45 www.masterbu||der.co.|n The Masterbu||der - February 2012 44 The Masterbu||der - February 2012 www.masterbu||der.co.

|n
Ever|ast|ng Roads Ever|ast|ng Roads
tra|c |ow shou|d be m|n|ma|. The
r|gorous eorts to e||m|nate the tra|c
|ams w||| turn |nto |xat|on as |t |s a never
end|ng process. lt |s thus |mportant to
have re||ab|e |nrastructure, |.e., to
opt|m|ze the ava||ab|||ty o |nrastruc-
tureby upgrad|ngtheex|st|ngstructures
or theneedso utureat ato|erab|ecost.
'Lifetime engineering' takes |nto
account a|| transport-re|ated costs by
dec|s|on-mak|ng. The concept o ||et|me
eng|neer|ng |ays spec|a| ocus on the
ma|ntenance costs a|ong w|th the
econom|c |oss |ncurred due to tra|c
|ams, caused as a resu|t o the on-
go|ng ma|ntenance work, un||ke the
convent|ona| method where |n|t|a| cost
|s the dec|d|ng actor. Ow|ng to the
perormance constra|nts o the ex|st|ng
construct|on mater|a|s |n bear|ng the
|ncreas|ng tra|c |oads, new mater|a|s
and products w||| havetobe deve|oped.
By deve|op|ng more durab|e mater|a|s,
the need or ma|ntenance can be
m|n|m|zed to a great extent.
'Quick and obstruction free
maintenance' pr|nc|p|e |s based on the
act that ma|ntenance cannot be
avo|ded even |n the presence o the
most durab|e |nrastructure. The
deve|opment o new mater|a|s and
var|ous construct|on & ma|ntenance
techn|ques to m|n|m|ze the |mpact o
ma|ntenance act|v|t|es on tra|c |ows
|s cr|t|ca|. Some examp|es are -
H|ndrance ree w|nter ma|ntenance
techn|ques, Temporary by-passes,
Se|-c|ean|ng and regenerat|ng surace
|ayers, Sprays to renew or rev|ta||ze
surace character|st|cs to postpone
ma|or ma|ntenance work, etc. The
oundat|on o these so|ut|ons has to be
|a|d dur|ng the des|gn|ng o the
|nrastructure by cons|der|ng that
ma|ntenance w||| be essent|a| one day.
'Balancing demand and capacity'
dea|s w|th opt|m|z|ng the use o the
ex|st|ng |nrastructure by ana|yz|ng &
atta|n|ng the r|ght ba|ance between
demand and capac|ty. Th|s task requ|res
good tra|c management. lt |s poss|b|e
to ach|eve such ba|ance by des|gn|ng
roads w|th opt|ons or |ncreas|ng
capac|ty temporar||y us|ng channe|s o
ded|cated |anes, |ex|b|e |ane w|dth,
perm|ss|on to use the hard shou|ders
dur|ng rush hours, etc. Such techn|ques
create the requ|red extra temporary
capac|ty and thus he|p |n meet|ng the
and construct|on, m|n|m|zes any stra|n
onresources and the env|ronment, and
contr|butes to a susta|nab|e soc|ety as
a who|e. Th|s pursu|t o |nnovat|on, to
ra|se a susta|nab|e uture comb|ned
w|th s|mu|taneous|y grow|ng transpor-
tat|on needs, |ed to the deve|opment o
the concept o L|et|me Eng|neer|ng or
roads, so that the d||emma ex|st|ng |n
between the |nrastructure as |ong term
product and the short term approachto
|ts p|ann|ng, des|gn, management &
ma|ntenance canbe e||m|nated.
Due to the enormous|y |ncreas|ng
count o road veh|c|es, |ead|ng to
consequent r|se |n the tra|c vo|umes
andax|e|oads, a||uremodes||kerutt|ng,
at|gue and other wear & tear are be|ng
observed ear||er than ant|c|pated.
Pesearch organ|zat|ons and |nst|tut|ons
n the current scenar|o, wh|ch
w|tnessesarap|d|y deve|op|nglnd|an
leconomy, a termthat has |rm|y c|ung
to the lnd|an |nrastructure desp|te o
the tremendous growth |n the con-
struct|on |ndustry |s not enough! The
ever |ncreas|ng need or |nrastruc-
ture, ow|ng to the popu|at|on outburst
|n the country and |ts speedy econom|c
growth has been at tower|ng he|ghts |n
the past ew decades. As th|s process
o trans|t|on cont|nues, the cha||enge
or the lnd|an construct|on |ndustry ||es
|n u|||||ng these needs wh||st |ead|ng
th|s deve|opment |n the d|rect|on o
susta|nab|||ty perta|n|ng to our ent|re
soc|ety, eco|ogy, economy & soc|a|
we|are.
A Susta|nab|e approach ensures
e|c|ency over the prev|ous techno|og|es
acrosstheg|obe, havethusbeenwork|ng
to deve|op |nnovat|ve des|gns and
techno|og|es a|med at generate uture-
or|entated |n|t|at|ves or access|b|||ty
prob|ems and |ssues re|ated to road
|nrastructure. Learn|ng rom a||ures
and m|stakes o the past and ana|yz|ng
shortcom|ngs o the present |nrastruc-
ture, research has |dent||ed our v|ta|
concepts represent|ng the dom|nant
character|st|cs o the soc|etys expecta-
t|ons or the roads o the uture.
Constructing nfrastructure that is
reliable!
Ava||ab|||ty and re||ab|||ty are the key
|ssues o durab|e |nrastructure, wh|ch
means h|gh qua||ty and|owma|ntenance
o the |nrastructure. As ar as ma|nte-
nance |s concerned, |ts eects on the
L|Iat|ma ng|naar|ng Ior 8oads:
Tha Path to a Susta|nab|a Futura
Chaitanya GoyaI
App||cat|on o carbon |ber re|norced po|ymer w|th epoxy as po|ymer
Product|on o test mater|a|
demand. A|so, the mass trans|t systems
||ke Trams, Bus rap|d trans|t systems,
etc. p|ay a ma|or ro|e |n the atta|n|ng
the same.
'Superior Asset management tools'
shou|dbe deve|oped|n order tosupport
dec|s|on-mak|ng by road author|t|es,
perta|n|ngtothema|ntenancestrateg|es
and und management or conservat|on
o theroadnetworks. Asthetra|cvo|ume
on roads |ncreases, the road systems
become more vu|nerab|e to d|srupt|on
|n the tra|c |ows caused due to
acc|dents and ma|ntenance work.
Mon| tor| ng systems capab| e o
constant|y keep|ng a check on the
|nrastructure cond|t|on, |n-s|tu sensors
and Spec|a||st Survey veh|c|es |n order
to deve|op perormance mode|s or
45 www.masterbu||der.co.|n The Masterbu||der - February 2012 44 The Masterbu||der - February 2012 www.masterbu||der.co.|n
Ever|ast|ng Roads Ever|ast|ng Roads
tra|c |ow shou|d be m|n|ma|. The
r|gorous eorts to e||m|nate the tra|c
|ams w||| turn |nto |xat|on as |t |s a never
end|ng process. lt |s thus |mportant to
have re||ab|e |nrastructure, |.e., to
opt|m|ze the ava||ab|||ty o |nrastruc-
tureby upgrad|ngtheex|st|ngstructures
or theneedso utureat ato|erab|ecost.
'Lifetime engineering' takes |nto
account a|| transport-re|ated costs by
dec|s|on-mak|ng. The concept o ||et|me
eng|neer|ng |ays spec|a| ocus on the
ma|ntenance costs a|ong w|th the
econom|c |oss |ncurred due to tra|c
|ams, caused as a resu|t o the on-
go|ng ma|ntenance work, un||ke the
convent|ona| method where |n|t|a| cost
|s the dec|d|ng actor. Ow|ng to the
perormance constra|nts o the ex|st|ng
construct|on mater|a|s |n bear|ng the
|ncreas|ng tra|c |oads, new mater|a|s
and products w||| havetobe deve|oped.
By deve|op|ng more durab|e mater|a|s,
the need or ma|ntenance can be
m|n|m|zed to a great extent.
'Quick and obstruction free
maintenance' pr|nc|p|e |s based on the
act that ma|ntenance cannot be
avo|ded even |n the presence o the
most durab|e |nrastructure. The
deve|opment o new mater|a|s and
var|ous construct|on & ma|ntenance
techn|ques to m|n|m|ze the |mpact o
ma|ntenance act|v|t|es on tra|c |ows
|s cr|t|ca|. Some examp|es are -
H|ndrance ree w|nter ma|ntenance
techn|ques, Temporary by-passes,
Se|-c|ean|ng and regenerat|ng surace
|ayers, Sprays to renew or rev|ta||ze
surace character|st|cs to postpone
ma|or ma|ntenance work, etc. The
oundat|on o these so|ut|ons has to be
|a|d dur|ng the des|gn|ng o the
|nrastructure by cons|der|ng that
ma|ntenance w||| be essent|a| one day.
'Balancing demand and capacity'
dea|s w|th opt|m|z|ng the use o the
ex|st|ng |nrastructure by ana|yz|ng &
atta|n|ng the r|ght ba|ance between
demand and capac|ty. Th|s task requ|res
good tra|c management. lt |s poss|b|e
to ach|eve such ba|ance by des|gn|ng
roads w|th opt|ons or |ncreas|ng
capac|ty temporar||y us|ng channe|s o
ded|cated |anes, |ex|b|e |ane w|dth,
perm|ss|on to use the hard shou|ders
dur|ng rush hours, etc. Such techn|ques
create the requ|red extra temporary
capac|ty and thus he|p |n meet|ng the
and construct|on, m|n|m|zes any
st r a| n on r esour ces and t he
env|ronment, and contr|butes to a
susta|nab|e soc|ety as a who|e. Th|s
pursu|t o |nnovat|on, to ra|se a
susta|nab|e uture comb|ned w|th
s|mu|taneous|y grow|ng transpor-
tat|on needs, |ed to the deve|opment o
the concept o L|et|me Eng|neer|ng or
roads, so that the d||emma ex|st|ng |n
between the |nrastructure as |ong term
product and the short term approachto
|ts p|ann|ng, des|gn, management &
ma|ntenance canbe e||m|nated.
Due to the enormous|y |ncreas|ng
count o road veh|c|es, |ead|ng to
consequent r|se |n the tra|c vo|umes
andax|e|oads, a||uremodes||kerutt|ng,
at|gue and other wear & tear are be|ng
observed ear||er than ant|c|pated.
n the current scenar|o, wh|ch
w|tnessesarap|d|y deve|op|nglnd|an
leconomy, a termthat has |rm|y c|ung
to the lnd|an |nrastructure desp|te o
the tremendous growth |n the con-
struct|on |ndustry |s not enough! The
ever |ncreas|ng need or |nrastruc-
ture, ow|ng to the popu|at|on outburst
|n the country and |ts speedy econom|c
growth has been at tower|ng he|ghts |n
the past ew decades. As th|s process
o trans|t|on cont|nues, the cha||enge
or the lnd|an construct|on |ndustry ||es
|n u|||||ng these needs wh||st |ead|ng
th|s deve|opment |n the d|rect|on o
susta|nab|||ty perta|n|ng to our ent|re
soc|ety, eco|ogy, economy & soc|a|
we|are.
A Susta|nab|e approach ensures
e|c|encyover theprev|oustechno|og|es
across the g|obe, have thus been
work|ng to deve|op |nnovat|ve des|gns
and techno|og|es a|med at generate
ut ure-or| ent at ed | n| t | at | ves or
access|b|||ty prob|ems and |ssues
re|ated to road |nrastructure. Learn|ng
rom a||ures and m|stakes o the past
and ana|yz|ng shortcom|ngs o the
present |nrastruc-ture, research has
| dent | | ed our v| t a| concept s
r e p r e s e n t | n g t h e d o m| n a n t
character|st|cs o the soc|etys expecta-
t|ons or the roads o the uture.
Constructing nfrastructure that is
reliable!
Ava||ab|||ty and re||ab|||ty are the key
|ssues o durab|e |nrastructure, wh|ch
means h|gh qua||ty and|owma|ntenance
o the |nrastructure. As ar as ma|nte-
L|Iat|ma ng|naar|ng Ior 8oads:
Tha Path to a Susta|nab|a Futura
Chaitanya GoyaI
App||cat|on o carbon |ber re|norced po|ymer w|th epoxy as po|ymer
Product|on o test mater|a|
demand. A|so, the mass trans|t
systems ||ke Trams, Bus rap|d trans|t
systems, etc. p|ay a ma|or ro|e |n the
a t t a | n | n g
the same.
'Superior Asset management tools'
shou|dbe deve|oped|n order tosupport
dec|s|on-mak|ng by road author|t|es,
perta|n|ngtothema|ntenancestrateg|es
and und management or conservat|on
o theroadnetworks. Asthetra|cvo|ume
on roads |ncreases, the road systems
become more vu|nerab|e to d|srupt|on
|n the tra|c |ows caused due to
acc|dents and ma|ntenance work.
Mon| tor| ng systems capab| e o
constant|y keep|ng a check on the
|nrastructure cond|t|on, |n-s|tu sensors
and Spec|a||st Survey veh|c|es |n order
46 The Masterbu||der - February 2012 www.masterbu||der.co.|n
ma|ntenance management systems,
etc. shou|d be deve|oped to ass|st w|th
dec|s|onmak|ng.
Keepingit green
The crux o th|s concept ||es |n
d|m|n|sh|ng the eco|og|ca| |mpacts on
commun|t|es and natura| hab|tats,
wh|ch resu|t as an outcome o the
unp|anned, pro|t or|ented & un-
eco|og|ca| |nrastructura| deve|opment.
Green |nrastructure behaves as an
|ntegra| part o the env|ronment and by
the means o |ts des|gn and compos|t|on
|t he|ps |n m|n|m|z|ngthe |mpact o tra|c
(no|se, a|r po||ut|on and v|brat|ons) and
energy consumpt|on to run the trans-
portat|on system. lt a|so opt|m|zes the
use o non-trad|t|ona| mater|a|s or road
bu||d|ng and reduces the use o natura|
resources. The u|t|mate goa| beh|nd
deve|op|ng such |nrastructure |s to
contr|bute towards the atta|nment o a
susta|nab|e soc|ety.
'Preserving natural resources' |s a
concept that comes |nto p|ay due to the
road and h|ghway |ndustry be|ng a
huge consumer o the convent|ona|
bu||d|ng mater|a|s. Nature has a|ways
been at the rece|v|ng end o our
construct|on act|v|t|es. Pang|ng rom
the procurement o the bu||d|ngmater|a|s
to the |and|||s that are generated rom
dump|ng rubb|e produced due to the
ma|ntenance and reurb|sh|ng act|v|t|es
|npract|ceonroadandh|ghway pro|ects,
we |eave no stone unturned to d|stort
the|andscapes aroundus. Thecomp|ete
recyc||ng and reuse o th|s bu||d|ng
rubb|e w||| be the |rst cha||enge ac|ng
road eng|neers |nthe near uture.
To tack|e th|s cha||enge success-
u||y we need to deve|op |ow energy
consum|ng construct|on and ma|nte-
nance techn|ques ||ke preabr|cat|on.
We need to quant|y the eects o the
road cond|t|on and road a||gnment on
the ue| consumpt|on |n order to
opt|m|ze the ro|||ng res|stance and
des|gn aesthet|ca| |nrastructure that
|ts |nto the env|ronment wh||st reduc|ng
the |mpact on |ora and auna and
restores hab|tat ragmentat|on (Eco-
v|aducts). We a|so need to deve|op
and |ntroduce new env|ronmenta||y-
r|end|y and susta|nab|e bu||d|ng
mater|a|s or pavement construct|ons
||ke B|o-B|tumen and des|gn systems
to recover the renewab|e energy rom
road |nrastructure ||ke the energy
produced rom w|nd, sun and brak|ng
energy o veh|c|es.
'Emission control' dea|s w|th the
cha||enges posed by |ncreas|ng a|r
and no|se po||ut|on. By |ne-tun|ng
the m|x des|gn and |ts app||cat|on
techn|ques, the concept o s||ent
pavements can be turned |nto a rea||ty.
Preabr|cated th|n surace |ayers
capab|e o absorb|ng no|se and a|r
po||ut|ngcomponents, must bedeve|oped
to br|ng the eects o em|ss|ons under
Cast|ng u|tra-h|gh perormance |ber re|norced concrete
P|ston |nduced dynam|c |oad|ng test
P|ston |nduced dynam|c |oad|ng test
Ever|ast|ng Roads
Rockwell India
perm|ss|b|e standards. A|r-c|ean|ng
systems must be des|gned to erad|cate
theexhaust andnon-exhaust part|cu|ate
matter b|own up by w|nd and pass|ng
tra|c, rom urbanand suburbanareas.
Smart andSafeFormulation
Smart and sae |nrastructure
concept |ays ocus on observ|ng,
ana|yz|ng, dec|d|ng and perorm|ng to
de||ver a re|ax|ng and sae trave|
exper|ence wh||st he|p|ng the road
owners keep the |nrastructure property
out o harms way. The pr|me purpose |s
to opt|m|ze the tra|c |ow and road
construct|on&ma|ntenanceworksae|y.
The Sae des|gn pr|nc|p|e works on
the act that saety |nsp|res con|dence
and thus there shou|d be abso|ute|y no
comprom|se on the qua||ty (strength,
toughness, durab|||ty) o the |nra-
structure. lt |s an eng|neers pr|me duty
to des|gn and construct |nrastructure
that ensures saety under standard
cond|t|ons, day and n|ght.
'Smart design' dea|s w|th creat|ng
e|c|ent road networks capab|e o
hand||ng the h|gh tra|c vo|umes and
y|e|d|ng so|ut|ons when they are
requ|redmost, ||keat thet|meo mass|ve
tra|c |ams, occas|ona| congest|ons and
acc|dents. System opt|m|zat|on |mp||es
the ava||ab|||ty o a|ternat|ves. We need
to deve|op smart detect|ng and warn|ng
systems to |norm dr|vers |n case o
unsae perormance o surace |ayers
and research on Automat|c veh|c|e
Gu|dance (AvG) and |ts |ntegrat|on |nto
ex|st|ng road |nrastructure. Bes|des
expand|ng the road network, creat|ng
temporary capac|ty |ns|de and outs|de
thenetwork|sthemost obv|ousso|ut|on.
'Smart communication' ensures the
commun|cat|on o re|evant |normat|on
to the dr|vers. lt p|ays a cruc|a| ro|e |n
system opt|m|zat|on. Latest research
deduces that we|| be ab|e to ach|eve
automat|c veh|c|e gu|dance by the year
2040. Meanwh||e, commun|cat|on w|||
ocus on |ntegrated GPS systems and
dashboard d|sp|ays |n veh|c|es and a
range o tra|c s|gns and |normat|on
pane|s above and a|ong the road.
Pesearch |s requ|red to deve|op
Dynam|c road |normat|on pane|s w|th
the ab|||ty to |ntegrate common tra|c
s|gns, stat|c and rea|-t|me |normat|on
so that the r|ght |normat|on can be
d|sp|ayed at the r|ght moment.
'Smart monitoring' |ays ocus on
promot|ngthelnte|||gent Tra|cSystems
(lTS) to the|r max|mum e|c|ency by
ana|yz|ng and erad|cat|ng the deects
and shortcom|ngs |n the current |rst
generat|on systems wh|ch re|y on the
|nd|cators that are used to manage
tra|c |ows. Most |nvest|gat|ons and
research carr|ed out exposes the
weakness o such app||cat|ons as the
|nadequate quant|ty and qua||ty o rea|
t|me data ava||ab|e or |nput. Qu|ck and
48 The Masterbu||der - February 2012 www.masterbu||der.co.|n
Pubb|e dump|ng yard
Test|ng h|gh perormance under|ays cons|st|ng o recyc|ed mater|a| Dr|ver ass|stance systems
Ever|ast|ng Roads
Wirtgen India
cost eect|ve data acqu|s|t|on w||| thus
be the cr|t|ca| success actor or lTS.
Th|s concept d|rects us to research on
des|gn|ng mu|t|-unct|ona|, |n-veh|c|e
mon|tor|ng and detect|ng systems
generat|ng rea|-t|me data to |norm the
dr|vers about saety and rout|ng, the
po||ce about speed|ng, secur|ty and
ax|e |oads, the tra|c manager about
|nc|dents, tra|c |ows and ree
capac|ty and the road operator about
road and structure cond|t|on.
Humannfrastructure
'Public security' |mp||es spec|a|
attent|on to the sphere o pub||c we|are
and support |n respect to the ava||ab|e
|nrastructure ac|||t|es. Spec|a| attent|on
and care must be pa|d to the most
vu|nerab|e users o roads and pub||c
spaces ||ke pedestr|ans, cyc||sts, the
d|erent|y ab|ed, sen|or c|t|zens and
ch||dren.
'Multi-functional use' approach
str|ves to opt|m|ze the soc|a| needs o
the peop|e |rr|tated w|th a|r and no|se
po||ut|on on the|r streets and the|r
expectat|ons o ac|||t|es and serv|ces
to meet the|r da||y needs. P|ann|ng the
ava||ab|e to pub||c space a||ow|ng a
mu|t|-unct|ona| use o the ava||ab|e
area at d|erent t|mes o the day cou|d
be an opt|on. Mode||ng park|ng areas
so that they can be used as a ch||drens
p|ay area dur|ng the day or at weekends
and mov|ng the no|sy and po||ut|ng
tra|c transport ac|||t|es and park|ng
areas underground w||| create new
empty spaces at ground |eve| or the
en|oyment o the c|t|zens.
'Human design' tact|cs prov|de the
|nnovat|ve and much needed human
d|mens|ons to the ex|st|ng unp|anned,
d|sorder|y and unmanageab|e |nra-
structura| growth w|th a short term
approach, resu|t|ng |n end|ess concrete
and aspha|t |ung|es. We thus need to
rea||ze & deve|op systems and po||c|es
promot|ng harmon|zat|on o |nra-
structure w|ththe humand|mens|ons.
Pub||c |nvestments have p|ayed a
ma|or ro|e |n deve|op|ng the |nra-
structure support|ngthe lnd|aneconomy,
and|t |sthusexpectedtoprov|deserv|ces
or very |ongper|ods o t|me. The|engthy
t|me span means that uture deve|op-
ments |n the transport o goods and
peop|e must be we|| assessed and
p|anned |n advance |n order to make
the r|ght cho|ces, not on|y or today but
a|so or tomorrow. To keep pace w|th
the deve|oped and other rap|d|y
deve|op|ng nat|ons, lnd|a needs to take
|essons rom such eorts o the |rst
wor|d nat|ons and act|ve|y |ndu|ge |n
researcho |tsown|mmed|ate|y. W|ththe
comp|et|on o mass|ve |nrastructura|
pro|ects ||ke the Go|den Quadr||atera|
network andconstant|y evo|v|ngeconomy
and techno|ogy o the country, the
uture bodes we|| or the lnd|an roads
andh|ghwaysector.
Creat|ng temporary capac|ty |ns|de and outs|de the road network |s
necessary or smart des|gn
Mon|tor|ng and manag|ng tra|c & |nra systems
So|ar power |n pavement LED ||ghts and |nbu||t sensors
50 The Masterbu||der - February 2012 www.masterbu||der.co.|n
Ever|ast|ng Roads