The Road Ahead

Roop Karnani

Weekend vacationers who trooped back into Mumbai early Monday morning of June 12, 2000, couldn't believe what they saw at Saki Vihar outside Larsen & Toubro's (L&T) factory. When they had crossed the stretch late previous Friday evening, the road was pockmarked with knee-deep potholes. But in less than 48 hours, the notorious patch of loose gravel had turned into smooth carpet of concrete. Was it a miracle, they wondered?

It's a miracle all right, but of the technological sort. And concocting the miracle mixture is Associated Cement Companies (ACC). Thanks to a new technology called ACCmarg, developed at the cement major's Rs 150-crore research and development unit at Thane, near Mumbai, concretisation of roads can now be completed in two days time without any digging. In contrast, conventional road-building methods can take as much as three to four months. Says A.K. Pathak, 51, President and CEO of ACC's Research & Consultancy Directorate (RCD): "With our new technology, we can build roads that can last from 5 to 50 years and cost half of traditional technology."

When ACC offered to give a free demonstration of its technology to Bombay Municipal Corporation, the Saki Vihar road was chosen, since it has the second highest traffic density in Mumbai, with 15,000 vehicles plying on it every day. Also, this section of the highway was most prone to waterlogging due to its location and, consequently, needed repairs every three months. The sample 100 metre stretch reconstructed with ACCmarg is guaranteed to have a life 15 times more than that of the previous asphalt road. A concrete road with an equivalent life would have cost twice as much. "It's good news for the industry and the country," says Rahul Kar, 53, Deputy General Manager (Roads), L&T.

In ACC's new mixture, there are six different types of materials, one of which is five times tougher than cement. The company's scientists have been working on these materials since 1993, and it took them four-and-a-half-years to perfect them. ACC had applied for a patent for its ACCmarg technology two years ago, and has built and tested several roads within its factories spread all over India. The company is now ready to go commercial with the 'ACCmarg' technology.

Besides the speed of construction, the new wonder mix 'composite' cement has many advantages over concrete or asphalt surfaces. Rainwater, which is the biggest enemy of roads, tends to seep through concrete and asphalt surfaces, loosens the gravel and the crushed rock under the road surface and causes potholes. Similarly, high temperatures encountered in India cause the bitumen in asphalt roads to melt, and when a heavy vehicle speeds over such roads, deep marks are left on the surface.

J. Basu Ray, RCD's Vice-President, says that the new mix is 400 times more impervious to water than conventional concrete, and is resistant to high temperatures, petroleum products, and corrosive substances. Moreover, all concrete roads have joints at intervals of every 4.5 metres to allow for uneven contraction and expansion of concrete. But, in case of ACCmarg there are no such joints as the six materials balance the contraction of one by expansion of the others.

That, of course, is not all. By changing the recipe of the mixture, a variety of surface textures can be obtained, ranging from a coarse finish required in the case race tracks to a glassy finish required for airport runways. The hardness of these roads would be such that even a tracked vehicle like a 10-ton battle tank can pass over it without leaving a mark, claims Pathak. Admits Madhav Jog, 42, CEO, Jog Engineering: "Elsewhere in the world where roads are made in two to three days, they use pre-fab concrete slabs. Nowhere are roads made by in-situ casting of concrete in just two days."

According to Basu Ray, BMC has asked ACC to use the new technology at three locations in Mumbai--Marine Drive, Andheri, and Ballard Pier--and CIDCO has awarded a contract to resurface the road over the Panvel Creek bridge going towards JNPT. Ray says that ACC is talking to the Calcutta Municipal Corporation and will soon be making presentations to the Ministry of Surface Transport in Delhi.

If ACCmarg is marketed properly and lives up to its promises, it could be the way ahead for road building in India.

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