At Indo-China border, Indigenous road-building tech used

Itanagar: The Border Road Organization (BRO) has successfully used an indigenous road construction technology “REJUPAVE” along the Indo-China border in Arunachal Pradesh under Project ‘VARTAK’.
This technology was developed by India’s oldest and premier road research organization CSIR-Central Road Research Institute (CSIR-CRRI), Ministry of Science and Technology for construction of high altitude bituminous roads in low and sub-zero temperature conditions.

The technology was recently implemented by BRO to build bituminous road sections at World’s Highest Sela Road Tunnel and LGG-Damteng-Yangste (LDY Road) road section near China border in Arunachal Pradesh.

Additional Director General (EAST), BRO, PKH Singh, VSM informed that the “REJUPAVE Technology” was successfully utilised by BRO under the technological guidance and supervision of CSIR-CRRI to produce low temperature bituminous mixes for construction of bituminous roads at Sela tunnel and LDY road site at 14000 ft and 18000 ft altitude respectively.

“This technology brings down the production and rolling temp of bituminous mixes by 30 to 400 C with negligible heat loss in bituminous mix during transit, despite long haulage time amid snow fall.

Technology will increase the working window of Road Construction Companies of BRO thus help us to build robust road network with faster pace under challenging conditions,” Singh said.

Satish Pandey, Principal Scientist CSIR-CRRI and inventor of REJUPAVE informed that the REJUAPAVE asphalt modifier is a biooil based product which significantly lower the heating requirement of bituminous mixes besides preserving the bituminous mix temperature during transit.

Uses of REJUPAVE technology will not only help BRO to construct roads at subzero temperature but also bring down the greenhouse gas emissions in the pristine eco-sensitive mountainous environment of Arunachal Pradesh.

According to him, the road built using REJUPAE asphalt modifier in cold climatic regions will have improved long term durability and better resistance to thermal cracking under low temperature conditions.

He further informed that the M/s Verma Industries, industrial partner and licensee of CSIR-CRRI technology, is carrying out the commercial production of REJUPAVE for field implementation on pan India basis.

Building a robust road infrastructure at a faster pace along the Indo-China border has been a top priority for the Government of India to improve operational capacity of its defence forces.

Construction and maintenance of high-altitude bituminous roads on China Border in state of Arunachal Pradesh under low and sub-zero temperature conditions was always a challenging task to India’s premier road construction agency Border Road Organisation.

Majority of bituminous road construction works either were either halted or delayed during the winter months as the production of hot bituminous mix for road construction requires increased heating time at elevated temp ranges of about 160 to 170 degree celsius in hot mix plant.

Besides, the bituminous mix to be laid and compacted is required to be sufficiently hot at paving site for effective compaction to achieve desired durability and performance.