Apart from the many attractions that you find in Germany, the ones that can never be missed are the manholes that are laid along all the roads. Although they are aplenty, its hard to spot as they blend very well with the road. One noted difference between the manholes here and in India is their height (or depth) from the road level. This is almost zero here whereas you can have differences upto +/- 15 cm (or more) in India. This not only interrupts the beauty of the roads but also causes a lot of mishaps. I have seen many vehicles (especially 2-wheelers) skidding off these manholes and have also read about dangerous accidents in newspapers.I sometimes wonder what is preventing us in India from designing a manhole in such a manner. I have observed them here in Germany pretty carefully and I found that they are made of a steel framework with a filling of concrete. Both these materials are available in India as well. Moreover we also have the technology to construct quality manholes. I guess the difference comes in planning the laying of the road. Usually the height of the manhole remains fixed whereas the height of the road-level keeps changing because they get re-laid constantly. Probably a simple solution to this problem would be a telescopic man-hole which can be extracted or retracted according to the changes in the road level. In this manner, the height of the man-hole can be kept in-line with the road and thus all those dangerous accidents can easily be prevented. I hope that the Government of India takes some serious action towards this problem because I feel it is very important. It is not just about making that ride to home or office more pleasurable but also safe.
4 comments:
Interesting! But you should agree one fact, "FORGET ABOUT MANHOLES - IN INDIA ROAD ITSELF HAS MANY HOLES IN IT!!!!!!"
Thats a good point. I guess the Road Works Department in India has double the work to do now :~)
Hmm.. My father works for Highways in Chennai. Even though they dont work on all the city roads, I did ask him about it. When they lay roads initially, it is infact of the same height as the manhole, and there is no Hole in the ground.
But this road, doesn't last long enough. Hence they have to lay the roads all over again. (Or the other option is to leave it as is, which is also done in a few places..lol). They just lay it on top of the existing road, making the manholes sink lower. Imagine the same thing over years...:) We are actually about 3 or 4 feet over sea level, let alone manholes. :)
well the difference between india and other countries is the use of gravel and other composites that dont easily wear out and also that the combinations and rules are followed exactly and India uses more of tar and granite chips... whereas in India, due to corruption right from top to bottom, its never followed the necessary steps or proper layout suggestions... It actually has to be so many cms or inches of granite, then another layer and so on, but it never happens... so what a road should wear out in say 7 years it hardly lasts us 3!! Government gets an okay and gives an estimation for so many crores(half in the pocket) civil contractors give an estimation(half in the pocket) material gets purchased (half only bought and laid) well how do u expect the roads to last?!! So naturally after a rain Manholes in hundreds.. Shame that even the roads in India are a result of corruption...
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