The Hindu            30.10.2013

15 labs of Corporation to test road quality

Aloysius Xavier Lopez

The Chennai Corporation will have a quality control laboratory in each of its 15 zones from Wednesday to help improve the quality of its construction works, including roads.

The equipment in the laboratory includes facility for core cutting, sieve analysis digital thermometer, one-milligram accuracy weighing machine, identification of pavement quality and camber of roads.

Improving roads

More equipment will be procured to improve quality control of roads in the city, said an official of the Corporation.

The civic body will keep an eye on quality of road re-laying in each of the 15 zones with such facilities in place.

“We have had discussions with quality control engineers for using improved technology such as pavement quality indicator to detect faulty road compaction. Faulty road compaction is one of the primary reasons for potholes,” said an official of the Corporation.

Compaction is the process of producing a road surface of maximum stability and evenness so as to improve skid resistance and increase road safety and riding comfort, the official said.

Residents will be able to seek the services of the quality control teams at the laboratories to find the reason behind damage to their roads.

A study by the Chennai Corporation found that many bus routes and interior roads in Chennai have not been compacted to the stipulated density leading to pothole formation on roads during the monsoon.

A density of 2,230 kg/m for roads will help the stretch last longer, the official said.

The Hindu              28.10.2013

Road gets quick facelift

Residents of Srinivasapuram in Thiruvanmiyur have for long complained about bad roads in the locality. But on Sunday, they were surprised to see the Chennai Corporation quickly patch up the stretch and wondered if VIP movement in the area was the reason.

“Though hundreds of vehicles pass through it, that portion of road has been in bad shape for many years now and nobody has attended to it. All of a sudden, it was attended to today,” said a resident, who did not want to be named.

Residents suspect that it could be because of the death of a relative of an MLA in the locality, following which several VIPs were expected to visit the stretch. Chennai Corporation officials though have denied it.

“On Saturday evening they cleaned the stretch and dumped the materials and on Sunday morning, the patchwork was done,” a resident said.

“But the repair will not last long as it has already begun raining. The nearby 1st street, Srinivasapuram was re-laid recently, but is already in a sorry state,” he added.

An official at Chennai Corporation said that the repair work had nothing to with the MLA’s relative’s death. “During the rains, we have directed the respective zonal officials to take up patchwork wherever necessary,” he clarified. “For us, every citizen is a VIP.”