Sourcing has led us to using alternative forms of organic matter, such as the imaginatively named ‘Dynamic Lifter’ - which is actually just chicken waste!
on site, we have learned to deal with limited access to construction materials that are readily available at home. Some of the most difficult items to source are drainage materials.
In civil works, Indian drainage systems tend to be on a very large scale and, usually, use concrete to move water around. In the golf industry, we are much more used to using PVC pipes, but these are not easily obtained in India, so we have to work much harder to ensure that our specifications are met. For example, in the UK we would specify 80mm diameter pipe for lateral drains in greens and tees, connected to 100mm diameter mains and 150mm diameter outfalls. However, in India we have found it impossible to source 80mm diameter perforated pipe domestically, and equally difficult to find 150mm pipe. Of course, it is possible to import these materials, but that increases the costs hugely. So, it is more efficient to change the specification so that we achieve the same results, but by using only locally sourced materials. In such circumstances, this extra work is easily offset by the reduction in construction costs and the environmental benefits of not having to cart the
necessary materials half way across the world. Sourcing has led us to using alternative forms of organic matter, such as coco peat or the imaginatively named ‘Dynamic Lifter’ - which is actually just chicken waste! Often, the client or contractor has had to become their own materials supplier, as no other alternatives existed. Such was the case when sourcing sand for the rootzone at KGA, where dredging a local river was the only way to get the sand which matched the specification. Several of the projects we’ve been working on in India have shared a difficulty we’ve found elsewhere in the world; that of trying to put together large sites from small plots of land with many different owners. Often, this means complex negotiations for our clients, and usually involves changing the golf course layout halfway through the project. On more than one occasion, we have had to reroute the course after construction has started, and have now learned that, even land owned by the government, does not make for an easy ride, as the problem of ownership is simply replaced by problems with the tenant farmers, who are not aware that the land they work on has been sold!
Thankfully, the farmers are usually compensated for their loss and, usually, end up becoming involved in the project as well.
But, it’s not just things that are directly
related to the project that have opened our eyes. It has been the cultural differences between India and the UK that have had such an impact on our work. This has included the permitting process which, in some ways, is simpler due to less well developed environmental legislation but, in other ways, more difficult due to India’s keen embracing of bureaucracy. This is largely due to the energy and enthusiasm which appears to pervade the population. For many, golf course construction is not something that they have come across before. In fact, for a lot of the labour, golf is not even something they have heard of!
This can cause some difficulties. Those
charged with building the greens do not know what greens are, or what characteristics they require. Bunkers are a mystery, as is the need to provide flat surfaces for tees. However, problems such as these are usually overcome by an amazing willingness to learn, and subsequent
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