Bengaluru palike begins cold-mix asphalt to fix city’s potholes
With the road work also being done across the city, he said unless the compacting of the road is done properly, potholes will continue to show up.
Published: 29th December 2022 05:35 AM | Last Updated: 29th December 2022 05:35 AM | A+A A-
For representational purposes | Vinod Kumar T
BENGALURU: The BBMP has started cold-mix asphalt of roads, instead of hot-mix asphalt, in a bid to fix potholes, stating that this technique is easier to manage. BBMP Chief Engineer BS Prahallad said they started cold-mix asphalt three days ago.
This method has been adopted due to its ease of handling raw material, and for the non-requirement of heavy equipment for filling potholes. He said BBMP has started in-house manufacturing of cold mix to be used. Both methods, hot and cold asphalt, provide the same quality.
Prahallad further said it would become difficult to use hot mix for asphalting potholes as a particular temperature is to be maintained for the raw material, and once the tar is laid on the road, it is supposed to be flattened with a road roller. With the cold mix, all that is not required and the pothole can be filled up and manually stamped.
A civil engineer explained that either cold mix or hot mix could be used for asphalting of roads. The process of laying it down properly is much more important, he said, adding that even when a pothole is filled, it should be levelled with the rest of the surface and should not create bumps. With the entire hot-mix asphalt work done so far, the material is not properly compacted which ends up creating several bumps on the road, the engineer said.
He highlighted that the issue stands with the workmanship and not the process. For instance, the engineer explained that if a pothole has an irregular shape, it is to be cut in a regular shape and filled accordingly in level with the road.
With the road work also being done across the city, he said unless the compacting of the road is done properly, potholes will continue to show up.
BBMP OKAYS CUTTING OF 268 TREES FOR SUBURBAN RAIL
The BBMP has given the go-ahead to the nodal agency for implementing the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project (BSRP), Karnataka Rail Infrastructure Development Enterprises (K-RIDE), to cut 268 trees. The agency had sought permission to cut 661 trees. K-Ride’s letter dated October 18, 2021, had sought permission to clear the trees to carry out infrastructure work for its only tendered corridor of the BSRP, Baiyappanahalli to Chikkabanavara line.
