Abstract: India has been and continues to be a country most of whose main roads are made of asphalt. At least 98% of the length of surfaced roads has bituminous topping. The main reasons for this are the lower initial cost and amenability to stage development of bituminous roads. This policy had both good and bad effects. The good sides were very rapid expansion of the Indian road network, and achieving distributive justice, stronger democracy, and support for agriculture. The bad sides were poorly engineered, not very durable roads, which were not cost-effective because they led to increased road maintenance and vehicle operation costs and journey times, and lower travel speeds and road safety. This paper discusses the following aspects of this situation: (1) composition and characteristics of traffic on Indian roads; (2) designs, materials, and methods for pavements, including the use of crushed-rock aggregates, the grades and types of bitumen used, and Indian Roads Congress guidelines for flexible pavement design; (3) bituminous mixtures in relation to construction technology; (4) the effects of heavy monsoon rains; (5) the comparatively short lives of the bituminous surface courses used; and (6) new Indian road sector policies, including two high-speed road corridors and improved road construction and maintenance financing. For the covering abstract see IRRD E104549.
Publication Year: 2000
Publication Date: 2000-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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