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Do streets, highways, and sidewalks; public transportation, street lighting and traffic control systems fascinate you? Do you find your mind dwelling on potable water supply, wastewater and drainage? Do parks, recreation facilities, and public open spaces; communications systems and public buildings visit your dreams? If yes, then construction and infrastructure management is the career for you.

Infrastructure management deals with the processes necessary for the planning and development of new infrastructure in a cost-effective manner. It includes infrastructure planning, infrastructure economics, condition assessment and procedures and infrastructure management systems. Optimal maintenance management, reliability of infrastructure systems, asset valuation and utilisation, infrastructure planning under risk and uncertainty are also core areas of infrastructure management.

The construction and infrastructure management course prepares students to become effective managers and decision-makers familiar with modern techniques of construction management, and infrastructure management.

Research areas in construction and infrastructure management revolve around the use of system models in construction planning and control, system dynamics modelling and simulation for learning and information technology. Automated techniques for productivity monitoring and improvement, organisation structuring, human and environmental factors in sustainable construction, conflict avoidance and dispute resolution are some of the other core areas.

What do I have to do?

Construction and infrastructure managers effectively manage roads, bridges, airports, utility services, water and waste facilities, parks, buildings and sports complexes.

They focus on infrastructure as an integrated system, accurately assess infrastructure needs and assess the risks in the different possible actions to meet the needs of the system. They also aim to optimise its performance and its environmental impact, including social.

Infrastructure management also focuses on the processes necessary for the planning and development of new infrastructure and the maintenance and operation of infrastructure.

Phases of civil infrastructure, life-cycle management include planning, programming and budgeting, design, construction, operations, maintenance, repair, renovation and disposal. Some factors that are considered in these stages include design for reliability, maintainability, supportability, and design for whole life. Environmental effects, condition assessment, condition indices and needs analysis are also some of the factors that play a key role.

Performance and deterioration modelling, failure analysis, life-cycle cost and analysis; maintenance and rehabilitation practices; project-level and network-level concepts; prioritisation and optimisation are also kept in mind.

What should I study?

You should either have a degree in civil engineering, architecture or a diploma in civil engineering with some work experience. This programme enhances your potential in the job market and places you in a position to fulfil the ever increasing demands in the construction sector. After some years of experience, one can become a construction management consultant.

What next?

The index of a country’s development is reflected by its infrastructure. The desperate need for infrastructure development has led to a boom in the construction industry. The Indian construction industry is very large and is important to various sectors of the economy. It employs about 31 million people — second only to agriculture in terms of employment. It consumes 40-50 per cent of the National Plan outlay and contributes 20 per cent of the GDP.

Thanks to globalisation, the construction sector is set to attract huge foreign investment. The government is also investing billions to develop the country’s infrastructure. Projects like the Golden Quadrilateral, linking of rivers (the Himalayan rivers in the north and peninsular rivers in south India), atomic power stations, metro rail and sky bus projects are making use of sophisticated technologies and a multi-skilled work force. A further five to six million skilled professionals will be needed in the next five years.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)