+
Beyond the Overlay
ROADS & HIGHWAYS

Beyond the Overlay

As the monsoon fades, India’s highways come alive again—yet many roads still fail too soon. 

What will it take to build pavements that last?
“In developed countries, highways are designed for 25 to 30 years; in India, it’s 15 to 20,” observes Muthu Annamalai, Vice-President – Projects, Vertis Infrastructure Trust. “We overlay roads in six to seven years, whereas abroad it happens after 12 to 15. Overloading, poor material choice and weak execution are the main culprits.”
Annamalai is clear: match binder grade with pavement temperature, ensure proper aggregate angularity and stripping value, and monitor quality on-site. “In one of our projects, strict quality control helped us resurface only 20 per cent of the area in 15 years,” he says. “Water is the first enemy of bituminous pavements. When we coated aggregates with waste plastic before bitumen, it created a barrier that stopped moisture damage. Five years on, that national highway stretch remains pothole-free.”

To read the full article Click Here


As the monsoon fades, India’s highways come alive again—yet many roads still fail too soon. What will it take to build pavements that last?“In developed countries, highways are designed for 25 to 30 years; in India, it’s 15 to 20,” observes Muthu Annamalai, Vice-President – Projects, Vertis Infrastructure Trust. “We overlay roads in six to seven years, whereas abroad it happens after 12 to 15. Overloading, poor material choice and weak execution are the main culprits.”Annamalai is clear: match binder grade with pavement temperature, ensure proper aggregate angularity and stripping value, and monitor quality on-site. “In one of our projects, strict quality control helped us resurface only 20 per cent of the area in 15 years,” he says. “Water is the first enemy of bituminous pavements. When we coated aggregates with waste plastic before bitumen, it created a barrier that stopped moisture damage. Five years on, that national highway stretch remains pothole-free.”To read the full article Click Here

Related Stories

Gold Stories

Next Story
Infrastructure Urban

KONE Opens India's First Digital Experience Centre in Pune

KONE, a global elevator and escalator manufacturer, has inaugurated its first Digital Experience Centre (DEC) in India, located in Pune. The facility aims to showcase how artificial intelligence (AI), connectivity and data-driven technologies can enhance customer experiences and improve building operations.The centre was inaugurated by Jussi Herlin, Executive Vice Chair, KONE Corporation; Philippe Delorme, President and CEO, KONE; and Nandan Nilekani, Co-founder and Chairman of the Board, Infosys.Designed as an interactive customer environment, the facility demonstrates digital solutions cover..

Next Story
Infrastructure Urban

CII GreenCo Launches Circularity Guidelines for Indian Industry

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) GreenCo Council has launched the CII GreenCo Circularity Guidelines – Pilot Version at the 17th CII GreenCo Waste & Resource Management Summit 2026 in Chennai. The initiative aims to strengthen resource efficiency, waste reduction and circular economy practices across Indian manufacturing and process industries.The guidelines introduce a structured framework with circularity indices covering raw materials, consumables, packaging and other resource inputs. These indicators will help industries assess existing practices, identify opportunities to ..

Next Story
Infrastructure Energy

Global Electronics Association Launches IPC-1783-CO2E Standard

The Global Electronics Association has introduced IPC-1783-CO2E, a new international standard aimed at improving consistency, transparency and comparability in product carbon footprint reporting across the electronics manufacturing industry.The standard, titled International Standard for Data Collection and Reporting of CO2 Equivalent (CO2e) Emissions for the Electronics Manufacturing Supply Chain, provides industry-specific guidance for collecting, estimating and reporting carbon emissions data.With increasing regulatory requirements and customer expectations, electronics manufacturers face c..

Advertisement

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Get daily newsletters around different themes from Construction world.

STAY CONNECTED

Advertisement

SPECIAL OFFER
QR Code