Road construction takes twice time in NE: Union Transport secretary
August 5, 2013
By PTI |
Road, Transport and Highways Minister Oscar Fernandes and senior officials from the ministry today held a review meeting of the road projects in North East with chief ministers and representatives of the states from the region.
“Land acquisition and forest clearance are the main issues in implementing the projects. We have the money, but we are getting stuck at implementation,” Chhibber said.
“Many state PWDs are not up to the mark in implementing the projects. Pre-construction activities are taking too much time in this region,” he added.
The Ministry is implementing an ambitious Special Accelerated Road Development Programme (SARDP-NE) to develop road network in this region, aiming to provide connectivity to all the district headquarters.
The two-phased programme, including Arunachal Package, covers about 10,141 km.
The phase A of SARDP-NE, including Arunachal Package, covers 6,418 km and is estimated to incur an investment of Rs 33,688 crore during the 12th Five-Year Plan. The phase B is in conceptual stage.
Out of that, 2,000 km is planned for the current fiscal at an investment of Rs 3,100 crore, Chhibber said.
So far, about 1,000 km have been completed and the entire project is targeted for completion by June, 2016.
The project is being executed by the state PWDs, Border Roads Organisation, National Highways Authority of India and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
World Bank debars Indian firm for corruption in road project
August 5, 2013
The decision follows a World Bank investigation and review of poorly performing road construction contractsunder the bank-financed project, for which CES was the supervision consultant, the bank said in a statement on Friday.
Consulting Engineering Services (CES) will not qualify for any contract financed by the World Bank Group during the five-year debarment, which came into effect on Friday.
“The debarment is part of a Negotiated Resolution Agreement between the World Bank and CES that addresses misconduct that occurred under CES’s former ownership and former management. The settlement resolves an investigation into allegations that CES defrauded the Highway Project and received bribes from construction contractors on the Project,” the statement said.
CES has agreed not to contest that its engineers approved forged and falsified invoices to support advance claims for payment under the contracts, in part in exchange for receiving improper cash payments and other things of value for their personal benefit.
The company also agreed not to contest the fact that the bid submitted by its former management and former owners for the supervision contract contained falsified credentials of its proposed staff.
In addition to conducting its own internal investigation, CES has fully cooperated with the World Bank Integrity team and has begun reforming its corporate compliance program.
“This case demonstrates the World Bank’s strong commitment to manage corruption risks and the progressive shift we are making in promoting corporate compliance,” said Leonard McCarthy, World Bank Integrity Vice President. “Companies, like CES, who, when notified of misconduct, self-investigate and take actions against wrongdoers offer a good example.”
The debarment may be converted to conditional non-debarment at the end of the first 24 months if CES fulfils its obligations under the agreement, the World Bank said.
Road Ministry sets target to complete Rs 34K Cr projects in NE by 2016
August 5, 2013
By PTI |
NEW DELHI: Government has set a target to complete Rs 33,688 crore projects under Special Accelerated Road Development Programme by June 2016 to improve infrastructure in the country’s North Eastern region.
“The phase A of SARDP-NE including Arunachal Package covers 6,418 km at an estimated cost of Rs 33,688 crore… The project is targeted for completion by June, 2016,” according to the Road Transport and Highways (RTH) Ministry.
The projects are being executed by the States Public Work Departments, Border Roads Organisation (BRO), National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
SARDP is Special Accelerated Road Development Programme. So far, about 1,180 km have been completed, as per the Ministry, which said it targets to award projects in a total length of about 2,000 km and achieve completion in 550 km length during 2013-14.
The Phase B of the SARDP is at a conceptual stage, as per the Ministry.
The programme envisages providing road connectivity to all the district headquarters in the north eastern region by minimum 2-lane highway standards apart from providing road connectivity to backward and remote areas, areas of strategic importance and neighbouring countries.
RTH Minister Oscar Fernandes and Secretary Vijay Chhiber last week reviewed the progress of projects in presence of Chief Ministers of the states. They asked officials to expedite progress and find ways to speed up implementation of the projects.
The Minister said the government was serious about developing infrastructure and would carry out feasibility study for the newly declared NH-127 B. This will connect Srirampur to Phulbari via Dhubri including construction of a bridge over river Brahmaputra.
It will also invite Request for Qualification (RFQ) for widening NH-37 between Numaligarh – Jorhat – Demow – Dibrugarh to 4-lane standards on BOT ( Annuity) basis besides work on other projects. Chhibber emphasised that government is committed to accelerated development of infrastructure in the country in general and in the North East Region in particular. The developments come in the wake of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reviewing infrastructure projects in the North East Region in a meeting held on July 18. An Empowered Group of Ministers and a committee under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary have also been constituted to quickly find solutions for outstanding issues impeding the progress of projects.
Source-http://economictimes.indiatimes.com
Roads: Opportunity for new players?
August 3, 2013
The need of the hour is positive policy making from government while private sector should contribute by innovation and informed risk taking, writes Sudhir Hoshing.
Indian roads sector is undergoing an evolutionary phase where the government is putting forth several public-private partnership (PPP) models (such as BOT, EPC, OMT, etc) in order to attract the interest of private players for efficient and effective development of the backbone of the nation’s economy. In terms of number of projects, roads and highways are emerging as the favoured destinations for PPP with 53 per cent projects in PPP from road sector.
Sector challenges
The sector, however, witnessed several constraints and financial stress due to inordinate delays in land acquisition, long-winding processes for obtaining statutory clearances, revenue leakage due to toll non-compliance, economic slowdown, etc. These problems led to investors shying away from bidding for any new projects in 2012-13.
The average number of bidders in 2012-13 was five, with 13 projects attracting no bidder at all. This is clearly a drastic drop over the average of 20 bidders during 2011-12. Given drying up of equity markets and lenders apprehensive to lend to the sector, weaker players will find it tough to raise funds. Out of the 32 national highway projects awarded during 2011-12, 18 projects have not succeeded in obtaining the financial closure. The number of projects failing to achieve financial closure further shoots up to over 30 considering projects awarded in 2012-13 as well.
Government response
The government began deliberating on various measures to revive the waning investor interest and put the sector back on the growth path. Alternative sources of project funding are being explored by the government including, but not limited to:
100 per cent government funding through EPC contract, since there are very few takers for BOT projects due to equity crunch.
Encouraging credit enhancement schemes being introduced by companies like IIFCL: Under such schemes, the institution provides partial credit guarantee to enhance the ratings of the project bond thereby enabling channelisation of long term funds from fairly untapped sources such as insurance companies and pension funds etc.
Exploring funding through Infrastructure Debt Funds: The IDF would seek to raise debt capital from domestic as well as foreign resources and invest in projects under the PPP model that have completed a year of operations.
In addition to the above, the government considered a slew of measures to revive the sector, such as:
Grant of partial COD if 75 per cent construction is complete and balance is stuck due to land acquisition issues: Provisional Completion Certificate shall be issued by Independent Engineer/ NHAI for the portion completed and the concessionaire shall be permitted to do partial tolling on the completed portion.
Linkage of NHAI-estimated Total Project Cost to Wholesale Price Index: Usually there is a variation between government’s project cost estimates and developer’s estimates due to cost and time over runs between the initial bid and award stage. This would substantially reduce with the inflation-indexed mechanism being considered by NHAI to appraise Total Project Cost (TPC). NHAI guarantees 90 per cent payment of debt to the lenders in case of termination but it recognises only its own TPC. So, banks have greater risk in lending for a project where the TPC is higher than the NHAI estimate. Termination payment in inflation-indexed mechanism would however be inflation-adjusted, thereby adequately addressing the risk of lenders.
Delinking environment and forest clearances: Proposals of over 20 highway projects, which had already been recommended for environmental clearance last year, are stuck because forest or tree cutting clearances had not come through. Construction work can now begin on these stretches and NHAI can start allowing commercial operations date for four-to-six laning projects, a move that will allow developers to start collecting tolls. Extension of time required to achieve financial closure: The concessionaire is liable to gather its funds for the project within 180 days of the date of awarding the project. If it fails, it can request for a grace period of 120 days more after paying a penalty. However, beyond that, if the firm is unable to submit its sources of funds, the project stands cancelled. It is then either rebid or awarded to the second lowest bidder. NHAI has in some instances allowed the concessionaire more than 300 days for financial closure, where the project was stuck due to reasons beyond the control of the concessionaire. For example, in case of Kota-Jhalawar highway project in Rajasthan which was stuck due to delay in securing statutory clearances, NHAI extended the deadline for financial closure beyond 300 days.
Consideration of loans extended to highways sector as secured loans: The finance ministry has urged the Reserve Bank of India to consider a change in its stance that treats loans to road projects as unsecured, as this makes banks wary of lending.
Early exit options for highway builders after completion of construction: Under the norms in place since November 2009, developers must hold at least 26 per cent of equity up to two years after the COD. The ministry is examining the possibility of easing such restrictions and consequently freeing up equity capital of the developer locked in operational projects. While the move is intended to clear ground for new investors in the funds-starved sector, the departments of economic affairs and expenditure of the finance ministry feel that non-serious investors wanting to make quick capital gains could misuse the proposed facility.
Consolidation phase & opportunities ahead
Of late, the sector seems to be headed towards consolidation with several developers looking to divest their stake in BOT projects. GMR recently sold 74 per cent stake in its subsidiary, GMR Jadcherla Expressways. SBI Macquarie, Uniquest Infra Ventures (Malaysian government sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad and IDFC JV) are noted to have expressed interest in many road projects. Such secondary market deals would offer a good proposition to buyers having adequate funds to take on the projects. Availability of 50 road projects worth Rs 50,000 crore totalling 5,000 km are on the block in the secondary market with no takers for most of these projects.
Further, as per announcement on Budget 2013, most of the proposed 3,000 km of highways would be awarded on EPC basis. There are many regional players who have expertise in EPC but they shy away from BOT projects as they are not in a position to block their investment for 20 to 30 years and face traffic risk. These regional players will look for EPC opportunity in the areas where they already have their resources mobilised. Thus, they could benefit from EPC projects of size less than Rs 500 crore, where they could earn good returns due to regional presence. The ministry is looking to award projects on Operate, Maintain and Transfer (OMT) basis. A model concession agreement for operation and maintenance of national highways through private players on OMT basis has already been approved. The OMT model is very similar to the Build, Operate and Transfer model except that in case of the former, instead of construction, operation and maintenance, the private entity’s responsibility stands confined to just operation and maintenance of highways.
However, the recent OMT projects that were out for bidding had capex ranging from Rs 50 crore to Rs 100 crore and equity commitment of at least 33 per cent stake during the entire concession period keeps small players, having the requisite expertise, from participating in such projects. This means that pure service providers without balance sheet strength will not be able to participate in such projects, especially given shorter concession period.
Overall, the opportunities are difficult to identify and serious players who can withstand the challenges will be able to survive. The need of the hour is positive policy making from government while private sector should contribute by innovation and informed risk taking.
Source-http://infrastructuretoday.co.in
L&T explores business trust model for IDPL’s road portfolio to raise Rs 2500 crore
August 3, 2013
 |
Currently L&T IDPL has a portfolio of 18 roads, 10 of which are operational. All the projects are housed under individual special purpose vehicles (SPVs). The total project outlay for the road projects is Rs 21,600 crore. L&T is among the top two road developers in the country.
Interestingly, the trust proposal has come at a time when L&T IDPL is already in advanced negotiations with a clutch of sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and long only investors to raise up to $500 million by diluting 15-20% at an initial equity valuation in excess of $2 billion. Abu Dhabi-headquartered Mubadala Development Corporation and Khazannah, the investment vehicle of the government of Malaysia and a global pension fund are among the potential suitors. Morgan Stanley has already been advising L&T IDPL in those live negotiations.
The sources quoted earlier added that the entire matter is still at a preliminary stage and may or may not translate into a dea. “The proposals are still being evaluated and no final decision has been made as yet. It is still preliminary brain storming,” said a senior official involved directly in ongoing discussions.
Sources add that L&T’s management would not want to upset the ongoing discussions and are evaluating if an equity investment in the parent platform (L&T IDPL) can co-exist with the listing of the operational road asset at level below via the trust model.
“Tapping alternate markets have always been part and parcel of the ideas pool for IDPL. It’s not a new or novel idea. Even some Indian companies have tried it in the past. The company’s operating team will take a final call on its strategy to find growth capital. We haven’t constrained them. Based on their decision, they will come to the board and also to L&T with a concrete proposal…They haven’t so far,” said R Shankar Raman, CFO, L&T and a director of L&T IDPL.
Raman felt that both transactions could potentially co-exist. “Infrastructure is a nascent sector, so are the different investment routes. This structure will evolve over time. If the parent’s mandate is to identify, develop and commission good projects, then post commissioning you don’t have to run them yourself for the next 35 years,” he added.
“Despite the overall slump in infrastructure and considerable macro economic headwinds, the PE transaction at L&T IDPL has progressed considerably even though it’s been slow and challenging. Serious negotiations are on with an interested party and a deal should close in the next few months. So this new development has been a surprise to us but will not be at the cost of the other. The management will only proceed if the potential financial investor does not have an objection,” said one of the sources mentioned above.
However when contacted L&T IDPL CEO K Venkatesh said he had no such plans to list the road portfolio separately or create an investment trust. “Bankers keep suggesting ideas. But we are not looking at that option. Our plan is to get private equity and we have reached a stage where some firms have shown a lot of interest and we are going ahead with due diligence.”
As per new plan, a separate trust will be created where all or most of the operational roads will get transferred. This trust then listed overseas and will be traded amongst investors who look for annualised cash flows or yields. The advisors have suggested three markets — Singapore, Hong Kong and London — for a potential listing where there is still traction for Indian paper.
The move is aimed at raising funds for the roads to meet ongoing and future capital requirements and also to trim the existing debt of parent L&T. If the debt from the operating road projects were to be transferred into a separate trust, the strain on L&T’s consolidated books will reduce significantly. Being an infrastructure developer, L&T IDPL is a cash guzzler but its debt gets reflected in the parent’s books impacting its credit ratings adversely.
Till 31st March 2013, excluding L&T standalone and L&T Financials, the group had Rs 29,000 crore of debt – a lion’s share was on account of L&T IDPL.
Unlike companies, business trusts aren’t required to show profits before distributing available cash funds. As a result, investors can get returns even before profits are generated. This is useful for businesses that generate high cash flows, but see a substantial depreciation of their assets — in this case, capital-intensive highway projects.
“Forming an investment trust looks like a viable option on paper. But in reality, a company like L&T would require to have ample number of operational projects with toll collection data history to make a move like this. Listing an investment trust overseas entails some degree of forex risk too. Also, in with domestic interest rates being high and uncertainty over GDP growth, it may be challenging to get very good valuations,” warned Nitin Bhasin, analyst, Ambit Capital.
Beyond roads, L&T IDPL’s portfolio of 27 infrastructure assets includes three ports and a metro rail project. Out of that, Rs 16,400-crore Hyderabad Metro project is one of the most ambitious BOT (build operate and transfer) asset.
The company has also partnered with Tata Steel for an equal venture for the Rs 3,000-crore Dhamra Port, with a debt equity of 2:1. As on March 2013, the total project cost of all the SPVs put together is a whopping Rs 65,600 crore. While the equity is Rs 5500 crore, the residual equity commitment of Rs 8700 crore is yet to flow in. The debt in the projects stood at Rs 51,400 crore.
Massive infusion of funds for developing 6418 km of highways in Northeast India
August 3, 2013
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Oscar Fernandes who was in Guwahati on Friday reviewed the progress of National Highway works.
Fernandes said that a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh was held on July 18 last to review the status of development projects in the region and discussed steps to accelerate the same.
The ministry has decided to carry out a feasibility study for the newly declared National Highway NH-127 B connecting Srirampur (on NH-31 C) to Phulbari via Dhubri including construction of a bridge over river Brahmaputra. Besides improving the connectivity for Assam, this would also provide an alternative shorter connectivity between Nongstoin in Meghalaya with West Bengal and will provide greater access to Assam and Meghalaya.
The ministry has technically vetted the proposal of the Ministry of DONER for construction of a new bridge across river Barak to connect Silchar town as an alternative to the existing Sadarghat Bridge and widen the NH-37 between Numaligarh — Jorhat — Demow — Dibrugarh to 4-lane standards on BOT ( Annuity) basis.
Secretary to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Vijay Chibber also announced that from now onwards all works by Public Works Department and Border Border Roads Organisation (BRO)will be implemented under EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) mode instead of the conventional item rate contract system for effective implementation of projects.
Source-http://economictimes.indiatimes.com
Road projects: Exit norms can bring in funds, cut debt, say infra firms
July 30, 2013
V. RISHI KUMAR
HYDERABAD, JUNE 22:
Companies doing sizeable business in the infrastructure space have welcomed the Government’s move to bring in flexibility in the roads sector, including revised norms that permit stake sale in projects right after commissioning.
The move is expected to accelerate the rate of churn of projects, increase the size of disinvestment, bring about liquidity, aid in debt swap and infuse fresh equity into new projects.
R. Balarami Reddy, Executive Director, Finance, IVRCL, told Business Line that the decision will help accelerate the process of exits and give more flexibility to the developer.
EASING DEBT BURDEN
Until now, a developer of road projects under the National Highways Authority programme could divest up to 74 per cent stake in the project two years after the date of commissioning. The developer had to retain the rest during the concessional phase.
Now, the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs has permitted infrastructure companies to sell their stakes soon after the date of commissioning. This could be in tranches or for the entire project value , Reddy explained.
Sridhar Cherukuri, Chairman and Managing Director of Transstroy (India) Ltd , said, “These changes bring in flexibility to developers to divest stake and redeploy funds into new projects. We are at an advanced stake of concluding deals.”
T. Adibabu, Chief Operating Officer, Finance, Lanco Infratech Ltd, said the infrastructure sector has been waiting anxiously for regulatory changes as it would help infuse liquidity for developers.
“By disinvestment of stake in mature projects, companies can pass on debt to the buyer. It releases the promoter’s equity, which can be redeployed into new projects. The developer can strike new loan contracts, freeing up high-cost debt,” Adibabu said.
Several pension funds and overseas investors are keen to invest in completed road projects. The Government move will pave way for such investment. Internal rate of return on investments too will go up, he said.
‘A SETBACK’
M. Gautham Reddy, Executive Director of Ramky Infrastructure, said, “While the norms help in infusing liquidity, other critical elements relating to premium has been deferred. This is a setback. But for the buyer, it helps in gaining management control by taking up to 51 per cent stake.”
IVRCL had to re-negotiate and tweak a stake sale deal with TRIL, a Tata Group entity, for divesting stake in three road projects for Rs 2,200 crore, in keeping with existing divestment norms.
Companies such as Madhucon Projects, IVRCL, Transstroy, Lanco and NCC Ltd are all in the process of divesting stakes in completed projects.
Exit norms relaxed for road developers
July 30, 2013
MAMUNI DAS
A long-pending proposal from highway developers seeking a relaxation of the exit clause — which allows an investor with deeper pockets to replace a promoter facing financial stress — has now been approved.
The move is likely to increase the M&A activity in the road sector.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved this proposal. The substitution of developers can be done with the approval of NHAI, lender and private developer. At present, there are limits on the extent to which a developer can exit.
“We hope, with this, a number of stalled (road) projects, can now move forward,” Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said.
Earlier, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Chairman R.P. Singh had said that banks should be allowed to replace a cash-strapped developer with a financially healthier substitute rather than declare the project a non-performing asset on its balance sheet.
This proposal had been supported by the Highways Ministry as well, which had felt that any developer unable to work on a highway development project should be allowed to exit as long as another firm is willing to take its place. The only condition for this change will be that the replacement must meet the same technical qualifications.
Also, in case the original project developer had defaulted in earlier obligations, then the NHAI can put a penalty on the original developer.
Road design flaws, traffic bottlenecks choke crossings
June 18, 2013
Deevakar Anand and Siddhartha Rai, Hindustan Times Gurgaon,
Frequent jams, traffic bottlenecks, lack of road space, non-functional traffic signals and unmanned crossings are major trouble areas.
Flaws in road design force commuters to take a detour of seven kilometres from Rajiv Chowk to the Kherki Dhaula toll plaza in order to take a u-turn. Gurgaon residents risk their lives while maneuvering through high-speed vehicles as they negotiate a u-turn to go to Ambience Mall.
Getting stuck for 30 minutes at the Signature Tower Chowk during peak hours is a routine affair and the absence of a traffic signal at the Huda City Centre Metro station, which is often unmanned, only makes things worse.According to the mobility plan on Gurgaon prepared by the Department of Town and Country Planning, the average speed of intra-city traffic in the city is 23 kilometres per hour. Motor vehicles use 60% of the total roads in Gurgaon whereas public transport occupies only 10% of road space. Only 23% roads have walkable footpaths.
Nearly 2,300 kms of internal road network notwithstanding, the Millennium City lacks adequate space, thanks to the surging number of vehicles on roads.
Nearly 60,000 new vehicles are registered every year in the city and 10 lakh vehicles ply on city roads everyday that include around five lakh inter-city vehicles plying mainly on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway and Gurgaon-Faridabad Expressway.
At major Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway crossings like Shankar Chowk, Iffco Chowk, Signature Tower and Rajiv Chowk, ill-designed u-turns, faulty traffic lights or their absence, oversized concrete triangular structures that bifurcate traffic through slip roads make driving on Gurgaon roads a horrible experience.
“While cities like Ahmedabad have taken a lead in addressing traffic woes as their top priority, there seems to be a complete policy paralysis in Gurgaon when it comes to planning and implementing models of traffic management,” says Sarika Panda, a city resident and an urban planning expert, who is working with the Haryana Urban Development Authority to promote non-motorised transport (NMT) in Gurgaon. Heavy reliance on private cars as there is hardly any public transport system in the city adds to the chaos, she adds further.
City resident and former joint commissioner of police (traffic), Delhi, Maxwell Pereira points out that pedestrians and cyclists are left out when planners make crossings and roads in India.
Gurgaon joint commissioner of police Maheshwar Dayal, who is presently also looking after the traffic department, says all stakeholders are trying to work in tandem.
“We hold routine meetings with civic bodies and make them aware of design faults at crossings. We have raised the issue of the bottleneck at Sirhaul toll plaza bottleneck on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway at highest levels including in courts,” he says.
The Road Goes Ever On: Route 66 and the American Dream- A Blast from the past
June 17, 2013
ANDREAS FEININGER
One could search long and hard before finding a more stirring two-word phrase in the English language than “road trip!” It works with families, couples, old friends, new friends: pack two or more people into a car with some good music, high-sodium snacks and no fixed, unshakable destination, and you’ve got the ingredients for a (more often than not) excellent adventure. After all, the car — or motorcycle, or VW microbus — is far more than a mere utilitarian contrivance. For roughly the past 100 years, ever since Henry Ford began mass-producing his revolutionary Model T, Americans have been engaged in a love affair with automobiles and, in a much larger sense, with the enduring myth of the open road. Has there ever been a culture that extolled movement for the sake of movement as fervently as 20th century America? In movies (It Happened One Night, Easy Rider, The Straight Story, Lost in America and countless others) and, of course, in popular songs (by Woody Guthrie, Chuck Berry, Springsteen, Lucinda Williams, Dylan and the rest) the notion of getting behind the wheel and simply taking off is celebrated to the point where road-tripping feels like a universally embraced national religion. In 1947, Andreas Feininger made a photograph in Arizona that might be the single most perfect picture ever made of the single most famous road in America: Route 66, the 2,400-mile “Mother Road’ that runs from Chicago through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and finally across the Mojave to Los Angeles. The picture is a remarkable distillation of an idea: namely, that the American West is a place where people find themselves, or lose themselves, amid heat, sun, open spaces, enormous skies. Despite the fact that Feininger’s photograph is packed with “information” — cars, a bus, human figures, a gas station, a garage, towering clouds, an arrow-straight ribbon of road to the horizon — its essential emptiness can be read as a metaphor for the blank slate that innumerable people have sought in the West. Here is where you can redefine yourself, the scene suggests. Reimagine yourself. Reinvent yourself. Then keep moving. Like the American West itself — or like the mythical West of our collective memory — Feininger’s Route 66 feels both companionable and limitless. We want it to go on forever, and if only we have wheels, and enough time, and enough gas, deep down we believe it can. — Ben Cosgrove is the Editor of LIFE.com
Source: http://life.time.com
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