A white pavement was laid over a 500 meter stretch of Old Madras Road using what the BBMP has dubbed “Rapid Road” technology.
As part of the pilot project, the city government plans to manufacture the concrete slabs (20 feet long and 5 feet wide) at the factory and embed them in the street.
With the current system, it takes the BBMP about 26 to 28 days to white tip a road. This includes milling, levelling, bitumen concreting and the prescribed curing time of 21 days. With the new technology, the concrete slabs are brought to the construction site and placed on the street with cranes.
“The method helps cover half a kilometer of road white in one day. We need a day or two for milling and leveling before laying the concrete slabs. The whole project can be completed in five days. We plan to expand the project to other roads based on motorist feedback,” said Prahlad BS, Chief Engineer of BBMP IE.
The cost is the same for normal white cover and the “Rapid Road” project. “However, the new project requires additional costs for transporting the concrete slabs to the construction site. As part of the pilot project, the innovation partner UltraTech Cement offered to bear the additional costs,” says the chief engineer.
Currently, the BBMP spends Rs 11 crore to white-surface a 4-lane road and about Rs 15 crore to white-surface a 6-lane road. While the project may reduce construction time, concerns have been raised about rippling due to the use of multiple concrete slabs when laying the road.
