FOCUSED ON ‘FINISHING’ TO COMPLETE SPEEDILY
A Yuvaraj
Construction Manager (Civil), RREC
He is ‘proud to be a nation builder’, and A Yuvaraj, a seasoned campaigner, already executing his 9th project with L&T after joining the organization in 2008, is most impressed by the “systematic flow of work at L&T designed to keep everything in order, focused to work with best quality and utmost safety. This orderly behaviour has made L&T the country’s top construction firm for such a long time, and boosted us to give our very best in our respective fields.” At the ‘Timely Delivery’ award winning Madhya Pradesh Expressway project, his focus was on the normally timeconsuming finishing & protection activities simultaneously with the main activities to deliver speedily.
“My strategy was to reduce the cycle time of bridge construction that we erected with precast girders on trestle supports, taking advantage of the curing period for further shuttering activity.” Yuvaraj shares one of their clever ploys to speed up construction. “I closely monitored resource and manpower allocation daily according to the work quantities prior to the start of any activity with micro planning.”
Working with ‘live’ traffic is a perennial hazard for road jobs and the MPEP team had to contend with it too especially when completing the typical 02 integrated structure (VUPs). Since most of the work at the project was executed when the pandemic was at its height, the issues relating to manpower re-mobilization and training local labour were thorns in their side to achieve their project milestones. “My section was purely greenfield and had black cotton soil across the entire stretch that was another challenge during the rainy season, but we were able to solve this problem with proper teamwork, creating alternate paths for movement by completing the earthwork at all locations,” he adds.
Yuvaraj is extremely thankful to Project Director, J Jeeva David, Project Manager, Anil Kumar Sachan, and Section In-charge, Biplab Kumar Ghosh, for giving him the opportunity to be Structure In-charge of Section A from Km 155 to 161 (includes the toll plaza CD works) and their micro planning. “As a team, we rallied around them and succeeded,” he says with josh.
Hailing from Gudiyattam, Tamil Nadu, Yuvaraj is married to Indraja P, a homemaker and they are blessed with one son, Shabhaarish Y. During his free time, he loves to listen to songs, especially at night. Some of his life’s memorable moments include joining L&T, his dream company, housewarming of his new home and having a good time with his lovely family.
A TOUGH PROJECT, WELL EXECUTED
Anup Kumar
Construction Manager (Civil), RREC
Delivering the tough Madhya Pradesh Expressway project ahead of time is a feather in the caps of many, including Anup Kumar. As a greenfield alignment road project, the team made the access road along the alignment to move resources that helped greatly to achieve the targeted works within short leads. Anup is proud that his project team achieved an average concrete pour of 450 cum per day for structure work with 60 batching plants, completed 15,000 cum of hard rock excavation for the structure foundation in a single month and finished all the footing excavation for a major bridge.
“My strategy was to complete all box type minor bridges and box culverts before the monsoon and finish all the super structure work and girder type minor bridge work up to the pier cap during the monsoon,” Anup shares. “I always planned to take more fronts to execute to achieve the targeted productivity of resources for which we engaged vendors who could work with 100% efficiency. I had always targeted to invoice early by executing with safety and quantity.”
The real challenge to execute the ROB was the 1.2 lakh cum, 18 m deep hard rock that had to be excavated in a limited time frame of just 4 months. “We had to continuously dewater to work at such depths and the flow of water severely affected the material shifting of formwork & reinforcement,” he points out. “Further in the superstructure works at the ROB, girder shifting (37.5 m / 105 MT each) & erection at location were challenging due to a limited working area.”
Anup attributes his success in large measure to Project Director, J Jeeva David for initially giving him the opportunity to work as Structure In-Charge of Section B from Km 170 to 175. “He motivated me to give my best, taught me about the work scope, advantages, difficulties & execution strategies that were critical for me to plan my work to achieve my targets.”
He is appreciative of his team members in the execution team who constantly helped and motivated each other to succeed. “In addition, Project Manager Anil Kumar Sachan & Section In charge Chandan Kumar Upadhyay were always friendly and helped me to understand their work executions strategies, difficulties & requirements to achieve the targets,” he adds.
Having joined L&T in 2018, a company he is grateful for having supported him in all his endeavors, Anup has had stints at the DIAL, Kandla Mundra Road, Jabalpur Lakhnadone Road and the 8‑lane, access-controlled expressway carriageway from Kandarwasa to Bawadi projects. A native of Dhanbad, Jharkhand, and single, he loves watching TV and playing cricket.
At the Madhya Pradesh Expressway project, meeting project timelines was everyone’s mission as was Amit Malik’s. “We were prepared from day one,” he shares with vigor, “so much so that we started PCC for structures within 2 hours of receiving the NTP clearance.” He adds that the girder erection in a major bridge started without wasting a single day and all sub-structure work was completed before the monsoon. About a quick-thinking strategy of the team, he says, “We used fabricated pier shutter of 10 m height to cast pier in a single shift to achieve our targets well ahead of time.” All smiles for the Timely Delivery award they won, he remarks, “Apart from construction managers, we are all timekeepers too.”
Retaining manpower during the second COVID wave was tough, but Amit acknowledges the sterling work of the admin team to keep everyone safe and the project moving along. Material delivery at site was another challenge as the project was divided into 2 sections, divided by a steep hill necessitating a travel of about 40 km from main camp to site through Ratlam city. “Our solution was to prepare a ramp by cutting the hill, a ploy used perhaps for the first time in RREC,” he smiles. Material delivery was eased and work in Section B started immediately.
He attributes the team’s success to the constant guidance from Project Director, J. Jeeva David, Project Manager, Anil Sachan, and Section In-charge, Chandan Kumar Upadhyay.
Amit joined L&T as a DET in 2011 at the Kandla Mundra Road Project and has since worked at the Rewa-Katni-Jabalpur project before coming to MPEP and is now posted at the Mej Indergarh Expressway project. “Working for L&T is like being part of a large family that not just cares but builds unique structures,” he shares, eyes aglow. “It gives me great pleasure to introduce myself as an L&T‑ite even though I am no longer the gawky engineering trainee who joined the organization years ago.” Certainly, he is growing with the organization.
On his personal front, a native of Sonipet, Haryana, Amit is married to Poonam, a homemaker, and they are blessed with a son, Darshit Malik, who’s birth, is unsurprisingly, Amit’s life’s most memorable moment. A complete family man, he spends free time at home with his family, listening to music.
IT IS ALL ABOUT DELIVERY
Apurva Naik
Assistant Construction Manager, RREC
Delivery seems to be playing a lead role in young Apurva Naik’s life lately. No sooner had he and his team at the Madhya Pradesh Expressway project delivered their project 61 days ahead of schedule to win accolades from their client, NHAI, and the Timely Delivery Award for L&T Construction, that his wife, Roshani and he were blessed with a baby boy, Harshiv, on February 4th, 2023. Congratulations to the young family!
For Apurva, the taste of victory at MPEP is sweeter having achieved it for L&T, his dream company since his college days, that he joined as a GET in July 2016. “Our systems and processes are so flawless and unique in so many ways,” he says with a sense of wonder. “Be it infrastructure, nuclear power, or defence, L&T is always at the forefront, delivering when called upon by the country, and playing a pivotal in India’s growth story. I am proud to work in L&T as the Nation Builders,” he states forcefully. A BIS scholar, Apurva re-joined in July 2020 at MPEP where he was taking care of MIS and client billing.
Achieving all milestones on time is critical but it is the final 10%- 15% of work that takes a significant amount of time hence the team treated finishing activities just as seriously as construction. “Every month’s work was planned as per the invoice target with respect to the linear completion and continuous fronts and was monitored daily with timely corrective actions taken to resolve operational issues,” he elaborates. “Risks were identified, discussed and mitigatory measures taken.” They ensured bill certification and invoice collection before the 25th of every month that helped maintain a positive cashflow throughout the project duration. “We also strove hard to achieve the budget target in both years,” he states.
Apurva is grateful to Planning In-charge, Dhananjaya N. V, Project Manager, Anil Sachan and Project Director, J. Jeeva David, for their encouragement and support. “They informed me of the areas of work and improvement for a successful career with L&T. My team members always assisted me and were extremely supportive of each other that boosts morale and work progress at the site,” he smiles reassuringly.
From Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Apurva loves cricket, watching movies, travelling, and exploring new places. Wife, Roshani used to work at NHAI PIU-Ratlam, but is currently a homemaker. “Personally, my most memorable moment is my son’s birth and professionally, achieving the completion certificate of MPEP, 2 months ahead of the time,” he concludes on a high.
A MAN OF ACTION!
Santosh Kumar Shukla
Assistant Manager, RREC
“Construction projects are often complicated involving lots of tasks and stakeholders,” shares Santosh Shukla, a man of few words but always on the move. “Precise planning is essential to steer everyone to work towards achieving the main goal – delivering the project on time.” After years of working at various projects, Santosh is adept at such planning.
At the Madhya Pradesh Expressway project, he identified 17 soil borrow areas of approximately 61.5 lakh cum within a month, confirmed the CBR value, which was communicated to the designer, with the client’s approval taken in tandem. He also ensured that the Concrete Mix design was ready by proactively taking materials from the local crusher in advance, conducting the OGL & rock quality testing and exploring the hill alignment for the cutting area. “The concrete mix design and asphalt was done as per the client’s specifications that also included timely approval and certification of work and I am proud to say that the NHAI Project Director appreciated our work.”
Santosh’s approach to challenges is very matter-of-fact, like someone who is used to dealing with them. He recalls the shortage of lime against a huge requirement of 6500 MT. Not one to be easily fazed, he discussed with the Project Director, discovered, and accompanied the team to a lime factory in Borunda Village, Rajasthan, where he stayed put for a week to set up a lime purity testing facility, confirm availability and expedite timely lime production and dispatch. A proponent of Digitalization, Santosh ensures that digital apps such as the TORQ app for Quality monitoring, SHEILD app for safety and GPS enabled tracking for Transit Mixers and Tippers were used extensively at the site.
He is all praise for his seniors. “They need to keep time while delivering the best though safety was ingrained in each of us by JJD Sir and AKS Sir who ensured a detailed schedule and ready client approvals, prepared even before execution.”
Santosh joined L&T in 2006 at the Palanpur Swaroop Ganj Road Project and then to the Ahmedabad-Viramgam-Maliya Road GSRDC SH‑7, 4‑lanning the Kandla Mundra (NH-8A)and the Jabalpur-Lakhnadon (NH7) Roads and then to MPEP.
A native of Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, he is married to Sangeeta Shukla, a homemaker. They are blessed with a son, Saurabh Shukla and a daughter, Sneha Shukla. His hobbies are helping senior citizens and listening to radio podcasts and cites all project milestones achieved before time as the memorable moments of his life.
Spoken like an impassioned L&T‑ite, he says that he is proud be part of nation building and that the organisation recognises hardworking employees who can reach great heights. Santosh has no doubt that he is one of them.
TIME — A FRIEND THAT MAKES YOU A CHAMPION!
We live in a world in which ‘Time’ is either your friend or foe. K Jayamurugan has proved that ‘Time’ can be a wonderful ‘Friend’ when one works with it, rather than against it.
Proud that his Madhya Pradesh Expressway project has won the ‘Timely Delivery Award – 2022’, Jayamurugan attributes several reasons for their team’s achievement: the timely completion of gabion wall assisted in back filling, earth work, quick completion of the boundary wall, critical liaising with the local farmers within the stipulated time limit to procure the COD and their timely completion of the structure.
It was not all easy going and his major challenges were labour mobilisation and materials arrangement but instead of allowing the clock to tick, he kept forging ahead.
Success is also a result of teamwork and Jayamurugan is full of gratitude towards his seniors. “Project Director, J Jeeva David and Project Manager, Anil Sachan, always encouraged and assisted me with resources at the right time and quick decisions. Their advice and support guided me to achieve my professional objectives. They directed my areas of work that required improvement in accordance with project requirements, and with their trust in my abilities, I gave my all to meet deadlines.”
‘Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.’ Jayamurugan’s success reflects this. “My team members always assisted and supported me.” With environmental health and safety on his list of priorities, digital solutions like RTR and Procube assisted him to monitor progress and drive safety.
Hailing from Kallakurichi, Tamil Nadu, Jayamurugan is a father of two daughters: J Jayaharini and J Jayavarsini. His wife M Valarmathi, an MBA graduate, is now a homemaker. A cricket enthusiast, he occasionally finds time to watch and play cricket, despite his busy schedule. Being Human is all about remembering and reliving moments, For Jayamurugan, it was when he held his daughter for the first time, a memory he wishes to relive as he watches his little girls grow up. He also recalls an incident when Mr. D K Sen at the HCRP site personally appreciated him.
His previous assignments include the Hosur Krishnagiri, Hospet Chitradurga and Delhi Vadodara Road projects. With joy in his eyes, he expresses how proud he is to be working at L&T and the Company’s selfless service towards nation building by delivering key projects.
Here’s to Jayamurugan, for not standing still as time goes by, but moving ahead, one step at a time.
If not for L&T, young Karthik Kesavan would perhaps still be without his lady love. “I am proud to work at L&T, as it is only due to the name of this organization that I was able to complete my love life,” he explains, seriously. “My in-laws at first refused to give me their daughter and only agreed after coming to know that I am working at L&T Construction,” he grins, calling it “a marriage with great difficulties.” He is now happily married to K Krishna Priya, a homemaker, and they have been blessed with a baby daughter, K Thiya.
If Karthik’s love life has been exciting, so has been his professional life with L&T that commenced in 2016 and the high point has been his project, the Madhya Pradesh Expressway, winning the Timely Delivery award. Having joined L&T at the Rewa-Katni-Jabalpur Road project as a Junior Engineer in March 2016, he worked in Package 2, managing the activities of a 5 km stretch that involved 13 HPCs, 4 box culverts, 3 minor bridges and a 96 m canal minor bridge 17 m below the ground. “It was a big task for me but we successfully completed it in time,” he says with vigor. “From 2020 to 2022, I worked at the MPEP PKG-22, my dream project, as Structure Incharge for a 5 km stretch from Ch 161 To 167 that included a major bridge 140 m in length, 6 MNBs, 6 box culverts, and a vehicular overpass including finishing activities.”
Labor is the backbone for structural work. Karthik recalls their problems of manpower shortage during the pandemic and having to train local labor to keep the project rolling. “From the start, we focused on finishing activities along with the main work which is one of the primary reasons for completing the project ahead of time,” he points out wisely. Being a greenfield project, the cotton soil across the entire alignment was a huge challenge especially during the rains and the team had to plan mitigatory steps to overcome this roadblock.
Karthik commends the micro-level planning of Project Director, J Jeeva David, Project Manager, Anil Kumar Sachan, and Section In-charge, Biplab Kumar Ghose. “They ensured that we had all the required resources on time and with extra effort from the entire team we succeeded,” he says triumphantly.
A native of Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, Karthik’s most cherished moment was when he held his daughter for the first time. He loves playing cricket during his free time.
A QUICK LEARNER, A STAR PERFORMER
Abhinav Kumar Singh
Assistant Construction Manager, RREC
A quick learner, young Abhinav Singh has been adding to his learning and experience ever since he joined L&T, his dream company, in 2016 as a GET. Being part of the team that completed the Madhya Pradesh Expressway project ahead of time is certainly one of his career high points. “Knowing that JJD Sir will be PD of MPEP Pkg-22, I approached and requested him to allow me to work at site. He agreed. Working at this site has been the turning point in my career,” he shares meaningfully. “Initially, I was Site In-charge of 6 km. By the end of the project, I was responsible for 11 km, and I am privileged to have been a part of this project.”
Abhinav is proud of some of his initiatives like preparing the access road along his entire stretch, starting service road construction, and fixing MBCB after completing the shoulder drain. “I focused on starting the finishing works in my stretch, along with the main works and fixed a sprayer arrangement to avoid embankment cuts during turf watering.” He is delighted that he was empowered with the freedom to perform, and given timely supply of man, machine, and material. “During meetings, I was given the opportunity to plan my work and set my own targets in line with the project completion timeline.”
Every project has its unique sets of challenges, he laughs. “In Ratlam, half the project stretch had to be constructed over black cotton soil and during the initial setup and preconstruction activities, it was challenging to clear the land, bridge the canals and make the approach motorable. Thanks to the insistence of JJD sir and Anil sir to only use the project access road for transportation, we started moving along the entire alignment within the first month itself.” Land issues, non-availability of soil, scarcity of water and a rocky terrain were some of the team’s other road blocks.
Born and raised in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, Abhinav’s previous projects were the Villukuri Kanyakumari Road Project, Tamil Nadu and the Jabalpur Lakhnadon Road Project, Madhya Pradesh, as Senior Engineer (Planning). His wife, Sneha Singh is a homemaker, and they have one son, Parv. “My most wonderful moment was the first glimpse of my son waving his hands and legs, intermittently playing with his eyes, and smiling in his dreams,” shares Abhinav who exercises, drives, cooks, and gardens in his free time.
Kalla Kiran Kumar
Assistant Construction Manager (Mech), RREC
THINK GLOBAL,
ACT LOCAL
He is a man of many words and much action that has translated into his team completing the Madhya Pradesh Expressway project ahead of schedule. “We created deadlines for each objective, prioritizing them as per project requirements and set early internal deadlines,” he shares. The available resources of manpower, equipment & tools were proactively prior budgeted, with timely adjustments wherever needed. “We micro-managed, induced accountability and responsibility to the last task owner of the team and made them to think globally and act locally.”
A real time dashboard to track progress and an open, enabling environment for free flow of ideas and feedback helped enormously. “I developed a multi skill set team to handle all the equipment and workshop activities for continuous work, and clearly communicated what I expected from my subordinates,” he informs.
However, as Kalla points out, it was not all easy going. Retaining skilled manpower during the pandemic, the remote location of the site, heavy and extended monsoons threw huge challenges to arrange for material, equipment, and manpower, especially in the face of frequent changes. “Timely support of resources, proper two-way communication of targets and requirements and a rewards and recognition boosted all of us to give off our best,” he shares enthusiastically. “Having a great team makes a huge difference, I am proud to be part of such a talented, fun-loving, and motivated team following our team leader JJD sir.” Kalla is thankful to SPR sir, VKS sir and Sagar Sir too for their constant support and giving him the freedom to perform that enhanced his skills.
“We are proud of our project as well as of L&T that makes things that make India proud and makes the impossible possible. We have the best working culture; and opportunities for learning and growth at the right time to the right person,” he shares with immense pride.
Kalla is still single and hails from the village of Rukminipuram, in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh. About his hobbies, he says, “I read books and blogs to keep me updated, expand my horizon and to learn about new, trending, and diverse subjects. I love playing volleyball that helps me unwind, relax, boost my creativity and analytical thinking skills.”
Almost expectedly, Kalla’s list of memorable moments is long: when he came to know about his selection by both Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya & Sainik School, when he received the Best Research Paper Award from IIT Kharagpur at EBSCC 2016 international conference, when his research paper was published in an open journal, when his sister got married and when he was placed in L&T, the same day his B. Tech results were declared in which he topped the group with an overall CGPA of 9.32!
“EXTREMELY FORTUNATE TO BE
WORKING WITH L&T!”
“I am extremely fortunate to work for L&T for we can work independently, think up fresh ideas, and further our careers,” says Raman Rajendran, who’s untiring efforts to keep their accounts in good shape has contributed in no small measure to completing the Madhya Pradesh Expressway Project (MPEP) ahead of time. The organization offers a variety of training programmes to help employees develop, opportunities to pursue higher education and recognize accomplishments, even of families, he remarks. Sharing a personal experience that has really touched him, he says, “When the neighbours and the entire community turned against a family during the pandemic, our organisation stood with them and provided support till they recovered.”
At site, Raman’s constant effort was to deal fairly and promptly with subcontractors and maintain good relations with all stakeholders involved with the project, internally and externally. “Yes, it is sometimes a struggle with our SSC and HQ to clear pending payments,” he laughs, “but with the help of our Project Accountant, I followed up to receive regular payments on time, personally addressing all the various queries of SSC. I raise regular fund requests, take funds from HQ, and settle all our debts promptly. Yes, of course,” he nods, “digital solutions have helped us to keep track of and reduce workplace accidents.”
Raman is all praise for the support from his mentors, Bimal Kanti Roy, and Project Director, J. Jeeva David to help him develop both professionally and personally. “They have helped me a lot especially whenever my child and I suffered health problems and have always supported my family. My seniors have given me flexibility and have always considered my suggestions.”
At his 4th project with L&T, Raman has previously spent two-anda-half years at the Unnao-Lucknow Expressway project, a year at the Amaravati Capital City Development project, a year and a half at the Bidkin Industrial Area (Package‑I) project and for the last couple of years, he has been with MPEP. Hailing from Madurai in Tamil Nadu, Raman’s better half is Jeeva Priya, a homemaker, and they are blessed with a baby girl, Yaashitha. “I love reading books,” he smiles and says proudly that his most memorable moment was when L&T gave him an opportunity to do an MBA.