Why The Government Can'T Build Its Own Roads.

How the Contractor for a Road is decided:

The General System: (L1 Bidding System) It’s a two packet process:
1. Packet A/B: This is a screen for Technical Prowess, Equipment, Financial Stability and Road Building Experience.
2. Packet C: The bidding for the lowest. The contractor which quotes the lowest estimate wins the bid and the contract.
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Almost Always (99%). And unless bid is unrealistically low or higher than expected or there’s a change of plans, the governing body holding the bidding cannot easily shut it down. Why? Corruption baby boy, corruption. OR more specifically, the fear of a financial raid. See, if they choose the other bidders like L2 or L3, the transaction will most likely be flagged by some overseeing organisation like the CBI. Who will most likely interpret it as a sign of corruption or bias thus hold an investigation which will inevitably lead to some jail time for the faulty. maybe.

Why the system isn’t ideal:

Bad Quality Control(QC): The contractors offering the lowest bid usually cheap out on the labour by using either untrained or underpaid labour. Skipping out on critical inspection steps or ignoring them outright even after an inspection ( happens more than you would think. ) Thereon leading to a bad road with potholes on it a decade earlier than they should be. BTW, the repair cycle for roads should be 3 decades. 3 decades. These contractors are also known to have long delays where they procure money or gather the required cheaper ( & maybe under-qualified) materials.

SO, Why won’t the Government build it’s own roads?

The longing for the ideal capitalistic economy is the driving factor. Where the active competition delivers both a better product and a cheaper cost. AND, tbh. I can see the idea. It isn’t unreasonable in that ideal economy. Thing is, there is no country in the world with a pure, untainted capitalist economy. At least not in the Civil Infrastructure Sector.

“What?” - asks someone in the audience.

Ever wonder how politicians get rich? You know they steal your tax money, but how? The answer is “Capitalism”. A version of it where the Government (The politician) is the capitalist. The companies that receive these government contracts are almost always run by the politician themselves through proxies and whatever other bullshit.

Both capitalism and democracy only work to their fruitful potential if they are maintained well and clear of interruptions. Where everyone has a compacted sub layer that does not deter to the rain of financial dips and highs. And when these two behemoths join, you gain the ultimate bullshit of the world, incarnation of greed and gluttony. Corruption . Things change, now suddenly the competition has to face off against a rich politician who can do lord knows what to them. Thus killing off a lot of potential growth right at its germination state.

And all of this in a country that dictates itself to be ‘Socialistic’ in it’s preamble.

And There. You wonder, did the Soviet Union build their own roads.

Yes, yes they did. I wrote this before I checked, it’s correct. They did it with forced labour. But they had trains.

Anyways.

How to build a road.

Do not try at home. A comprehensive guide to build a road, even from your home!

Steps:
1. Site Analysis: The engineers source and analyse the data on the road’s expected traffic, problematic junctions and upgrades required in the area like adding a gas line or maintaining water/sewage pipes. They check for rainfall received by the road and previous issues and plan to work around them. This phase is critical planning. Arguably the most important.
2. Ground Preparation: As the name suggests, you prepare the ground, clean it up. Then add the sub grade layer. It’s basically compacted soil, helps it with contraction and gives a stable ground. A ground which keeps the road from sinking and forming potholes. In this step you also need to start making embankments for the drainage.
3. More Layers: First is a thick gravel layer (Granular sub base layer), helps with load distribution and majorly with moisture management, done by even the worst of road constructors. Second is crushed rocks, gives a hard ground. Then you need to test the road for thickness, how much it compacts under load etc etc. Inspection.
4. Asphalt/Concrete Laying: Lay asphalt or concrete. Concrete is stronger, more expensive. Only sensible for highways since it requires heavy and slow equipment.
5. Finishing Touches: Road markings, signs etc. More important than you’d think.

Now, you might be wondering why your newly “repaired” road has already broken down. WELL. They missed step 1 and 2 when they first made the road. Adding asphalt ain’t fixing shit. No drainage, no sub layer. However, this is not as bad a thing as you might think. Complete road repairs allow for the city to experiment with radical(?) ideas like omg a bus/cycle lane or OMG a FOOTPATH FOR ME TO WALK RIGHT IN FRONT OFMYFUCKINGHOUSE.

anyways. have a good day!