduct and solid ramps are 309.8 metres long and has 1.8-metre wide footpaths on either side. Keeping the bridge steady are 52 stay cables. 
 
Interestingly, only the cables for the bridge were procured from Germany; everything else was sourced from India. This makes it an excellent example of a ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmannirbhar Bharat’ initiative. 
 
“The unique aspect of this bridge is that it has the world’s longest precast segmental (single) span in concrete for a cable-stayed bridge,” points out Mr S V Desai, Whole Time Director & Sr EVP (Civil Infrastructure) - L&T, beaming with satisfaction that the bridge has been commissioned on time, despite the COVID pandemic. 
 
As much as 428 MT of high-tensile strand, 26,600 cu.m of concrete, 4,800 MT of steel and 287 MT of stay-cables have gone into shaping this construction marvel. Rightfully, the L&T CEO & MD, Mr S N Subrahmanyan, identifies this as nothing less than a pearl.  Truly, it is nothing less than a pearl!
 
“Our association with the young state of Telangana has been rich and we are proud to have delivered yet another pearl to the City of Pearls. We are grateful to the Telangana government for having reposed faith in us once again, enabling us to deliver another world-class infrastructure, and we are happy to have delivered to their complete satisfaction,” he adds.
 
Infrastructure development is ultimately aimed at improving the lives of citizens, and this new bridge has augmented connectivity within Hyderabad by manifold. Constructed under Telangana’s Strategic Road Development Programme, it has brought down the commute time from Jubilee Hills to Madhapur from 30 minutes to just 10 minutes and has trimmed the distance from Mind Space to Jubilee Hills by two km.
 
Justifiably, there was much fanfare when the bridge was thrown open to the public on 25 September. Mr K T Rama Rao, Telangana’s  minister for municipal administration & urban development industries, IT & C, inaugurated it in the presence of Mr G Kishan Reddy, Union minister of state for home affairs, Dr Bonthu Rammohan, the Mayor of Hyderabad, and L&T’s senior management and project team members.
 
Durgam Cheruvu, or Raidurgam Cheruvu, is a freshwater lake located in Rangareddy district in the proximity of Hyderabad. The lake is spread over 83 acres and is also known as the Secret Lake because it is hidden between the localities of Jubilee Hills and Madhapur in the City of Pearls.

Nov 12
A Smarter Delhi
A Smarter Delhi
DELHITES can now look forward to a safer, swifter and cleaner city. This is due to the commissioning of a state-of-the-art Integrated Command & Control Centre (ICCC) that L&T’s Smart World & Communication vertical has built for the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC). The ICCC has been operational since March this year but was formally inaugurated on 11 September by Delhi’s Lt Governor, Mr Anil Baijal, through video conferencing in the presence of Lok Sabha MP Ms Meenakshi Lekhi.
 
The ICCC was initiated by the Central government as part of NDMC’s Smart City Project, and has been set up in the NDMC headquarters at Palika Kendra on Sansad Marg. During the lockdown, the sophisticated facility was fully functional and enabled the authorities to take measures to curb the spread of COVID. 
 
The prime objectives of the ICCC are to use smart technology to improve governance, enhance safety and security and offer citizens a better quality of life. Utilising IoT-based technology, it operates on a robust ICT infrastructure that supports digital applications and will ensure seamless operations, surveillance, emergency response, real-time tracking of services and vital city metrics throughout NDMC’s jurisdiction. The smart technologies put to use will also help spread public service messages and empower the police in efficient maintaining of law and order. 
 
The integrated data and the customisable analysis can now be viewed 24X7 on the surveillance monitors at the ICCC and is accessible through a single dashboard. This makes real-time monitoring and efficient delivery possible across 30-odd services like crime control, quick disaster response, solid waste management, parking slot allocation, issue of birth/death certificates, crowd management and pollution control, etc.
 
An interesting feature is the acoustic sensors installed on roadside poles at arterial and vulnerable locations across NDMC area. This will help in tackling crimes involving firearms or explosives by way of identifying the source of such sounds in real-time. As regards people’s daily needs, garbage collection will now become far more efficient, as L&T will be integrating 900+ RFID dustbins, 52 smart bins fitted with level sensors, and 67 collection vehicles across the NDMC’s jurisdiction.
 
“With this new-age ICCC, we are now better equipped to achieve the primary objective of improving the life of the citizens,” says NDMC chairman Mr Dharmendra, IAS. “It will enhance the efficiency of the capital’s civic services like waste, traffic and streetlight management, real-time surveillance and emergency responses across government authorities by integrating all the applications and systems that we employ, thereby ensuring faster and informed decision making.”
 
L&T has so far rolled out smart technology solutions in more than 20 cities across India. “We have brought to the table our experience of having successfully executed several smart solutions across Indian cities to develop a facility tailored to the specific demands of the NDMC,” explains Mr J D Patil, L&T’s Whole Time Director & Sr EVP - Defence & Smart Technologies.
Nov 12
All in the Blood
All in the Blood
“ONE SMALL STEP for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind,” was Neil Armstrong’s famous remark after he had landed on the moon in 1969. Often quoted across geographies, this remark summarises the import of every single initiative – big or small - in driving the progress of humanity.
 
The health care industry in India has recently witnessed a development that will go a long way in ensuring the correct diagnosis of diseases, especially in smaller towns and rural areas. L&T Technology Services (LTTS), in partnership with Agappe Diagnostics has, in October, launched Mispa CountX, India’s first indigenously developed blood cell counter.
 
WHY IS IT A MAJOR DEVELOPMENT?
 
Despite massive strides in the field of healthcare, basic healthcare remains a distant dream for many in India. The lack of the necessary infrastructure, the high cost of treatment and the corresponding low-income level do not augur well for a healthy citizenry. Early diagnosis of diseases is critical for taking preventive measures, but the labs in rural India are not equipped to facilitate these essential procedures. This often results in wrong or delayed diagnosis, endangering the lives of patients. 
 
Keeping this in mind, Agappe Diagnostics – a leading diagnostics reagents and equipment manufacturer – decided to procure a low-cost device capable of delivering speedy and accurate blood analysis. With rich expertise in creating cutting-edge medical devices for developing markets, LTTS became Agappe’s R&D partner of choice to design and develop the device. And despite the challenges of the COVID pandemic, LTTS delivered the low-cost hematology device - Mispa CountX – to Agappe in October.
 
The new device will dramatically reduce the cost of blood analysis without compromising on accuracy. As such, this is yet another ‘small step’ that is set to revolutionise blood analysis, and in turn, diagnosis of diseases in rural India.
Nov 12
The Clean Coal Goal
The Clean Coal Goal
INDIA has set an ambitious plan to augment coal production in the country and curtail coal imports in the next 3-4 years. But given the justified concern over the pollution caused by mining and allied activities, this is easier said than done. L&T has stepped in, helping the country realise its ambition for self-reliance in coal. L&T’s Odisha-based Kansbahal Works has developed a surface miner capable of extracting the black diamond from the earth’s womb while keeping the related pollution to the bare minimum.
 
The surface miner, christened L&T KSM-403, is capable of eco-friendly mining from in-situ deposit by eliminating the drilling and blasting processes. An L&T KSM-403 was recently commissioned at Kusmunda OCP of South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) located in Chhattisgarh’s Korba district. Mr Pramod Agrawal, chairman-cum-managing director of Coal India Ltd (CIL) and Mr A P Panda, CMD – SECL, were present on the occasion.
 
L&T is the first indigenous designer and manufacturer of surface miners, and entered this segment over 15 years ago. It has been manufacturing surface miners at its Kansbahal Works using indigenous technology, thus exemplifying the goal of Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
 
Owing to eco-friendly features, L&T’s surface miners have a sizeable and growing installation base in Indian mines. SECL and its siblings Northern Coalfields Ltd and Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd, have on their own have already deployed 23 L&T surface miners across various projects. Another four machines are on their way to becoming operational soon.
 
In addition, 30 more L&T surface miners have been deployed in various CIL projects across India by various contractors. This ever-growing population of L&T surface miners will contribute significantly towards India’s ambitious coal production plan. These machines are also making strong inroads into the international markets, with exports to the Gulf and African countries.
Nov 10
A Big Virtual Leap
A Big Virtual Leap
THE MILITARY Communication Segment of L&T’s Smart World & Communication (SW&C) vertical has pioneered a new process. It recently demonstrated the On-Site Acceptance Testing (OSAT) of a GSAT-20 gateways station to client using a virtual meeting tool. The Space Application Centre of ISRO (Ahmedabad) had placed the order on L&T for a GSAT-20 gateways station. The scope included supply, installation and OSAT.
 
The normal testing process is a long-drawn-out activity which involves sharing of internal test reports, customer approvals over a 7-to-10 day period,  travel and accommodation at each site, visits of 6 to 8 scientists to the respective sites with the testing duration spanning around 4 to 5 days. Additionally, L&T engineers are also deployed for client coordination and the testing. The entire activity takes weeks –  especially in the case of multiple sites, and involves huge expense.
 
However, the COVID-induced restrictions made it necessary for L&T to look for some viable alternative, as OSAT is a crucial step that cannot be bypassed and at the same time, the project being of national import, cannot be delayed. Thus, SW&C decided to conduct the OSAT using virtual meeting tool MS Teams. The virtual OSAT involved activities at 10 sites across 5 cities. About 20 senior ISRO scientists from multiple locations virtually witnessed the testing – a first for ISRO!  They appreciated the smart move  and expressed a clear preference for the virtual mode for all subsequent OSATs activities.
 
This switch to virtual testing brings significant gains to both, client as well as the provider. On the success and acceptance of this model with ISRO, L&T has decided to introduce virtual OSAT for other clients as well. This is no less than historic.
Nov 10
EV Revolution
EV Revolution
AS THE WORLD struggles to return to normalcy, the industrious engineers at L&T Technology Services (LTTS) have been quietly charting a new direction for the future. Recently, LTTS virtually launched the one-of-a-kind Electric Vehicle (EV) Lab at its Bengaluru delivery center.
 
The state-of-the-art EV lab encompasses motors, inverters, DC-DC converters, all on-board vehicle electrical systems and complete electric vehicle testing. This advanced lab set-up is dedicated to help customers evaluate and verify the performance, endurance and electromagnetic compatibility of their EVs and help reach their intended market efficiently and cost-effectively.
 
The lab was inaugurated virtually by industry luminaries from major OEMs across the world, in the presence of Dr Keshab Panda, CEO & MD of LTTS. With this latest lab, LTTS has re-emphasised its commitment to excellence and cutting-edge innovative technologies for the EV and automobile market.

RAPID MIGRATION
 
LTI has recently launched Canvas PolarSled, an automated cloud migration and modernisation framework to help enterprises accelerate their data journey to Snowflake. Canvas PolarSled enables enterprises with rapid migration of their data to Snowflake’s single, integrated cloud data platform in an efficient and low-risk way. Snowflake adoption helps enterprises emerge as fully equipped digital organisations with its innovative architecture, unique consumption model and near-unlimited scalability.
 
HERITAGE TECH
 
India’s heritage sites took the centre stage as LTI partnered with Haryana-based Rishihood University to rejuvenate the precious relics of the past using exponential technologies and the LTI Mosaic platform for the Tech4Heritage Hackathon. Launched in September, 150+ student participants in the Hackathon leveraged LTI’s Mosaic AI platform to build, train, deploy and manage different data science and AI models developing viable solutions to preserve and rejuvenate India’s key heritage sites.
Nov 10
Sole Connection
Sole Connection
FESTIVALS are all about connecting lives, and in this festive season, what more could Bengal have asked for than something which would help people connect. L&T’s Transportation Infrastructure arm has recently completed the construction of a 1.0006 km  bridge over the mighty Teesta river in northern Bengal. This is a crucial bridge that will provide easy connectivity to the Hashimara Air Force base and is part of the only road link to the northeast region.
 
Building this bridge, which was taken up under the Ghoshpukur-Salsalabari Road Project in northern Bengal, was a really challenging task. Originating from the upper Himalayas in Sikkim, Teesta is a very turbulent river and constructing a bridge over her is no cakewalk. The presence of multiple barrages and dams upstream called for stringent coordination with various departments to line up the working slots. Significant ground engineering works in the project included 22 well foundations each measuring 7 m in diameter and 28.5 m in depth for the piers, and 2 well foundations 8.5 m in diameter and 34 m deep for the abutments.
 
Despite the constraint of low resources aggravated by the lockdown restrictions, the project team aligned with the COVID-19 SOPs and completed the superstructure of the bridge that has 23 spans with a girder length of 43.6 m. By delivering projects like this, L&T continues to serve the nation by way of boosting connectivity and defence infrastructure.
Nov 10
Red-letter Day
Red-letter Day
SEPTEMBER 22 will remain a red-letter day for the people of Bihar. On this day, the state got two major gifts as regards health care infrastructure. The first one is a weapon against cancer. That is, a state-of-the-art cancer hospital, constructed by L&T’s Buildings & Factories (B&F) vertical, at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Science (IGIMS) in Patna.  
 
The new facility was inaugurated in a virtual ceremony by Chief Minister Mr Nitish Kumar on 22 September in the presence of Deputy CM Mr Sushil Kumar Modi and health minister Mr Mangal Pandey. Mr Pratyaya Amrit, IAS, principal secretary - health and family welfare, and Dr N R Biswas, director- IGIMS, were present for the virtual ceremony. At the physical site were L&T Cluster Project Manager, Mr M Arunagiri, and Project Manager, Mr Subrata Chakraborty.
 
The cancer hospital is a 120-bed facility and is the first-of-its-kind in Bihar. L&T’s project scope included construction of the G+3 building with a built-up area of 1 lakh sq ft along with supply, installation, commissioning and maintenance of various medical equipment. The civil works included construction of two bunkers with concrete wall and slab up to 2500 mm thickness for radiation-proof chambers as per the guidelines of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. The equipment comprise two linear accelerators, a brachytherapy unit, a CT simulator, PET-CT, MRI and Cyclotron.
 
On the same day, Bettiah, the district headquarters of West Champaran district, saw the inauguration of the state-of-the-art building of the Government Medical College Hospital (GMCH). Again, built by L&T’s B&F vertical, it too was inaugurated by the CM virtually. The Principal & Superintendent of the GMCH, L&T Cluster Project Manager Mr Arunagiri, and Project Manager Mr Ashok Kumar, were at the site. 
 
The GMCH building, an integral part of the 500-bed government hospital-cum-medical college, has six floors of 250,285 sq ft built-up area. It has an annual capacity for 100 MBBS students. L&T completed the composite work – comprising civil, finishing, steel structure, mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) – in just 24 months. 
 
These two new health facilities will go a long  way in reducing the dependency of the people of Bihar on Mumbai and Kolkata for medical treatment.
Nov 10
Milestone for the Miles
Milestone for the Miles
L&T CONSTRUCTION Machinery Limited (LTCML) – a wholly-owned subsidiary of L&T – has achieved yet another milestone! On 7 October, LTCML handed over the 2000th vibratory compactor (a type of road roller) to one of its loyal buyers at LTMCL’s Doddaballapura campus in outer Bengaluru. Named L&T 1190, this compactor is a gem from L&T’s own stables.
 
Mr Arvind K Garg, EVP - Construction & Mining Business (CMB) at L&T, handed over the symbolic key of the compactor to Mr P Raghupathy, the proprietor of Sri Sai Earthmovers. Based in Bengaluru, Sri Sai Earthmovers is a leading contractor in real estate, irrigation projects, land development and road projects. The firm, which has bagged several NHAI contracts over the last two decades and is currently executing many prestigious projects, has demonstrated a strong preference for the L&T and Komatsu brands.
 
Mr D Keshava Kumar, CE, LTCML, Mr HS Hande, GM - Machinery Works, Mr Shailesh Kodkani , GM – Hydraulic Works, Mr  Vivek Hajela, GM – Construction Equipment Business, Mr Jaikumar Kamath, Head-Road Machinery, Mr Saneesh Kumar, Zonal Manager, CEB-South, were present at the handover event.
 
Since 2015, L&T has been manufacturing its own range of road construction equipment, and has made rapid progress in the sector. It now offers complete solutions through a wide range of equipment. The compactors made by L&T are extensively deployed for national highways, airport projects, arterial roads and township development.

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