Chandigarh to go ‘smart’ with road repair work

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 22

The UT Administration will go “smart” in fixing patchwork with modern road repair machines.

The UT Engineering Department has brought a jetpatcher machine from Gujarat on a trial basis to repair roads damaged due to rupture, trenching, overloading, wash out and surface damage.

The machine uses a simple four-stage process for automatic repair of potholes on the road. The machine uses high volume and low-pressure blower to blow all loose debris from the pothole, clean it and prepare the hole for an effective patchwork. The machine then coats the pothole with an asphalt emulsion that seals the pothole and prevents further damage from occurring due to moisture. Aggregate is mixed with the asphalt emulsion and blown into the pothole at high velocity. After the pothole has effectively sealed and filled, a light layer of dry aggregate is applied to the patch to prevent it from adhering to car tires.

CB Ojha, Chief Engineer, UT, said: “The machine has several advantages over manual road repair works. The environment-friendly machine can accelerate the repair work, requires less number of labourers and produces negligible pollution.”

Moreover, it was a lot more useful in carrying out repair work in narrow lanes and on cycle tracks. The machine could be parked in a nearby area and repair could be carried out by a moveable pipe of the machine, he said, adding that the road could be used within half an hour after carrying out the patchwork.

A sample repair work was carried out today and they would observe the sample for more than a month, before replicating the work in other parts of the city, he said, adding that the technique was being used in southern states, but the UT would be the first in North India to use automatic repair of damaged road. It would be quick-fix solution to the damaged roads, he summed up.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.