Now water resistant plastic roads for city

Now water resistant plastic roads for city
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: It is impossible to imagine city roads without potholes. Every monsoon washes away the road surface and repair work irritates more than the damage itself. The vicious cycle continues every season.

Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) has come up with an innovation to tackle the problem by using waste plastic as road material. Plastic, environment’s enemy No.1, normally comprises a major part of urban solid waste. It cannot be composted or reused and the recycling process has its share of environmental damages.

‘‘Plastic is ground to fine powder and added with aggregate to the bitumen. Eight percent by volume of bitumen used will comprise this plastic powder. As a result, the road surface is more flexible, water resistant and more durable,’’ said BCC engineer-in-chief Rame Gowda.Further JK Plastic Associates has been given the contract to take up 500 km road works this season using plastic technology.

‘‘If the technology works well on the chosen 500 km, all 4,000 km of city roads will be built using this latest technology,’’ Rame Gowda added.