Beyond the Overlay

29 Nov 2025 CW Team

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

Infrastructure Urban

02 Jun 2026

VECV Sales Rise 7.8 Per Cent In May 2026

VE Commercial Vehicles recorded sales of 7,978 units in May 2026, compared to 7,401 units in May 2025, registering growth of 7.8 per cent. This included 7,789 units from the Eicher brand and 189 units from the Volvo brand.Eicher branded trucks and buses reported sales of 7,789 units during the month, up 7.3 per cent from 7,258 units a year earlier. In the domestic commercial vehicle market, Eicher sales rose 9.1 per cent to 7,375 units from 6,758 units in May 2025.Exports declined 17.2 per cent to 414 units from 500 units in the corresponding month last year. Volvo Trucks and Volvo Buses recor..

Table Space Strengthens DESYN Leadership Team

Table Space has announced strategic leadership appointments within DESYN, its integrated Design and Build business, as it looks to strengthen operations across key enterprise and GCC markets in India. DESYN was launched as a strategic extension of Table Space’s workspace solutions portfolio to meet rising demand for agile, high-quality and rapidly deployable enterprise workspaces.Shruti Ookabhoy has joined DESYN as Executive Director and will lead the Design vertical, focusing on design capability, operational excellence and team development across markets. She brings over 22 years of experi..

Concord Associate Bags Rs 2.79 Bn Kavach Order

Concord Control Systems said its associate company, Progota India, has received a Rs 2.79 bn domestic order from Indian Railways for the supply, installation, testing and commissioning of on-board Kavach 4.0 loco equipment.The order is scheduled for execution within 12 months and strengthens Concord’s role in India’s railway safety and signalling ecosystem. Kavach is India’s indigenous automatic train protection system, designed to improve operational safety by helping prevent signal passing at danger and reducing collision risks.Gaurav Lath, Joint Managing Director, Concord Control Syst..