BRO builds roads along India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh using indigenous tech

Guwahati: Building a robust road infrastructure with faster pace on the India-China border is one of the topmost priorities of the government of India to improve the operational capacity of the country’s defence forces.

Construction and maintenance of high-altitude bituminous roads on the China border in the Northeast state of Arunachal Pradesh under low and sub-zero temperature conditions had always been a challenging task to India’s premier road construction agency Border Road Organisation (BRO).

Majority of bituminous road construction work either got halted up or delayed when the winter months rolled in, as the production of hot bituminous mix for road construction requires increased heating time at elevated temperature ranging from 160 to 170 degree Celsius in a hot mix plant. 

Besides that, bituminous mix to be laid and compacted is required to be sufficiently hot at the paving site for effective compaction to achieve desired durability and performance.

On hilly roads during sub-zero temperature, transportation of bituminous mix from hot mix plant to project site requires increased haulage time which causes rapid cooling-off the bituminous mix before reaching to paving site, thus rendering the mix inferior for paving and rolling.

To address all these challenges, the BRO’s Project VARTAK in Arunachal Pradesh has successfully utilised an indigenous road construction technology ‘REJUPAVE,’ developed by India’s oldest and premier road research organisation Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Central Road Research Institute (CSIR-CRRI), Ministry of Science and Technology, to construct high altitude bituminous roads at low and sub-zero temperature conditions.

This technology was recently successfully implemented by BRO to build bituminous road sections at the world’s highest Sela road tunnel and LGG-Damteng-Yangste (LDY) road section near Arunachal Pradesh’s China border.

On construction of road section at the Sela road tunnel using the REJUPAVE technology, PKH Singh, BRO’s Additional Director General (ADG), East, informed that the technology has been successfully utilised by BRO under the technological guidance and supervision of CSIR-CRRI to produce low temperature bituminous mixes for construction of bituminous roads at the Sela road tunnel and LDY road site at 14,000 to feet and 18,000-feet altitude respectively.

“This technology brings down the production and rolling temperature of bituminous mixes by 30-400 degree Celsius with negligible heat loss in bituminous mix during transit, despite long haulage time amid snowfall. This technology will increase the working window of the road construction companies of BRO thus helping us to build a robust road network at a faster pace under challenging conditions,” ADG Singh added.

Principal scientist of CSIR-CRRI and inventor of REJUPAVE Satish Pandey informed that the technology asphalt modifier is a bio-oil-based product which significantly lowers the heating requirement of bituminous mixes besides preserving the bituminous mix temperature during transit.

“Using the REJUPAVE technology will not only help the BRO to construct roads at sub-zero temperature but also bring down the greenhouse gas emissions in the pristine eco-sensitive mountainous environment of Arunachal Pradesh,” Pandey added. 

The road built using REJUPAVE asphalt modifiers in cold climatic regions will have improved long-term durability and better resistance to thermal cracking under low temperature conditions, Pandey further said.