The Delhi Public Works Department is considering hiring a ‘transaction advisor’ who will frame the Request For Proposal (RFP) and bid documents for intended road repairing and strengthening works in Delhi, The Indian Express reported.
The advisor will be studying the current system of road repair and maintenance which has been adopted by the PWD, as per the officials. One of the key projects proposed in the Delhi budget earlier this year included the repairing and maintenance of roads for a ten-year period.
This is the first-of-its-kind process where the PWD is calling tenders seeking a contractor for advise on how to prepare bids.
PWD officials to collect road health data
The officials at the PWD will collect road health data by using network survey vehicles. The resultant data will be given to the ‘transaction advisor’ for charting a suitable tender document for road repair, suggesting the mode of bidding for carrying out repair/re-carpeting work and its maintenance for an appropriate period.
A PWD official said that they are aiming to have “financially viable and effectively implementable bid documents” through the transaction advisor keeping in mind the risks and implications linked to these proposed projects. They also aim to have “appropriate returns to the executing agencies as well as protecting the interest of Government, while successful execution of projects”.
The advisor will suggest the options of the mode of bidding/tender conditions along with their recommendations of the best-suited one.
PWD’s plans for repair work
The PWD is considering re-carpeting, strengthening, maintaining and monitoring for seven years in two parts initially. The first part will cover executing the project including strengthening/re-carpeting every road by removing old layers and laying new ones using milled material achieved from scraping.
“The aim is to ensure that the roads remain in good condition and provide a good road riding experience to the users. So, once appointed, the ‘transaction advisor’ will work out and submit, with reasons, the mode of payment to be adopted in bid document,” said the officials.
The second part will see the PWD ensuring that the surface of the road remains free of defects for 5-7 years or more. The department plans to maintain and monitor the quality of the surface of the roads through Artificial Intelligence-based services. “The goal of this part of the project is to maintain the good condition of roads and provide a consistent and high-quality road riding experience for users in Delhi,” the officials said.