NEW DELHI: The Public Works Department is planning to set up its own material testing mechanism in order to ensure quality roads, PWD Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh said on Tuesday.
According to the current rules, the department has made it mandatory for all contractors involved in its road infrastructure projects to conduct sample tests from a reputable engineering college.
The minister said, “Currently, we have a process where several engineering colleges and expert institutes carry out testing of material samples at work sites. The same is the method for quality audits after completion of projects. We plan to start our own sample and road quality testing mechanism, and we are procuring the required equipment for this.”
In the initial stage, road quality testing will be initiated. This will save valuable time, as many of these reports take two to three months to prepare, while also ensuring better quality of work. For roads, the PWD will procure a block-cutter machine to test bitumen quality, Singh stated.
The existing rules say that necessary tests are required to be conducted in the laboratory of the Central Road Research Institute, IIT Delhi, Jamia Millia Islamia, National Institute of Technology Delhi, and any other government engineering college approved by the engineer in charge of the project.
Government officials said that on several PWD roads where repair work is ongoing, quality testing will commence soon and further changes will be made based on the reports.
Additionally, Singh announced that the Delhi government plans to repair 600 km of capital roads over this year. “Earlier, the PWD extended the operation and maintenance clause of road repair projects for a minimum of two years,” officials noted.