ICT of India Wins 2005 BE Award

Feasibility Study and Detailed Engineering for the Four-Laning of India National Highway 1A Named Top Project in �Civil: Road Design� Category

Exton, Pa. � 29 July 2005 � Intercontinental Consultants and Technocrats Pvt. Ltd. (ICT), a leading New Delhi-based international provider of consultancy services for infrastructure development, has won a 2005 BE Award for its Feasibility Study and Detailed Engineering for the Four-Laning of National Highway 1A project in Jammu and Kashmir State, India. The award category was �Civil: Road Design.�

The BE Awards of Excellence, which are selected by an independent jury of industry experts and presented at an evening ceremony during the annual BE Conference (www.be.org), honor the extraordinary work of Bentley users improving the world�s infrastructure. These projects set benchmarks for their industries, and showcase the imagination and technical mastery of the organizations that created them.

ICT is part of a consortium of consultants commissioned by the National Highways Authority of India to develop a feasibility study and detailed design for a project that involved widening an important highway from two lanes to four. The road, part of National Highway 1A, is the main lifeline linking the tourist centers of Jammu and Srinagar in India.

As D. Vasudevan, ICT�s additional director (IT), explains, no one expected this to be an easy project. �This project, which involves the difficult combination of hilly terrain, tunnel sections, and plains, was always considered a challenge to the designers and road engineers,� said Vasudevan. �The use of Bentley�s MX software has greatly benefited us in providing optimal alignments and helping us complete the feasibility study on time, which otherwise would have been difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish. The detailed designs are currently in advanced stages of completion � on or ahead of schedule.�

Portions of the road that pass through steep, mountainous terrain are subject to avalanches, landslides, and falling rock, which frequently cause fatal accidents. As a result, designers were asked to take on the additional challenge of reducing the existing road�s exposure to these hazards by rerouting sections to less difficult terrain.

ICT used Bentley MX software to create a digital terrain model (DTM) from survey maps, and worked out several new road alignments to avoid hazardous areas. Satellite images draped on the DTM helped identify geological formations and land-use patterns along the proposed alignments.

The DTM enabled a team of two engineers to quickly plan not only the 33-kilometer route through the complex, geodynamic terrain, but also alternative routes totaling 120 kilometers. The 3D visualization provided by the Bentley MX software helped identify the best alignments.

After determining the project to be economically viable � using quantity estimates generated by the Bentley software � ICT began the detailed design. For hazardous areas that were unavoidable, ICT modeled the terrain using ground surveys as well as satellite images. By highlighting topographic details, the models helped engineers see where hazard management measures, such as snow fences, were needed.

About Intercontinental Consultants and Technocrats 

Intercontinental Consultants and Technocrats Pvt. Ltd. is a leading New Delhi-based international consulting organization specializing in highways, structures, airports, urban and rural infrastructure development, water supply, traffic and transportation studies, ports and tourism projects including institutional strengthening, as well as socio-economic and environmental studies.

ICT has a dedicated team of more than 1,000 professionals with state-of-the-art knowledge of international standards in the fields of planning, feasibility studies, detailed engineering, techno-economic studies, cost appraisal, financial analysis, project management, construction supervision, etc. 

www.ictonline.com

About the BE Conference 

The BE Conference, which consistently scores a 99 percent attendee satisfaction rating, is a once-a-year learning opportunity for Bentley users and their managers offering professional training, technology updates, keynotes, and best practice sharing. At these sessions, attendees better themselves, better their organizations, and better the ways they can improve the world�s infrastructure.

To pre-register for BE Conference 2006, go to www.be.org/preregister 

About Bentley 

Bentley Systems, Incorporated provides software for the lifecycle of the world�s infrastructure. The company�s comprehensive portfolio for the building, plant, civil, and geospatial vertical markets spans architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) and operations. With 2004 revenues exceeding $300 million, Bentley is the leading provider of AEC software to the Engineering News-Record Design 500 and major owner-operators.

www.bentley.com

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