Pananji, Feb 12, 2019: At a time when the quality of has become a matter of concern with major thoroughfares popping potholes by the dozen every few days, a research project conducted by students from Don Bosco College of Engineering in Fatorda has found that recycled can be utilised to build better quality roads.
This can be done by scraping off the top layer of the existing road using a milling machine and recycling 30% it in laying the new asphalt road.
“Scraping the top layer of the existing road using a milling machine leaves the road in a usable state and vehicles can ply on it till the new layer of asphalt can be laid in a day or two,” said assistant professor Satyesh Kakodkar, under whose guidance the research project titled titled ‘Retrieval of Milled Bitumen for Construction of Road Pavements’ was carried out.
“If the old, scraped-off asphalt is used in a proportion of 30% while laying the new road, the strength of the asphalt mixture meets the standards required by the Union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH). Milling machines are used to scrape off the exisiting layer in some parts in Goa, but most of this scraped asphalt is discarded as waste,” said civil engineering student .
The students used waste from one such road along with fresh asphalt in proportions of 30% and 60% respectively and set it in a cylindrical cone for 48 hours. The resulting material was put through Marshal’s stability testing machine and found to be complying with MoRTH-specified strength standards.
“The method is used in Chennai and New Delhi. But, often expensive chemical binders are used with the old and new asphalts. Using the old asphalt in 30% proportion eliminates the need for chemical binders, thus making this method cost-effective,” said Shivani Keny, another student.
Ankita Raikar, Jagruti Majalkar and Shrivallabh Varde Walaulikar were also part of the team that conducted the research.
“Scraping off the existing layer of asphalt using a milling machine will give better texture to the new road, while using the old material in a proportion of 30% will reduce costs and solve the problem of dumping the generated waste, thus making the method environment-friendly,” said Kakodkar.
Every few months, a new layer of asphalt is piled onto roads in a bid to repair them. Adding these new asphalt layers for hundreds of kilometres not only burdens the public exchequer, but also elevates the roads higher than the surrounding areas, thus leading to problems like water running into adjoining houses during monsoons.
“Mala is a classic example of how flooding can occur in an area due to roads being raised to unusual levels by laying layer after layer of new asphalt over the years for repairs,” said Gomes.
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(Glenwood Guardian)