The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has plans to come up with a policy-making use of “Whitetopping Technology” to repair some portions of the national highways. The ministry has invited stakeholders to submit their views on a draft policy titled “Use of Whitetopping Technology for Rehabilitation/ Strengthening of National Highways” with a cut-off date of September 7.

There are about 1.46 lakh kilometers of national highways in the Indian national highway network. While new projects for constructing 2/4/6 lane highways and expressways are still ongoing, more problematic is the age aspect of these older assets calling for rehabilitation so as to prolong their life cycle. Most of these old highways incorporate flexible pavements. Out of all the methods available to rehabilitate and reinforce flexible pavements, there is Whitetopping; a technique that the ministry is looking into, as indicated in a statement given on August 22nd.

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana

This technology of Whitetopping, official letters in the ministry’s office show has been fairly adopted under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). By March 2022, the length of are roads for Whitetopping was approved for 4831 kilometers by the National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency. This has also been the practice of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for some select roads within Bengaluru since 2016 under Special Infrastructure Projects Grants.

What is Whitetopping Technology?

Whitetopping is the process of adding a new overlay to a surface activebituminous road, which is made out of Portland Cement Concrete (PCC, in some we commonly use PCC water-proofing repair mortar).

This technology has been embraced widely within PMGSY and has a better serviceability, longer service life, cheaper life cycle costs and better safety performance over the conventional concrete pavements. It is particularly useful in solving the persistent maintenance problems on roads that do not have improved drainage facilities.

Whitetopping requires a considerably higher capital outlay when compared to flexible overlays, nevertheless, it turns out to be a more economical and cost effective method during the lifecycle of the pavement.

Also Read: What Is Self Healing Road Concept? 

Whitetopping Technology Benefits

Improved Lifespan: Whitetopping greatly extends the lifespan of pavements beyond their average lifespan which is 20-25 years.

Decrease in Maintenance: It which limits the lane closure frequency over its design life and allows for lower life cycle costs in terms of construction as compared to bituminous overlays. It also has a robust wearing course that is effective for places with high rainfall. Moreover, the lighter shade of concrete improves lighting since less heat is absorbed and effectively fights against urban heat islands.

Enhanced Structural Features: The use of whitetopping enhances the load-bearing ability of the existing bituminous pavements and hence minimizes the need for mechanical repairs, especially if the new concrete is placed on a stable base. It strongly fights the most common deformation tendencies such as rutting and cracking which are characteristic of many bituminous pavements proven to occur under hot climatic conditions.

Cost Effective and Eco Friendly: Whitetopping is a low-cost solution with high traffic controlling for budgetary constraints that typify the Indian scenario.

The mix is quite effective in filling the ruts that occur in the case of bituminous pavements since concrete is more rigid and stable at higher temperatures. Besides that, concrete roads lead to less fuel consumption by vehicles than bituminous roads which is another advantage in terms of cost and ecological considerations.