The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Road carpeting with new technology

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Oct 09, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Road carpeting with new technology

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: Citizens might be getting inconvenienced when the GHMC decided to barricade the CTO flyover at Paradise for road repairs in the last two days, but the positive aspect is that a new road carpeting technology is being tried out for a 2.8 kilometre stretch.

Micro surfacing of the bitumen metal is the new methodology being adopted for the first time in the twin cities as the layer will be thin without adding to the height of the road or additional weight on the flyover. It is also expected to stand up to the vagaries of wear and tear much more than the usual bitumen carpeting.

Expensive affair

GHMC Chief Engineer Dhan Singh said that the Commissioner and Special Officer C.V.S.K. Sarma was very keen on the new process which is already being used in New Delhi successfully for the last eight years. The only catch is the new emulsified bitumen metal with some secret petroleum additives being laid by a foreign firm is expensive.

If the usual Dense Bitumen Metal (DBM) and Semi-Dense Bitumen Concrete (SDBC) used to fill potholes and then carpet depending on the scale of damage to the road costs Rs. 10.5 lakh and Rs. 30.5 lakh, respectively, for a kilometre stretch, micro surfacing bitumen will cost about three times more.

Mr. Singh said the flyover roads could be repaired with the new technology since there will be no digging unlike other roads prone to it considering the cost. Micro surfacing of the flyover road could be completed in two nights.

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