Plastic to add strength to roads
Work to begin today on Goshree road in Ernakulam
The Public Works Department (PWD) will use bitumen mixture containing shredded plastic for laying roads in the State as part of efforts to find a solution to the menace created by non-biodegradable plastic and devise innovative methods for road construction.
Under the new initiative, a 400-metre stretch of the Goshree road near the Kerala High Court in Ernakulam will be the first to be laid with shredded plastic. The work, estimated at Rs.30 lakh, will be kicked off at 10 a.m. on Monday, Public Works Minister V.K. Ebrahim Kutty says. The department is taking the initiative as part of finding a solution to the plastic menace, he adds.
The project is being taken up with the technical assistance of the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre and the Kerala Highway Research Institute (KHRI).
Experimental stretch
On an experimental basis, a 500-metre stretch from Chavadimukku to Gandhipuram in the State capital was re-laid using the bitumen-plastic mixture by the KHRI in 2005. Adding shredded plastic to bitumen has been found to reinforce the mix, prevent melting of bitumen during the summer, reduce the requirement of bitumen by 10 per cent, and bring down penetration of water, preventing fast disintegration of the road surface. Besides, the load-bearing capacity of the road goes up.
Since plastic cannot be mixed at the refinery level — it will produce harmful dioxins above 700 degrees Celsius — the entire process will be done near the workplace. The shredded plastic will be sprayed into the metal and bitumen mixture. The temperature has to be maintained at 160-170 degrees Celsius as bitumen will lose its binding property once the temperature crosses that level.
Highway engineers say that except polyvinyl chloride (PVC), all forms of plastic, such as cups and polythene bags made from polystyrene and ethylene, can be used in the mixture.
One tonne of shredded plastic is needed for laying one km of road with a width of 3.75 metres and thickness of 25 mm.
PWD plan to better roads, reduce plastic menace
Laying 1 km of road requires 1 tonne of plastic
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