FICCI White Paper Paving Future Roads For India

major challenges the sector faces are congestion, projectdelays and difficulty in monitoring large complex projects. Amajor challenge during the construction phase is costoverrun. Until three years ago, the per-km cost ofdeveloping a two-lane highway was Rs 11- 12 crore and thatof four-lane Rs 30 crore. This has cumulatively gone up 30%over the last three fiscals.3 Safety, environment degradationand low productivity are some of the other challenges in thesector.Key areas of advancementNew and emerging technologies in the road constructionand development are expected to help a project achieve thefollowing objectives:i.ii.iii.Making the project environment friendlyFaster construction rateMore efficient lifecycle cost managementHowever, achieving all the three simultaneously may bedifficult for a project. It can achieve either a combination oftwo with an adverse impact on the third or, in some cases,only one. For instance, use of advanced technology canquicken the rate of construction and lower the projectlifecycle cost but at the same time may impact environmentadversely.3An article on Cut road construction costs: Road Ministry to NHAI, DailyPioneer, October 18, 20199

Road construction materials and machinesContextUsage of innovative materials, automation and machinecontrol technologies in the construction sector isencouraged worldwide in order to improve efficiency andlower the impact on environment. Developed countries arealready seeing benefits of this, such as higher productivity,controlled costs, high rate of predictability, efficiency,quality, safety etc. In addition, it is also helping them keepprojects on track and complete them in time, that too athigher quality standards. In India, construction is one of theleast automated industries. However, now attempts arebeing made to introduce new technologies in the sector.using discarded plastic.4 The Ministry of Road Transport &Highways (MoRTH) has embarked on a mission to utilisewaste plastic in a big way. It has mobilised nearly 26,000people for spreading awareness on plastic wastemanagement. Nearly 18,000 kg of plastic waste has beencollected from across the country through over 61,000hours of shramdaan. On a pilot basis, NHAI used plasticwaste in laying the top layer of roads in Tamil Nadu andKerala.5Figure 1: A 600m service road stretch on the BengaluruHyderabad highway using 4% plastic wasteSome of the recent advancements in use of materials andequipment in road construction are:Use of plastic waste in bituminouspavementIn 2015, the Centre made it mandatory for all roaddevelopers to use plastic waste for construction. The movecame after Rajagopalan Vasudevan, a professor fromMadurai’s Thiagarajar College of Engineering, developed aprocess to build roads by recycling plastic waste. This is oneof the few innovations that is completely home-developed.As per the process, plastic waste is first shredded (atechnique where all the dust particles are eliminated, andplastic items are shredded into fine pieces), and heated at165 C. This is then added to the bitumen mix, which is alsoheated at 160 C. This mix is used for constructing roads.Field performance studies have found the process to beadvantageous as the roads constructed using this mix havehigher resistance to deformation, increased durability,improved fatigue life and better stability and strength.Moreover, the process is also a way to dispose of plasticwaste in a way that is less harmful to environment.By 2018, India built one lakh km of roads in at least 11 states45NDTV article on plastic roads in India dated 26th October, 2018PIB, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways dated 1st October, 201910Self-healing asphaltRoad repair and maintenance is a costly job. In fiscal 2020,MoRTH allocated Rs 3,150 crore for maintenance of roadsand highways, which is 17% higher than the revisedestimates for fiscal 2019. In addition to this, NHAI, NationalHighways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd(NHIDCL), state public works departments and other roadagencies spend a much larger amount for maintenance. Inorder to reduce potholing and cracking of roads, scientistsare developing ingenious and unconventional methods toimprove durability. Rather than improving the strength ofthe road, scientists are focusing on asphalt with the abilityto heal itself once damaged.

Some of the materials used by scientists around the worldin developing the self-healing asphalt are:Steel fibresAdding steel fibres to asphalt ensures that once it is wornout and cracks/potholes appear, it only needs repair. Ironmolecules are heated remotely by introducing a fastchanging magnetic field. Once heated by induction, thesteel fibres immediately release heat to the mortar, whichmelts briefly. This causes the asphalt to reset to its originalstructure.Iron oxide nanoparticlesResearchers at Swiss Federal Laboratories for MaterialsScience and Technology in Switzerland -- and ETH, Zurich,also have a similar technology. They use iron oxidenanoparticles in self-healing asphalt instead of steel fibres.These nanoparticles heat up upon exposure to a magneticfield. In place of induction machines, maintenance vehiclesoutfitted with magnetic coils are used to introduce heat thatstarts the healing process. Once heat is transmitted to thebitumen, it softens and fills the cracks.Capheal (sunflower oil microcapsules)The use of the caphael formula was developed by AlvaroGarcia, Lecturer at the University of Nottingham. Themethod involves inserting sunflower oil microcapsules intoasphalt, which reduces the binder’s viscosity and helps theasphalt heal. Once tiny cracks appear, the microcapsulesburst and soften the asphalt around them and helpsbinding. This method fixes cracks before they grow.The benefits of self-healing asphalt include:6Minimal repair costs as the selfhealing asphalt only requiresminimal repairs andreplacementThe asphalt mixed with steelfibres reinforces the roadsurfaces causing fewer cracksto appear thereby increasingroad durability.Less traffic hindrance as there isless work required on the roadsto carry out repairsSelf-healing technology enablesfaster repairs during theoperation and maintenancephaseSelf-healing roads withstand heavy rains6In 2016, Nemkumar Banthia, professor of civil engineeringat the University of British Columbia, constructed a road inthe small town of Thondebavi, outside Bangalore,Karnataka. He used a technology that resists heavy rains,intense heat and poor drainage (another home-growntechnology in use in the sector). The technology involvedusage of ultra-high strength concrete reinforced withhydrophilic polyolefin fibres (also called HY5 fibres) withadvanced nano-coatings. This concrete formulation is moreresistant to cracking and more able to heal itself of cracks.The project used 60% lesser cement component, replacingit with locally sourced fly ash, a by-product of thermalpower plants.Bitumen – Role and recent advancementMajority of the Indian roads are flexible pavements, wherebitumen is used as a common binder. The one majoradvantage of a flexible pavement is that their surfaces canbe milled and recycled during repair and maintenancephase. In India for decades Hot Mix Asphalt with bitumenaggregate has been used as Pavement mixes. However, withtechnological advancement and focus on sustainabledevelopment, usage of cold mix bituminous emulsion ispicking up the pace around the world and in India as well.Some of the major advantages of cold mix bitumen areenergy savings, pollution-free environment, safer workingcondition for labor at construction sites, etc. as there is norequirement of high temperature while mixing and laying ofbitumen.An article of self-healing roads in ubyssey.ca, November 15, 201611

Intelligent compaction measurementvalues (ICMV)Intelligent compaction (IC) is an equipment-basedtechnology to improve quality control of compaction. ICvibratory rollers are equipped with a high precision globalpositioning system (GPS), infrared temperature sensors, anaccelerometer-based measurement system, and an onboard color-coded display. ICMV is a generic term for acalculated value based on accelerometer measurements onvibratory roller drums. These values are in different formsof metrics with various levels of correlation to compactedmaterial’s mechanical and physical properties.The figure below illustrates how ICMV is measured:Quickchange moveable barriers (QMB)Many factors contribute to traffic congestion. It has been amajor challenge for India. The number of vehicles plying onan Indian road is much beyond its capacity. One possiblesolution for this can be changing the number and availabilityof traffic lanes by use of QMBs.The QMB is an innovative system that prevents tail-backs atroad exits, allowing rapid movement of the safety barrierdelimiting motorway deviations and lanes. In the US, theQMB system is used for both construction sites and fixedplant, where the flow of commuter traffic is in differentdirections in the morning and evening. The system involvesa machine that shifts the barrier sideways at a rate of 9 and15 km/h.Figure 2: Illustration of ICMV measurementFigure 3: Quickchange Movable BarrierHowever, the complexity of roller material’s interactionmakes it challenging to produce accurate results and furtherresearch is required to enable the use of ICMVs in the roadsector. ICMV offers several benefits such as improved depthof compaction, lesser highway repair costs and betterdensity, which would significantly improve the lifecyclecost.12

Design and implementationIn planning the development and construction of a road, itis important to recognise the close relationship betweendesign and implementation. Technological advancementsmade in this area have quickened the speed of constructionand lowered the project lifecycle cost. Some of the designand implementation advancements made in the road sectorare discussed below.Precast pre-stressed concrete pavementIn India, precast pre-stressed concrete technology is widelyused in construction of bridges, flyovers, viaducts, tunnelsetc. However, precast concrete systems in roadconstruction too have huge potential to transform the roadrepair and maintenance in heavy-traffic areas. Concreteroads are seen to be more durable and will bring down thecost of road maintenance significantly. Implementation ofsuch precast concrete systems also paves the way forexploring new technologies for faster construction ofcement concrete roads. Foremost among the optionsavailable was precast concrete technology.K Rajarama Rao, chief general manager – ��Prefabrication of any structure component off-site duringhighway construction or reconstruction offers major timeand user cost savings in comparison with traditional cast-inplace methods of construction. The precast road pavementtechnology offers dramatic increase in durability and speedsup construction process. It also brings substantial safetyadvantages, lower disruption in traffic and increases overallconvenience for road users.”Perpetual pavementSustainability of road construction is critical to overalleconomy of the road transport sector. Several researchprojects are currently underway to study differentconstruction methods, materials and designs that canimprove the sustainability of roads.7The perpetual pavement concept is derived from amechanistic principle that thickly designed hot mix asphaltpavements with the appropriate material combinations, ifproperly constructed, will structurally outlive traditionaldesign lives while simultaneously sustaining high trafficvolumes/loads. Perpetual pavement is designed and built tolast 50 years or more without requiring major structuralrehabilitation or reconstruction. With perpetualpavements, the potential for traditional fatigue cracking isreduced, and pavement distress is typically confined to theupper layer of the structure. Thus, when surface distressreaches a critical level, an economical solution is to removeand replace the top layer.The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is built according toperpetual pavement design along with other features suchas wayside amenities and cargo facilities and accesscontrolled lanes.7Advanced technologies in tunnellingprojectsAt present in India, there are 1,489 tunnels covering 4,144km in various stages – under implementation, awarded,under bidding, announced, approved, planned/proposedand stalled.As per the data collected and analysed by IndiaInfrastructure Publishing, a company providing informationon the infrastructure sectors in India, for completed,ongoing and awarded projects, the drill and blast method(DBM) is the most common tunnelling method. It is used inover 38% of tunnel works. Deployment ofadvanced/mechanised technologies, such as tunnel boringmachines (TBMs), is slowly increasing. At present, it has ashare of 24%. This is closely followed by the new Austriantunnelling method (NATM), which is increasingly being usedacross sectors.With regard to technique/method of tunnelling, the roadsector is moving towards adopting the advanced technologyArticle on Moneycontrol, March 8, 201913

of New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM).14

Highway operations and managementTechnology-based initiatives are increasingly being adoptedto improve operation and management of highways inIndia. Given below are the key among them.Weigh-in-motion (WIMs) equipment: They have beeninstalled at all 30 entry points of the expressway to stopentry of over-loaded vehicles.Smart roadsAuto challans: EPE has a system for auto challans thatfines over-speeding as cameras along the highwaycaptures speed of vehicles.‘Smart roads’ or ‘smart highways’ integrates technologywith transportation infrastructure, including, but notlimited to, functions such as generating power through solarpanels, integration with self-driving cars and sensors andstructural maintenance monitoring systems. Smarthighways have the opportunity to turn from serving asingular purpose of being the backbone of a country’stransportation system to providing additional value throughgeneration of power, safety feature implementation andgathering of key data points for both road users andtransportation administrators. Such data related to goodsand people movement will have tremendous applicability.Case study - Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) - India’sfirst smart and green highwayIndia’s first smart and green highway, the 135 km KundliGhaziabad-Palwal (KGP) Expressway also known as EasternPeripheral Expressway (EPE), was inaugurated by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi in 2018. The various componentsof EPE are:Solar power plants: EPE is India’s first highway to be litby solar power. It has eight solar power plants, withcapacity of 4,000 KW (4 MW) for lighting of underpassesand running solar pumps for watering plants.Rainwater harvesting: It also has rainwater harvestingfacilities on both sides in every 500 meters and there is adrip irrigation for plants all along the expressway.Closed tolling system: It has a system that collects tollonly for the distance travelled and not for the entirelength. Toll plazas are equipped with ETC system forfaster toll collection.8Intelligent traffic management: The EPE is equipped withsmart and intelligent highway traffic managementsystem (HTMS) and video incident detection system(VIDS).Green cover: Over 2.5 lakh trees

Paving future roads for India December 2019 . Analytical contacts CRISIL FICCI Anshuman Chauhan Associate Director - Transport & Logistics CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory Tel: (D) 91 124 672 2052 T Sidhant Agrawal Consultant - Transport & Logistics CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory