Message from Chief Engineer's Desk

 

 

 
Design Inspection & Quality Control Department is one of the major functional wings of Public Works Department,Government of J&K, and its Division Offices are presently operational at Jammu & Srinagar, with its Direction Office at, Bagwati Nagar, Canal Road, Jammu.
Principal objective of the establishment of Design Inspection & Quality Control Department is to provide, through our core operational areas of Design, Inspection, Material Testing & Quality Control, every possible and practical technical assistance to all Technical /Non-Technical Departments in State, concerning their pertinent “Ongoing and Future” Planning, Design and Infrastructure Development Projects. This also encompasses assorted Research & Material Testing/Investigation related issues. The technical assistance by this department includes improvisation through vetting of projects for various engineering aspects of safety, serviceability, economy and aesthetics, before any given project could be put to execution. The department of Design Inspection & Quality also encourages new material innovations/technology and use of advanced construction material in various high-value constructions in the state.
The Design Inspection & Quality Control Department is also purposeful for providing a platform to carry out an applied (Practical Output Oriented) research and development on different aspects of road planning, design & construction, particularly focusing on all technical road related problems/concerns, within the J&K State, which include all State Highways, District Roads, Sub-District Roads, Village Roads etc. 
The department is presently providing a Centralized Construction Material Testing/Design/Investigation facility at Srinagar & Jammu, which is operational for material quality control related issues/concerns for any potential construction within the J&K State. Such Material Testing/Design/Investigation would primarily include Testing of Cement Concrete Material, Testing of Concrete Reinforcing & Structural Steel, Testing of Road Making Materials, Geological & Geotechnical Investigation of construction sites for projects, including site feasibility studies, Design of material mixes like Concrete Mix & Bituminous Mix. The Material Testing also encompasses Insitu/ non-destructive/semi-destructive & forensic investigation on structures, suspected for use of questionable/underspecified material.
The department is actively involvement for all core future planning and technical decision making aspects of State master-plan development, transportation planning, infrastructure planning & development, high-value project planning and execution etc. Design inspection & Quality Control Department is also establishing an educational training facilities for internal training of engineers/works contractors from all departments, primarily focusing on knowledge up-gradation about recent advancements in construction techniques, latest revision in code of practices by Bureau of Indian Standards/IRC etc.
This department, through Road Research & Material Testing Laboratory, proposes to work in tandem with departments like Disaster Management for real time evaluation of Structural Health/Safety of buildings for either retrofitting them or declaring them unsafe/hazardous. This may critically include special technical attention to all heritage buildings within the state, for their stability during earthquakes. Such collaboration may also assist in checking safety aspect for all future construction projects, involving large crowd convenience. As an extension of operational domain for DIQCD, through Road Research & Material Testing Laboratory, the department is also proposing an establishment of District Level Quality Monitoring Laboratories, for more effective implementation of its principal objectives, as stated earlier. This would ensure efficient and time bound execution of quality control related checks for ongoing projects within a district
DIQCD, through Road Research & Material Testing Laboratory, is planning to upgrade itself by establishing state-of the art Earthquake Research Centre for State of J&K, with its core contribution in economical and safer design/construction of buildings/infrastructure in one of the most seismically active part of the world (Jammu & Kashmir). As part of applied contribution, this shall include bringing earthquake resistant engineering construction knowledge from an engineer, all the way down to end-used like a common person intending a residential/commercial construction or a skilled labour like a mason/carpenter/barbender. This will surely encourage a much needed collaboration with learned experts from reputed research institutes of country like Indian Institutes of Technology, National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) etc. 
Apart from looking at the contribution, from Design Inspection & Quality Conrol Department, in terms of number of projects which have assisted directly or indirectly for various Government Departments/Semi-Government Departments/Government Undertakings/Corporations/Corporate-Companies/ Private Agencies, the department is also generating tangible revenue from various Design Vetting, Testing and Investigative jobs undertaken.
                                                                                                                                                           Sd/
                                                                                                                                         Er Virander Kumar Gupta