Indian Express 01.12.2010
BMC turns back to Carboncor for road repair
sharvaripatwa Tags : corporation, carboncor for road repair Posted: Wed Dec 01 2010, 06:36 hrs
Mumbai: Two years after it faced flak for poor implementation of the Carboncor technology for pothole repair, the BMC will use the technology again on an experimental basis. We are thinking of using Carboncor technology on experimentation basis as it is less risky and and stable,” said Aseem Gupta, Additional Municipal Commissioner.
The approval for Carboncor will only be given after the Standing Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) gives its nod,” said Gupta. Of the total funds being spent on roads, Rs 100 crore will be spent on road repair below 30 feet where chances of potholes during next monsoon are more, Gupta said.
During the second phase of road repair, Rs 300 crore has been sanctioned for bottlenecks in roads such as patches of LBS Marg or SV Road. “We are planning to use the Carboncor technology for some part of these works,” said Gupta. We have invited the company providing the Carboncor technology to present its proposal on the number and names of roads it has identified for repair.”
“The company will be given some roads for repair only if it gives us a guarantee for the money paid to it,” said Gupta. “As the results of the Carboncor technology will take three years, we will have to take an advance guarantee, such as in the form of a bank guarantee,” said Gupta.
Carboncor is a cold mix, water-based asphalt which can be poured into a pothole. The cold mix is a conventional premix and has a three to four hour period in which it has to be applied before cooling. “The mix sticks and does not get washed away even during heavy downpour,” said a BMC official.
On a experimenting spree, the BMC is also planning to use the ultra-thin white topping (UTWT) system for repairing certain roads. “The technnology is good and has being enhanced based on a research by BMC engineer Vishal Thombare. We have told him to identify the roads which can be repaired using the technology,” said Gupta.
The method involves layering the existing hot-mix asphalt used in road paving with a 100 mm thick high-performance concrete layer, Thombare said. Based on his research, the BMC had expermimented with the techology in Chembur last year.
“It is less porous than normal concrete,” said Thombare. According to officials, the UTWT technology will be atleast 15-20 per cent cheaper than the usual techonology. “After STAC’s nod, we can use this technology also on an experiemental basis,” said Gupta. He added that even though some techonologies had failed earlier, there is no harm in trying them again in a proper and phased manner.
But this time, any techonology will be used with a rider-full guarantee on the money spent,” he said. The BMC has spent huge sums on imported techonologies such as Carbonccr from South Africa, Jetpatcher machines from the US, Easy Patch from the UK, and Metric from Canada.
