KOLKATA: A new horizon is opening up in the road construction space in Bengal.
The State Government has decided to use Dutch technology to make stronger roads, entailing longer lifespan, much higher load-bearing capacity and less maintenance.
The cost would be reduced by 20 per cent too.
GeoCrete is a fine white powder consisting of mostly alkaline natural earth elements.
This proprietary chemical would be mixed with a mixture of soil, stone chips and cement to create a concrete layer, on which would be laid a layer of bitumen.
The technology is called 'GeoCrete soil stabilisation technology'.
Another advantage would be that despite repairs, the height of the roads would not increase as repairs would involve using the same material, just mixed with GeoCrete to strengthen them.
Typically, constant relaying of roads increases their heights, as a result of which a sharp drop opens up from the edges of the roads to the surrounding ground, which causes trouble to motorists.
Another significant fact to mention is that this venture is a direct result of this year's Bengal Global Business Summit, where a delegation from the Netherlands had offered help in implementing this technology.
The GeoCrete-mixed road-laying process is being used with success in the European Union.