IIT-KGP to suggest technology for maintenance-free highways

August 16, 2016

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Maintenance of the country’s national highways for a longer period could get a new lease of life with the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur set to embark on an ambitious project which will suggest technologies for maintenance-free highways. The step is also seen as environment friendly as it will need lesser natural resources. At present, the construction of these highways requires a monolithic (in-situ) layer of cement concrete normally 300 mm thick, laid continuously over the prepared surface. The idea is innovation of technology to optimise the design of concrete pavement in its traditional form which can facilitate faster construction at much cheaper costs.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and IIT-Kharagpur signed a pact recently for a research project to develop a technology to construct long-lasting maintenance-free highways in the country. “The duration of the research project is three years and NHAI has paid Rs 1.25 crore for the project, excluding cost of construction of trial pavement section,” NHAI said. NHAI and IIT Kharagpur will develop a technology to construct Panelled Cement Concrete (Pre-fabricated in a small panel size) which can replace the design of construction of existing cement concrete road.

The common experience in the national highways are that it is prone to damage and needs frequent maintenance due to adverse climatic conditions such as rain and hot weather since they are generally paved with bituminous (asphaltic concrete) material produced from refineries. To overcome this problem, the government has recently announced a policy for the construction of concrete pavements for all major highways due to their longevity and maintenance-free life. “The paneled concrete pavement laid on a lean concrete base can fulfill the Government of India’s dream of providing long-lasting maintenance-free pavements at a cost at par with those of asphalt pavements,” NHAI said.