The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Double-laning on in Pudukottai

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Tuesday, May 20, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Double-laning on in Pudukottai

Staff Reporter

Photo: M. Moorthy

SMOOTH DRIVE; Widening of the rural road between Viralimalai in Pudukottai District and Manapparai in Tiruchi district in progress. —

PUDUKOTTAI: Work on double-laning of single roads at three places has been catering to the needs of road-users in the rural sectors in the district. The work, being executed at an outlay of Rs.10.25 crore, aims to widen the roads to a cumulative length of 40 km.

Sanctioned under the ‘Comprehensive Road Infrastructure Development Programme,’ the works are being executed to a length of five km on the Viralimalai–Manapparai segment at an estimate of Rs. 1.25 crore; the Aranthangi–Kattumavadi section to a length of nine km at Rs. 4 crore; and the Avudaiyarkovil–Meemisal sector to a length of 26 km at an estimate of Rs five crore.

Heavy vehicles

The volume of traffic in terms of two-wheelers or four-wheelers may not be heavy in these sectors, but the operation of heavy vehicles, particularly mofussil buses, involves an element of risk for the road-users, particularly the villagers going by two-wheelers.

Traffic snarls

With the operation of college buses adding to the volume of heavy vehicles, traffic snarls due to paucity of space on these rural highways are common.

“The Highways Department has been adopting cost effective latest technology for double-laning the roads. For instance, the use of the wet-mix macadam (WMM) replacing the conventional gravel has proved its efficacy,” Divisional Engineer V. Balasubramanian told The Hindu here on Monday.

He said that the WMM, a mix of metal, sand and quarry-dust, is not only cost-effective but also durable.

The double-laning of these works would be completed within three months, much ahead of the onset of monsoon.

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