Agency forced to lay ready bitumen amid downpour after being caught unaware by heavy rains

Several road users were surprised to witness the laying of fresh bitumen on the Nanthoor-Pumpwell stretch of National Highway 66 amid a heavy downpour on June 11 evening. It’s common knowledge that the bitumen will not last long if mixed with water.

Several road users were surprised to witness the laying of fresh bitumen on the Nanthoor-Pumpwell stretch of National Highway 66 amid a heavy downpour on June 11 evening. It’s common knowledge that the bitumen will not last long if mixed with water.

Yashwanth Kadri, a reader, called The Hindu to narrate the situation and how the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and its concessionaire of Talapady-Kundapura section M/s Navayuga Udupi Tollway Pvt., Ltd., that had built the four-lane highway. He expressed concern over the life of the road after being renewed amid the downpour.

An official from the Navayuga told The Hindu since there was no heavy rain alert, the bitumen mix was prepared for the day and there was no other way than relaying the carriageway. Otherwise, the mix would have dried on tipper trucks, he said.

In the event of the relaid bitumen getting damaged on the stretch, the concessionaire would again do the work, he said. Since bitumen mix was mechanically prepared and not in the conventional method of in-situ heating and laying, the prepared mix has to be used, he said.

While renewing affected stretches of a carriageway, maintaining agencies either could fill potholes, or have to mill the affected stretch and renew it with fresh bitumen mix. Simple laying a fresh layer of bitumen mix on the affected stretch was not permitted, he added.

After completing the construction of a major portion of the 90 km four-lane project by 2013-14, the roads were not renewed. The Navayuga took up road renewal work in January this year and had planned to complete the work by May 15. However, the strike by the crushed stone industry postponed the works by a month, the official said.

So far, the agency has renewed about 50 km stretch of the carriageway on the section upon the recommendations of an Independent engineer, depending upon the condition of the roughness of the road surface. The renewal was recommended wherever the surface had become rough and potholes existed. Major milling and renewing works were done on the Netravathi Old Bridge, the Kaup Flyover and other stretches where the existing bitumen layer was removed, the surface was milled and fresh bitumen was laid, the official said.