GeoVista Technologies, along with Lea Associates South Asia in JV with Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), have been awarded the contract to provide iRAP consultancy services for the Road Safety Audit and Design of North and North East Zone Roads as part of the Karnataka State Highway Improvement Project – III (KSHIP-III) underway by the Government of Karnataka in India with financing from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Supported by a loan of USD$494 million, the greater KSHIP-III Project will star rate about 17,000km of the road network under two packages using already available NSV data with the Project Implementing Agency (PIU-KSHIP) and Planning and Roads Asset Management Centre (PRAMC).

It will involve evidence-based safety upgrades of identified state highways to 2- and 4-lane carriageways with paved shoulders, depending on traffic requirements, and reconstruction, widening, and strengthening of culverts and bridges.

As part of the project encompassing the State’s North and North East Zone Roads, GeoVista Technologies in partnership with Lea Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd. in JV with Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) will:

• Conduct iRAP Star Rating assessments of selected roads with supporting data collection and the preparation of Star Ratings and Safer Roads Investment Plans (SRIP)
• Conduct a detailed Road Safety Audit of approximately 9,531km of State Highways and Major District Roads under the CRN
• Review road safety audits carried out earlier by the Planning and Roads Asset Management Centre and under KSHIP- II for approximately 379km and 327km respectively.
• Conduct an iRAP risk assessment of approximately 10,237km of State Highways and Major District Roads
• Star Rating of Designs to improve identified crash-prone locations for about 1,500km.
• Conduct a workshop to disseminate the results
• Conduct Training on Road Safety Audit, iRAP, Star Rating and SRIP outputs to strengthen institutional capacity and efficiency in Karnataka Public Works, Ports, and Inland Water Transport Department (KPWD)

Roads under study in the project will include:

Similar activities will be undertaken on 7,244km of South and Central Zone roads by Feedback Infra Pvt. Ltd. in JV with Padeco Co. Ltd. and TPF Engineering Pvt. Ltd.

The Karnataka State Highways Improvement Project (KSHIP) commenced in 2001 as the first major initiative of the Public Works Department of Government of Karnataka to improve state roads and highways in collaboration with external partners.

iRAP has been involved with the project since 2011/2012 when phase two – the Karnataka State Highways Improvement Project-II (KSHIP-II) – commenced.

An iRAP 5-Star Performer Award was presented to the KSHIP Programme and World Bank in 2013 for iRAP assessments and capacity building to ensure that safety was built-in to designs for new roads and major upgrades, prior to construction. Karnataka was the first jurisdiction in the region to commit to setting minimum Star Ratings for new road designs.

Images credit: GeoVista