Indian Express 08.06.2010
MCD ready with concrete plan to fight potholes, waterlogging
Express News Service Tags : MCD potholes concrete plan, delhi Posted: Tue Jun 08 2010, 00:57 hrs
New delhi: To prevent potholes, water-logging and resultant traffic chaos in the Capital this monsoon season, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has decided to take “apt” steps. The civic body will concretise roads that are more prone to waterlogging.The project will begin with the Naraina industrial area in the West Zone. The Corporation has chosen around 32 such roads across all zones and recently invited tenders. The company that will be awarded the contract will also provide pavements and drains along these roads.
The MCD, which promised concrete roads in Delhi in their budget this financial year, will use German bitumen foam technology. The technology, MCD claims, ensures longevity, smoothness and pothole-free surface for a period of more than 20 years.
The compaction, uniform thickness and smoothness of surface of these concrete roads is ensured through mechanical pavers for laying of roads.
According to MCD officials, though constructing concrete roads is costlier than normal bitumen roads, concrete roads prove to be more economical in the long run as they last longer.
“From now onwards, while all new roads will be laid in concrete, the MCD plans to top the existing bituminous roads with an ultra-thin white layer of fibre-reinforced, high-strength concrete,” an official said.
The decision to concretise roads is, however, facing opposition from many quarters, including from within the Corporation. Those protesting the project claim concretisation tampers with the natural process of rainwater percolating through the ground. “Besides, the Civil Engineering department has failed to understand the importance of creating slopes even along the concrete roads to enable the water to percolate through stormwater drains,” an MCD official said. “It thus defeats the aim of avoiding waterlogging,” he added.
“Though the rainfall pattern in Delhi is not very encouraging, we need to harvest this water. It is further mandatory for civic bodies to ensure rainwater harvesting along all roads but it is hardly done. With concrete roads and little planning for seepage, the watertables will only suffer more,” activist V K Jain said.
German foam bitumen vs normal roads
According to the MCD, bitumen is not ideal for wet conditions as a result of which potholes are formed. Also, as per usual practice, every five years — the average life of a road — a fresh coat of bitumen is added on the stretch. This leads to an increase in the height of the road. With the foam technology, the old coat will be removed and crushed and prepared in a fresh cold mix and a layer using the German technology will be applied. This will not raise the level of road and also last for at least 10 years.
