NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is on the verge of finalisation of ‘value engineering practices’ for national highway projects to expedite construction, reduce the cost and also to augment asset durability.
The move is part of the Central government’s ambitious plan to adopt worldwide best practices in engineering techniques in design and construction for sustainable highways development. Apart from optimization of the value of the project, introduction of value engineering practices also aims to ramp up aesthetics, safety and promote environmental sustainability.
The 24-point draft prepared on value engineering practices suggests that there may be a reduction of initial project cost to the tune of 20-30 per cent. There will also be time savings, less consumption of road building materials and less emission of greenhouse gas without compromising performance durability of the highways.
Usage of fibre reinforced micro-surfacing, micro-bituminous concrete, high damping rubber bearing, construction & demolitionwaste and recycling of reclaimed bituminous layer material are in focus in the guidelines.
Micro-surfacing is an eco-friendly treatment, which is used to restore the surface characteristics of the road. If the pavement is structurally adequate, micro-surfacing is very suitable to preserve the pavement from ageing, oxidation, aggregate loss and polishing irrespective of the traffic flow. Fibre reinforced Micro-surfacing is much superior to conventional micro-surfacing, reads the guidelines.