The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Natpac sets up highway engineering lab

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 03, 2004

Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Natpac sets up highway engineering lab

By S. Anil Radhakrishnan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, OCT. 2. The National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (Natpac) has set up a Highway Engineering laboratory in the State capital to undertake investigative studies in the field of pavement engineering, maintenance and management of roads using groundbreaking construction techniques and innovative use of materials.

"Equipment worth Rs. 20 lakhs has already arrived and the process of installing it is in full swing. The full-fledged functioning will commence this month. A test track is to be laid in the premises soon", the Director of Natpac, T. Elangovan, told The Hindu .

Leading institution

The Natpac, which has emerged as a leading research institution in the sphere of traffic and transportation in the country, had been depending on certain academic institutions and other outside agencies for carrying out tests and evaluation of highway materials and pavements. The laboratory will obviate the need to rely on outside agencies for carrying out field tests and help in saving precious time and money, Mr. Elangovan said. The frequent and recurring failures of pavements have become a common phenomenon even on the national highways. "A proper road maintenance strategy is lacking for these roads and this leads to sub-optimal utilisation of limited resources. This has forced the Natpac to set up an advanced highway-engineering lab. The main aim of setting up the lab is to undertake testing of materials and for certification", Mr. Elangovan said.

The laboratory has been set up in a 4,000 sq.ft. area in a rented building near Nalanchira and the Highway Engineering Division of the Natpac has also been shifted to the premises. The research programmes to be taken up for the next three years have been identified and the pavement performance evaluation of rubberised roads has already started.

Modified bitumen

The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has recommended the use of modified bitumen for at least 10 per cent of all upcoming highway development projects. The specifications have not been fully evolved for want of consistent field tests and performance evaluation of test tracks. The Natpac proposes to fill this gap by launching material testing and field trials on test tracks laid with rubberised bitumen, according to the Deputy Chief Project Coordinator of Natpac and Head of the Highway Engineering Division, B. G. Sreedevi.

The lab would undertake on-field validation of the Pavement Option Study that Natpac has already completed.

The suitability of different pavement options for different soil locations and long-term pavement performance will be assessed on field tracks, she said.

Another priority area of the R & D centre will be to undertake roughness measurement studies for a wide spectrum of roads with varying degrees of surface quality. Roughness is the most important parameter in any road user cost models and plays a predominant role in the estimation of vehicle operating costs.

Pavement condition

Ms. Sreedevi said roughness progression data from periodic pavement condition surveys can be helpful in predicting the pavement performance and its deterioration. The bump integrator purchased for assessing the roughness of the road was tested along the M. C Road recently.

Equipment worth Rs. 35-40 lakhs will be purchased for the lab in the next phase, she said. The funds have been made available under the Selective Augmentation of R & D activities of the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment.

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