Works Minister V K Ebrahim Kunju has said the state will explore the possibilities of ‘China model’ in road development.
The minister is on a visit to China along with top officials to study infrastructure development in the neighbouring country. He will return on Sunday.
“The China model is different from many other countries.
“Public sector companies in China have expressed interest in the infrastructure development of the state,” the minister said.
“Further discussions in this regard will be initiated after getting an approval from Chief Minister Oommen Chandy,” Kunju said.
“Road construction in China is done using stone mastic asphalt technology, which gives longer life to roads.
“It has been decided to use stone mastic asphalt technology for 10 km under the Kerala State Transport Project on an experimental basis,” he said.
Stone mastic asphalt , also called stone-matrix asphalt, was developed in Germany in the 1960s.
It provides a deformation resistant, durable surfacing material, suitable for heavily trafficked roads.
The team, headed by the minister, had studied road projects, urban road development, traffic regulation mechanism and monorail project in Chongqing and Beijing.
State Finance Principal Secretary V P Joy, Works Secretary T O Suraj, KSTP project director K Joseph Mathew, Kerala Road Fund Board chief executive officer P C Harikesh are the other team members.
