AUGUST, 2022

Volume: 50 § Number: 08 § Total Pages: 56

A view of Bundelkhand Expressway in Uttar Pradesh

https://www.irc.nic.in
 INDIAN HIGHWAYS
Volume : 50 § Number : 8 § AUGUST 2022 § ISSN 0376-7256
Indian Roads Congress
Founded : On 10th December, 1934

CONTENTS
Ø From the Editor’s Desk 4-5

Ø Meet the New DG (RD) & SS, MoRT&H 6

Ø Advertisements 2, 7-17, 36,51, 55 & 56

Ø New/Revised Publications of IRC 18

Ø IRC Technical Committees Meeting Schedule for the Month of August 2022 18

Technical Papers
Ø Modular Prefabricated Quick Launch Steel Bridges-An Efficient System for Construction
of Temporary and Permanent Bridges 19
By Anil Kumar, AVSM

Ø Ground Based Hyper Spectral Sensing of Pavement Conditions-A Case Study 30

By Mohanshu Bhardwaj, Praveen Aggarwal & Mahesh Pal
Ø Effects of Various Parameters on the Performance of Cementitious Grout Bituminous Mixes (CGBM) 37
By Manoj Shukla, Nipun Madaan, Dr. Tanuj Chopra & Dr. Satish Chandra

Ø Green Technologies for Rigid and Composite Pavement Construction 44

By Satander Kumar

Ø Important Announcement 52

Ø Annual Session Registration Form 53-54

FEEDBACK
Suggestion/Observation on editorial and Technical Papers are welcome and may be sent to IRC Secretariat on
Email-indhighways@gmail.com/dd.irc-morth@gov.in

Publisher & Editor: Sanjay Kumar Nirmal, Secretary General, IRC

E-mail: secygen.irc@gov.in
Headquarter: IRC Bhawan, Kama Koti Marg, Sector-6, R.K. Puram, New Delhi-110 022.
Phone Nos.: +91-11-26171548 (Admn.), 23387140 & 23384543 (Membership, Tech. Papers and Indian Highways),
23387759 (Sale), 26185273 (Tech. Committees)

No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without prior written permission from the Secretary General, IRC.

The responsibility of the contents and the opinions expressed in Indian Highways is exclusively of the author(s) concerned. IRC and the Editor
disclaim responsibility and liability for any statements or opinion, originality of contents and of any copyright violations by the authors. The
opinion expressed in the papers and contents published in the Indian Highways do not necessarily represent the views of the Editor or IRC.

Printed at: M/s B. M. Printing & Writing Papers Pvt. Ltd, (H-37, Sector-63, Noida), (UP) ` 20
 ROAD SECTOR IN INDIA
Roads are one of the important elements of transport infrastructure for land surface movement of passengers and goods –
intercity, intracity, rural areas and neighboring counties. The roads are considered to be one of the basic facilities &
amenity and thereby every citizen considers his right and demands for the same. Road Transport is a critical
infrastructure for the economic development of a country. The better road connectivity in the Indian scenario have
led to creation of semi-urban and semi-rural areas in addition to already existing rural & urban areas. Therefore, the
road construction in essence is a service-oriented profession which helps in building strong society and nation.
Historically, investments in the transport sector have been made by the Central and State Government.
However, in order to encourage private sector participation, central government has laid down comprehensive
policy guidelines for private sector participation in the development of National Highways. The road sector is
the highly sensitive to the traffic growth and traffic projection and in case they are not captured effectively, the
risk increases especially when the project is on PPP/BOT/EPC mode. The rate of return to the economy on every
percentage of comparative investment made in the road sector over a time period needs quantification both in
direct and indirect terms. It may not be out of the place to mention that sustainability of a road facility so created
heavily depends on the credibility of traffic growth projection.
Importance of road infrastructure is widely recognized as a potent means of socio-economic integration and is vital
for the economic development of the country. India has the second largest road network in the world of about 63.71
lakh km. This comprises National Highways, Expressways, State Highways, Major District Roads, Other District
Roads and Village Road. During the past two decades, huge investments have gone into the road sector, average
expenditure increasing from a level of ` 8000 crore per year during 1997-2002 (9th Plan) to ` 160,000 crore per
year during 2012-17 (12th Plan). During period between 2014-15 and 2021-22 MoRT&H and its implementing
agencies have spent around ` 10.5 Lakh Cr. (cumulatively) as capital expenditure. Data shows that in the last five
years there has been a significant growth in the road network. Further, the government has identified various
economic corridors to play an enabling role in transforming India's economy to grow to USD 5 trillion by 2025.
Importance to the sector is also exhibited by the fact that it accounts for approximately 18% of the National
Infrastructure Pipeline. Various state governments have also considered developing critical road corridors as a
catalyst of economic development. Meanwhile numerous proactive steps were taken by MoRTH to accelerate land
acquisition for Road Projects & Bhomi Rashi, a web portal was developed for online processing of land acquisition
notification to accelerate highway development projects. In addition to these, steps such as INAM-Pro to ease
procurement of construction materials and equipment have been taken to expedite project implementation. The
MoRTH & other Road Departments, Ministries have been also supporting the academia and research
organizations in undertaking studies on issues relevant for the implementation of projects in the road sector.
The Ministry of Road Transport and other Road Departments carried forward with their mission to build good
quality of Highways. There has been a consistent increase in the construction of National Highways/Roads since
2013-14, with13,327 kms of roads constructed in 2020-21 as compared to 10,237 kms in 2019-20, indicating an
increase of 30.2 percent over the previous year. National Highway running through the length and breadth of the
country connect ports, state capitals, industrial and tourist centers while the State Highways link district
headquarters and important cities within the state. National Highways play a very important role in the economic
and social development of the country by enabling efficient movement of freight and passengers and improving
access to economic nodes & important business centers. The Government of India through MoRTH has launched
major initiatives to upgrade and strengthen National Highways through various phases of the National Highways
Development project (NHDP). The year 2020-21 was a year for consolidating the gains that have accrued from
major policy decisions taken in the previous five years, a time for monitoring of ongoing projects, tackling road -
blocks and adding to the already impressive pace of work achieved last year. The Ministry took a decision to
complete all ongoing projects that had been awarded upto 2015-16, and placed the highest ever target of
construction of at least 11,000 kms of National Highways, while aspiring to upscale the construction of about
12,000 kms of National Highways as against 10,237 kms achieved during 2019-20. All this happened despite the
adverse situation due to Covid restrictions and heavy & long monsoon season. While work continued on the

4 INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022

different NH projects and tunnels at high speed, including Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, Bangalore-Chennai
Expressway and Zojila Tunnel, the foundation stone was laid for many like the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway,
Chardham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojana, Shri Sant Gyaneshawar Maharaj Palkhi Marg which will reduce the
existing travel time and reduce congestion.
For rural connectivity, the world's biggest rural road programme i.e. PMGSY i.e., Prime Minister Rural Roads
Scheme was launched in the year 2000 to provide all-weather road connectivity to unconnected habitations of
population size 500+ in plain areas and 250+ in hills and other difficult areas. In 2013, the Government widened
the ambit of the programme and launched PMGSY-II to upgrade 50,000 km of the existing rural road network. In
the year 2019, another intervention PMGSY-III was launched for consolidation of 1,25,000 km through routes and
Major Rural Links connecting habitations to important social & economic infrastructure. Besides, 10,000 km road
length has been sanctioned for inaccessible and backwards areas for their socio-economic development. A total of
7,82,850 km road length has been sanctioned under the scheme since its inception with an outlay of ` 3,44,500
crore (US$ 45 billion), out of which 6,93,000 km has already been completed with an investment of ` 2,70,000
crore (US$ 36 billion). A total of 1,61,561 unconnected habitations have so far been provided all-weather road
connectivity under PMGSY.
Another flagship program Bharatmala Pariyojana -Phase I was launched by MoRTH for construction/ up-gradation
of 34,800 kms length of National Highways at an estimated outlay of ` 5,35,000 Crore focusing on optimizing
efficiency of freight and passenger movement across the country by bridging critical infrastructure gaps through
effective interventions like development of Economic Corridors, Inter Corridors and Feeder Routes, National
Corridor Efficiency Improvement, Border and International Connectivity roads, Coastal and Port Connectivity
roads and Green-field expressways. Projects with aggregate length of approximately 22,300 kms have already been
awarded under Bharatmala Pariyojana (including residual NHDP Works) so far. Under Bharatmala Pariyojana 35
locations have also been identified for development of Multimodal Logistics Parks in order to reduce congestion on
proposed Corridors, enhance logistic efficiency and reduce logistics costs of freight movements. It is estimated that
more than 35 crore man-days of employment shall be generated under Phase-I of the programme.
For the year 2021-22 MoRTH awarded 12,731 km National Highways out of which about 30% length in PPP
(BOT / HAM) modes. To improve safety & serviceability of highways MoRTH completed rectification of 3709
accident blackspots out of 5803 black spots identified and safety audit of 30% of NH length in addition to
Improving Efficiency of Toll Collection leading to reduction in waiting time at Toll Plaza.
The Ministry also plans to undertake development of Cable Propelled Transit, i.e., Ropeways, as an alternate
mobility transport solution in areas where other modes of transportation are difficult, for example, in hilly areas.
Ropeways can provide first and last mile connectivity for transportation of passengers in an environmentally
sustainable way. A total of 100+ projects across North-Eastern states, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand,
Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, etc., of 600 kms length have been identified for development across the country at a
total investment of ` 35,000 Cr. Out of these, 8 projects of 60 km length with a total investment of ` 4,000 Cr.
will be awarded in 2022-23.
Over the past couple of years, the road infrastructure has witnessed a surge in activities in terms of policy &
regulation standardization of design & construction procedure, programmes & schemes & project uptake. The
expertise gained from the construction of recent completed road & bridge projects can be utilized in other
upcoming & ongoing projects. Going ahead all the stakeholders both at government & private including
concessionaires, contactors, designers, IE, technology providers, machinery, equipment, material manufactures,
researchers, academia & road user/ public needs to work in coordinated manner to build good quality & safe roads.

(Sanjay Kumar Nirmal)

Secretary General, IRC and
Director General (RD) & SS, MoRT&H

INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022 5

 MEET THE NEW DG (RD) & SS, MORT&H

Shri S.K. Nirmal

Director General (Road Development) & Special Secretary,
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Government. of India

The Indian Roads Congress welcome & congratulate the new Director General (Road Development) & Special Secretary,
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Government of India.
Shri Sanjay Kumar Nirmal joined Ministry of Road Transport & Highways in 1986 as Assistant Executive Engineer
through CES (Roads) and worked on various capacities as Executive Engineer, Superintending Engineer, Chief Engineer,
Additional Director General in the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and elevated to the position of Director
General (Road Development) & Special Secretary to the Govt. of India, MoRT&H on 12th July. 2022. He has worked as
General Manager during 2003 to 2009 and as Chief General Manager during 2009 to 2010 in National Highways
Authority of India. Shri Nirmal has served Indian Roads Congress as Secretary General w.e.f. April, 2017 to till present.
He is also the Honorary Treasurer of IRC. He is also the Chairman of Indian National Group of International Association
for Bridge and Structural Engineers (ING-IABSE).
Shri Nirmal graduated in B.E. (Civil) (Hons.) in 1983 from Malviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur and M.Sc.
(Road Engg.) in 1998 from Delft University of Technology/IHE, the Netherlands. He also completed M.B.A. from R.R.
Poddar Institute of Management, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur.
Shri Nirmal has participated in 35 days training Programme on Highway Maintenance at Japan in 2001; Workshop on
Road Safety in Asia held at Manila in the year 2017. He was Member of Indian delegation at 75th Session of WPI (Working
Party) meeting of UNICEF on Road Traffic Safety from 19th September to 22nd September, 2017 at Geneva; Recipient of
Certificate on Internal Audit based on ISO 9001:2000 Quality Systems Standards. He has also participated in IRAP
Workshop at Washington, USA in 2019.
Shri Nirmal is recipient of prestigious Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award for his outstanding contribution to
Highway profession conferred by IRC in 2003; Life Time Achievement Award from Indian Geotechnical Society-Delhi
Chapter in 2021; Eminent Engineering Personality Award by Institution of Engineers Delhi Chapter in 2021. He has also
received IRC Medal for the Best Paper in 2018 and commendation Certificate for his paper published in 2003. He has
contributed more than 14 Technical papers in various IRC Journals, National and International Seminars and Conferences.
He is a Council Member of PIARC (World Road Association), Paris as well as Member of Technical Committee on Road
Design Standards Committee.
He is closely associated with IRC for last three decades and contributed immensely in various Technical Committees for
formation of codes/guidelines/manuals etc. He is the Convenor of IRC Apex Technical Committees viz. Highway
Specifications & Standards Committee (HSS), General Specifications & Standards Committee (GSS) and Bridge
Specifications & Standards Committee (BSS) and also Chairman of Highways Research Board. He is also Convenor of
Flexible Pavement Committee (H-2) of IRC.
He is Fellow Member of IRC, Fellow Member of Institution of Engineers India and Member of International Road
Federation (IRF). He is a Guest faculty for various National and International Training programmes organised by Indian
Academy of Highway Engineers; Guest Faculty for Indian Railways Institute for Civil Engineers (IRICEN), Pune and
National CPWD Academy, Ghaziabad.

6 INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022

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 NEW/REVISED PUBLICATIONS OF IRC

The IRC has brought out the following 13 New/Revised Publications. These prestigious publications will be quite
useful to the Highway Professionals in their day to day working.

Copies of these publications can be obtained from IRC Office against cash payment or by sending Demand draft drawn in
favour of “Secretary General, Indian Roads Congress”. For more details, please contact + 91 11 2338 7759, 23384543 and E-
mail: ircsale1934@gmail.com, us2.irc-morth@gov.in

These publications can also be ordered through making online payment by visiting our website www.irc.nic.in. under the
column “Sale of Publication”.

MEETING SCHEDULE OF THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE FOR THE MONTH

OF AUGUST, 2022

18 INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022

 TECHNICAL PAPER
MODULAR PREFABRICATED QUICK LAUNCH STEEL BRIDGES-AN
EFFICIENT SYSTEM FOR CONSTRUCTION OF TEMPORARY
AND PERMANENT BRIDGES
ANIL KUMAR, AVSM1
1. INTRODUCTION
In case of construction of hill roads particularly in new
alignment, construction of bridges remains a major
challenge as number of rivers and streams cross the road
alignment. Finalization of a bridge proposal across these
water bodies in hilly areas, however need special attention
to understand the hydraulic characteristics of the river,
flood frequency and its extent, composition of the river bed
material and that of hill slopes, alignment of approaches
etc. However due to inaccessibility of site at DPR stage,
such detailed study is not feasible during the initial survey.
Therefore for establishing connectivity to develop areas
remains a major challenge in new construction.
Accordingly to address the issue effectively at initial
stage, temporary bridges are planned and constructed
across various water bodies which are replaced
subsequently with permanent bridges in due course of time
with proper load class and lane arrangement to ensure
unrestricted traffic flow. To address the issue, Modular
prefabricated quick launch steel bridges have been used
extensively to abridge various gaps over the water bodies
and establish proper connectivity to develop areas and
progress further work.
Further, in hilly areas, immediate restoration of damages
that take place to the road formation and cross drainage
works due to heavy rainfall during the monsoon also
remains a matter of serious challenge. Due to change in
climatic conditions and large scale deforestation that has
taken place over the years, incident of cloud burst, glacial
out burst and high intensity rain fall are now very common
in the hilly areas leading to flash flood scausing damages to
the road formation and cross drainage works. In such
circumstances, Modular prefabricated quick launch steel
1 Former Additional Director General, Border Roads Organisation, Email: anil15681@yahoo.co.in
bridges have emerged as quite effective and an efficient
arrangement in addressing the crisis mentioned above by
restoring the line of communication within least time
frame.
2. MODULAR PREFABRICATED QUICK
LAUNCH STEEL BRIDGES
Modular bridges, as the name suggest are pre- fabricated in
modules that can be installed quickly in the field without the
aid of any heavy equipment. It is built in controlled
environment such as factory environment and then installed
at site. Being modular construction having ease in
installation, it has major advantages in terms of fast
execution and flexibility. Various components remain small
being lighter in weight to be transported in ordinary truck
and lifted and can be erected at site manually without the
use of crane many times. Such bridges are also strong
enough to carry vehicular loads that normally ply on the
road.
The history of development of modular bridges date backs
to the world war-II i.e. during 1942, when the panel type
modular steel bridges were developed by the British
Engineer named Donald Bailey. These bridges were
extensively used during the world war-II by British,
Canada and American Military to establish connectivity
across various rivers and streams. At present, these bridges
are also being used extensively in the country by various
organizations viz Indian Army, Border Roads
Organization, NHIDCL, PWDs of North Eastern States
and other hilly States in road projects to provide temporary
connectivity within least time frame and restore the line of
communication that breaks down during the monsoon
due to heavy rainfall and unprecedented floods.
INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022 19
 TECHNICAL PAPER
Though Bailey Bridges has been used extensively as the
temporary bridges to a bridge gaps across water bodies in
hilly areas by the Indian Army, Border Roads Organization
and State PWDs, however these bridges have limitations
with regards to the load class and carriageway width. With
growing traffic demand and need to transport heavier loads
to meet developmental needs of the hilly areas ,nowadays
various firms have developed different types of modular
prefabricated quick launch steel bridge superstructure to
meet the present day requirements of transformations of
heavier loads and ensure unobstructed flow of traffic.
3. TYPES OF MODULAR PREFABRICATED
QUICK LAUNCH STEEL BRIDGES
Nowadays various type of new generation modular panel
type and girder type steel quick launch bridge superstructures
are available in the market and are being supplied by the
various firms. At present four types of modular steel quick
launch bridges are being fabricated and are available for
construction in the country. Salient features of these bridges
are described in the succeeding paragraphs .
3.1 Bailey Bridges
Different features of the Bailey bridges are described as
follows. (Photo 1&2 refers)
i. Bailey Bridges are panel type modular bridges
having panel size 3.05 m (10 ft) x 1.448 m (4 ft 9
in) with interchangeable components.
ii. These bridges are generally single lane bridges and
could be constructed in two widths i.e. standard
carriage way width of 3.15 m and Extra wide width
of 4.20 m.
iii. Bailey bridges in single span could be built upto 61
m (200 ft).
iv. IRC load class -70 R bailey bridge can be built
only upto 42 m (140 ft) and thereafter load class -
40 upto 57.93 m (190 ft) and load class - 30 upto
61m (200 ft).
v. Configuration of Bailey bridges for different span
and load class is given herewith Table – 1.
vi. These bridges could be launched easily and quickly
either by push launch technique or and with the help of
crane .
vii. For bridge deck, galvanized steel chequred plates
are used.
viii. At present M/s GRSE, M/s Bridge and Roof, and
M/s Titagarh Wagon Ltd are manufacturing these
bridges in the country.
20 INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022
3.2 Modular Panel Bridges (MPB)
These are new generation modular steel panel bridges
which have the following features ( Photo 3 & 4 refers)
i. These bridges are similar to the Bailey Bridges but
the panel size is 3.05 m (10 ft) x 2.29 m (7 ft 6 in as
compared to the panel of size of Bailey Bridges of
3.05 m (10ft) x 1.448 m (4ft9in) with
interchangeable components. It has similar types of
components as that of the Bailey bridge.
ii. These bridges could be constructed to various
carriage way width i.e. standard width (3.15 m) ,
Extra wide ( 4.2 m), Intermediate width (5.5 m) and
double lane width (7.35 m).
iii. The load class of these bridges is class -70 R as per
the IRC Standards and Specifications.
iv. These bridges in single span could be built upto 61 m
(200 ft) for load class -70 R .
v. Configuration of modular panel bridges for
different span arrangements is given in Table – 2.
vi. The bridges could be launched easily and quickly
either by push launch technique or with the help of
crane .
vii. Foot walk could also be provided on outer side of
the panels either on both side or one side of the
bridge.
viii. All the parts of the bridges are hot dip galvanized to
have corrosion protection and impart the desired
durability.
ix. For bridge deck, raised pattern galvanized steel
plate or steel plate with anti-skid coating are used.
x. Because of large panel size it has much better load
carrying capacity than a BB panel and therefore it
needs lighter configuration than a BB for the same
span and load class e.g. for 42 m (140 ft) span and
load class -70 R, a BB needs a TDR configuration
whereas it needs a DSR configuration only for
standard and Extra wide width. Further, a BB does
not have load class 70 R beyond 42 m (140ft) span
whereas these could be launched upto 61 m(200 ft)
span with load class 70R. BBs have max
carriageway width as 4.2 m whereas these bridges
could be constructed to double lane width.
xi. At present M/s GRSE and M/s Titagarh Wagon Ltd,
are manufacturing these bridges in the country and
M/s Acrow , USA, is importing in the country.
3.3 Modular Extended Bridges (MXB)-
These are also a new generation modular steel panel
 TECHNICAL PAPER
bridges which have been developed to address critical
locations demanding longer span bridges due to high flow
of river or deep gorge or otherwise. The other specialties of
these bridges are as under.
i. These bridges are bolted modular truss type
bridges having truss height of 4.6 m.
ii. These bridges could also be constructed to various
width i.e. Extra wide (4.2 m) and double lane
width (7.35m).
iii. The governing load class of these bridges is class -
70 R.
iv. Such types of single span bridges could be built
upto 90 m ( 295 ft ) length with load class -70 R.
v. These bridges offer an effective and durable
solution for long span i.e. 50.0 m and above upto
90.0 m .
vi. The bridges could be launched easily and quickly
with both the technique i.e. push launch using
normal modular Panels and also with the help of
crane .
vii. All the parts of the bridges are hot dip galvanized to
have corrosion protection and impart desired
durability.
viii. Foot walk could also be provided on inner or outer
side of the trusses either on both the side or on one
side.
ix. For decking, raised pattern galvanized steel plate
or steel plate with anti-skid coating is provided .
x. At present, M/s Titagarh Wagon Ltd, has been
manufacturing these bridges in the country in
collaboration with M/s Matiere Spa, France.
3.4 Modular Steel Box Girder Bridges-
Such bridges are a new generation unique modular steel
box girder bridges which could be constructed in both ways
i.e as a permanent bridge with RCC deck and also as a
temporary bridge with steel deck meeting all the norms of
the concerned IRC Standards and Specifications(Photo 5
& 6 refers). The various other specialties of these bridges
are as under-
i. These bridges are modular prefabricated steel box
girder bridges. The longitudinal girders are fabricated
in two size i.e. 6.10 m and 11.40 m for ease of
transportation and launching to suit terrain conditions.
In hilly area, 6.10 m length is suitable whereas for
Plain areas, 11.40 m length is generally used.
ii. These bridges could be constructed to multiple
carriage way width i.e. Extra wide (4.2 m) and
double lane(7.50 m). Additional lane of each 3.5 m
wide could also be added over double lane to make
it three and four lane.
iii. The load class of these bridges is Class -70 R.
iv. Such types of single span bridges could be built
upto 57 m length with load class -70 R for any
width.
v. For permanent bridge, RCC deck is cast over the
girder and for temporary bridge, steel deck is
placed. In case of Temporary bridge, it could be de-
launched and re-launched at other site either as
temporary bridge or permanent bridge as per the
requirement.
vi. The bridges could be launched easily and quickly
with help of both the techniques i,e. either by Push
Launch technique using its own girder or with the
help of crane .
vii. All the parts of the bridges are hot dip galvanized to
have corrosion protection and impart the desired
durability.
viii. Foot walk could also be provided on outer side of
the girder either on both side or on one side.
ix. Being a steel girder bridge, aesthetically these
bridges offer a better view and no restriction on
move of any odd loads and are more safe than a
panel bridge.
x. These bridges would prove quite effective to all the
organizations to speed up the pace of construction
of permanent as well as that of the temporary
bridges(span upto 57 m) because of its unique
design and pre- fabricated girder.
xi. In case of permanent bridge, meets all the technical
requirements of the concerned IRC Standards and
Specifications.
xii. A design life of 100 yrs is assumed for the
permanent bridge.
xiii. To mitigate the effect of seismic forces properly in
the areas falling in seismic Zones IV and V, High
Damping Rubber Bearings are provided.
xiv. Expansion joints are also provisioned for
permanent bridges.
xv. At present, M/s Titagarh Wagon Ltd in collaboration
with M/s Matiere Spa, France, are manufacturing
these in the country.
4. LAUNCHING OF MODULAR BRIDGES BY
VARIOUS AGENCIES
As regards to the uses of these bridges , while BB are
already being used extensively by various organizations'
viz Indian army, BRO and some of the State PWDs, but in
view of the increased traffic density and demand for higher
load class, various agencies are now actively considering
to switch over to Modular Panel Type and Girder Type
INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022 21
 TECHNICAL PAPER

Bridges. Some Modular Panel bridge has been launched

by Uttrakahnd, PWD and BRO at few locations. Modular
Extended Bridges( MXB ) has been planned by PWD ,
Maharashtra for span more than 65 m. The Girder Bridge in
the span range of 35.0 m to 50.0 m has also been launched
by various agencies i.e. NHIDCL, West Bengal
Development Authority and PWD, Maharashtra as
permanent bridge at few sites.

5. T E C H N I C A L S P E C I F I C AT I O N S O F
MODULAR BRIDGES

To facilitate various agencies to take further action on

procurement of these bridges, broad technical specifications
for the purpose has been chalked out for Modular Panel
Bridges and Modular Girder Bridges and are enclosed
herewith at Appendix 'A' and 'B' for ready reference. Agencies
depending on the site condition, their specific requirement
and market availability may suitably modify these.

6. CONCLUSION

Modular bridges play a vital role in immediate restoration of

road communication system and developing connectivity to
the develop areas in the new road construction. Additional Photo 2 170 Ft DDR Bailey Bridge
advantage being offered by Modular Girder Bridges is that
they can be used as permanent bridges. This would also
prove quite effective and helpful to speed up pace of
construction of permanent bridges.

Photo 3 190 ft DDR Extra Wide Modular Panel Bridge

( Load Class -70 R)

Photo 1 150 FT DDR Extra Wide Bailey Bridge Photo 4 140ft Double lane Modular Panel Bridge
( Launching under progress ) (Load Class- 70R)
22 INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022
 TECHNICAL PAPER

Photo 5 30.0 m long Modular Steel Girder Bridge Photo 6 Modular Steel Girder Bridge –Span-30 m
Table-1 Configuration of Bailey Bridges for Different Span and Load Class (4 Transom Per Bay)

Note- In configuration first letter shows no of panel rows and second letter no of panel storey. For example DS means double row &
single storey of panel, TD means triple row & double storey of panel, ple row & double storey of panel, TDR means triple row &
double storey of panel. R at suffix means reinforced

INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022 23

 TECHNICAL PAPER
Table –2 Configuration of Modular Panel method of cantilever launching across the gap to be bridged,
Bridges : Load Class- 70R without the need for any temporary intermediate supports.
SPAN CONFIGURATION
All bridges constructed with the equipment shall be
FT MTR Standard Width Extra-wide Double Lane capable of being de-launched and dismantled for return to
(3.15m) (4.20M) (7.50m) stock or site relocation as necessary.
30 9.15 SS SS SS
All connections to be made on site shall use pins/bolts that
40 12.20 SS SS SS can be easily installed at site using pneumatic or electric
50 15.25 SS SS DS powered equipment. The trusses shall comprise pre-
fabricated panel webs and steel beam chords with simple
60 18.30 SSR SSR DS connections so as to minimize the amount of site bolting
70 21.35 SSR SSR DS
required. The trusses shall not comprise composite
members that require excessive on site bolting neither shall
80 24.40 SSR SSR DSR any on site welding be required.
90 27.45 DS DS DSR
All bridge components shall be unused and the manufacture
100 30.50 DS DSR DSR controlled by a fabricator accredited with ISO 9001and BS
EN ISO 3834-2, or other equivalent, internationally
110 33.55 DSR DSR DSR
recognized, quality guarantee qualifications.
120 36.60 DSR DSR DSR
The bridge shall be capable of being installed quickly. Based
130 39.65 DSR DSR TSR on the concept of modular steel pre-fabricated bridges, the
140 42.70 DSR DSR TSR bridge shall be capable of being erected and installed within
7 days in response to natural disaster, damage to an existing
150 45.75 DSR DSR TSR bridge or any other requirement for emergency bridge. An
160 48.80 TSR TSR DDR errection plans shall also be submitted showing the method
and procedure of errection.
170 51.85 TSR TSR TDR
180 54.90 TSR TSR TDR All the members of the bridge shall be stamped with its
identification number and batch number embossed over it.
190 57.95 TSR DDR TDR
200 61.00 DDR DDR TDR 2. BRIDGE SPANS, ROAD WIDTH AND FOOT
PATH
Note- In configuration first letter indicate no of panel rows and
second letter no of panel storeys. R at suffix means reinforced. The bridging system shall be capable of constructing
desired bridge spans in modular increments of 3.00 to 4.5
Appendix -'A' meters.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR MODULAR
PRE-FABRICATED QUICK LAUNCH PANEL
BRIDGE
1. GENERAL
Bridge shall comprise longitudinal trusses formed of steel
beam chords pre-fabricated modular steel panel webs,
connected end to end, with transverse cross girders spanning
between them that support a steel decked roadway. The
bridge system shall be pre-designed and modular steel truss
type.
The bridge system shall also be capable of forming
multiple span bridge arrangements. This shall be achieved
by the provision of bearings beneath the trusses of both
spans, enable each span to be simply supported and
statically independent of the others. Short spanning decks
shall be provided between the end transverse girders of
each span to provide a continuous carriageway over the
entire bridge length.
The bridge shall have a modular steel deck with a carriage
way width of minimum 7.0 m/5.5 m/4.2 m/3.15 m at deck
level within the kerbs.

All components shall be manufactured in such a manner
that they are fully interchangeable with all other
components of the same type.
The bridges shall be capable of being installed by the
Bridges having carriage way width 7.0 meter and more
shall have modular steel deck pedestrian footway of width
1.5 meter on the outside of the longitudinal trusses. Hand
rails of at least 1.10 m height shall be provided on outside
of the footpath.

24 INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022

 TECHNICAL PAPER
The Deck should have proper arrangement for drainage of
water from the carriageway.
3. CLEARANCES
Vertical clearance from top of decking to the underside of
top braces, if any, shall not be less than 5.50 m.
4 LONGITUDINAL TRUSSES
The longitudinal trusses shall be made of modular panels
connected together at ends solely by single pins in the top
and bottom chords. The panels shall be fabricated of rolled
steel beam chords and pre-fabricated web panels made of
rolled steel sections, formed in such a way that these are
connected together with minimum on site bolting/pins.
The same size of modular panels shall be used and capable
of forming the trusses of bridges of different span length
throughout the entire span range in single/double/triple
storey. Any reinforced panel will also be of the same
dimension.
The capacity of bridges shall be increased as necessary by
the attachment of reinforcing chords/components to the
pre-fabricated modular panels.
The attachment of such reinforcing components and of all
bracing components shall be by bolts. These bolts may vary
in length to suit the particular joints, however, they shall be
of same diameter in order to minimize installation tools
required.
All surfaces of structural elements shall be fully accessible
for inspection and maintenance. Use of hollow sections
will be minimal and be permitted only when the inside is
also protected and so certified by the Supplier.
Bridge should be designed to have maximum deflection
within permissible limits as specified in Para 504.5.1 of
IRC:24-2010.
5. DECKING SYSTEM
The decking system shall consist of cross girders/transoms,
deck units and plan bracings. The terms cross girder and
transom shall be used interchangeably in this document.
The cross girders/transoms shall be either rolled steel
section beams or pre-fabricated plate girders. Cross girders
shall not rely upon their connection to the bridge trusses to
provide restraint against overturning due to braking forces.
These forces shall be restrained by bracing adjacent cross
girders together.
The carriage way decking shall consist of prefabricated
modular steel deck units that span between adjacent cross
girders, with kerbs of at least 125 mm height fitted to each
side of the roadway.
The Deck units shall be fixed to the cross girders/transoms
using bolts and nuts. It shall also avoid routine access to
the underside of the decking when the bridge is in-situ.
Each deck unit shall comprise longitudinal stringer
sections welded to a steel deck plate that shall have a
factory applied anti-skid wearing surface, such as a
polyurethane bonded bauxite chip system or similar.
Bearing shall be provided along with the bridge
components. Bearing shall be designed to take design load
in normal case and shall also be able to sustain seismic
loading corresponding to seismic Zone V of India.
Plan bracing shall be provided between the trusses to resist
the effects of wind and any other lateral forces that may be
applied to the structure.
6. FOOT PATH COMPONENTS
(In case carriage way width is 7.0 mtr and more) Footpath
bearers shall be attached to each cross-girder such that
footpath is in cantilever on outside of the trusses. The
footpath shall comprise of prefabricated modular steel
deck units that span between adjacent bearers. Hand rails,
that are at least 1.1m high shall be provided on each side of
the footway.
7. MATERIAL SPECIFICATION
All materials used during manufacture and supply shall
comply with the relevant Indian Standards or equivalent
International Standards and have mechanical
properties suitable for the purpose for which they will be
used.
Steel to be used in fabrication of Panels, Transom and
Decks shall be of appropriate grade equivalent to quality
B0 of IS-2062-2011 or superior in strength and durability.
Mill certificates shall be provided upon request as
confirmation of the steel quality used for the fabrication of
main structural elements. BRO maintains the right,
however, to take random samples from any equipment
supplied and to have the samples independently tested for
verification of material specification conformity.
8. MATERIAL THICKNESSES
For bridge components that are to be protected from
corrosion by hot dip galvanizing, the minimum thickness of
steel to be used for the manufacture of any major structural
element shall be 5 mm, and the minimum thickness of
steel to be used for the manufacture of any minor structural
element or for a deck component shall be 4 mm.
INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022 25
 TECHNICAL PAPER
For bridge components which employ and method of
corrosion protection other than hot dip galvanizing, such as
painting, the minimum thickness of steel to be used for the
various elements shall be as follows :-
(i) All major structural elements, except for the webs
of rolled shapes and the ribs and plates of decks,
shall have a minimum thickness of 8 mm.
(ii) Webs of rolled shapes shall have a minimum
thickness of 6 mm.
(iii) Ribs and plates of decks shall have a minimum
thickness of 5 mm.
9. WELDING
All welding shall be carried out in accordance with the
requirements of IS:1024 or its equivalents within other
National Standards. The welding wire used shall be in
accordance with IS :6419 or equivalent within another
National Standard.
10. CORROSION PROTECTION
All steel bridge components shall have a surface preferred
surface protection to the following standards:
i. All structural components shall be hot dip
galvanized in accordance with the recommendations
and requirements of BS EN ISO 14713- Zinc
Coatings, Guidelines and Recommendations
Protective Coating of iron and steel structures, and to
those of BS EN ISO 1461, Hot Dip Galvanized
Coatings, or equivalent.
ii. All bolts, screws and nuts shall be spun galvanized
in accordance with the recommendations and
requirements of BS EN 1461, or equivalent.
iii. All pins and clips shall be plated in accordance with
the recommendations and requirements of BS EN
ISO 2081 Metallic and Other Inorganic Coatings,
or equivalent.
11. DESIGN LOADING
All members shall be designed to sustain safely most
critical combination of various loads, forces and stresses
that can coexist during design life of the bridge. The
provisions given at Clause 103 of IRC:5-2015 shall be kept
in view.
Design life of a bridge shall be taken as 50 years.
Live Load combinations shown in at Clause 204.3 (table 6 &
6A) of IRC:6-2017 (whichever produces severe effect,
including the effects of dynamic impact and vehicular
eccentricity) shall be adopted for design of bridge and working
out ultimate and serviceability limit states in the members.
26 INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022
Seismic Forces corresponding to Seismic Zone –V of
IS:1893 shall be considered in design, in accordance with
Clause 219 of IRC:6-2017. Importance factor shall be
taken as 1(one).
The bridges shall be designed for the following
temperature and wind effects:
(i) Temperatures (–) 40oC to (+) 40oC with a maximum
range on any one side of 50oC.
(ii) Wind Speeds : 45 meter per second average,
gusting to 60 meter per second.
In case of bridges having carriage way width 7.0 m and
more basic loading on footpath shall be taken as 400 kg/m2,
to be modified in accordance with Clause 206.3 of IRC:6-
2014.
12. DESIGN ANALYSIS
The suitability and conformity of the design for the
specified load class shall be self certified by the
manufacturer of the bridge system.
13. FATIGUE LIFE AND FATIGUE ANALYSIS
The bridges shall be able to sustain a fatigue criterion as
stipulated at Clause 204.6 of IRC-6-2017 for the stress
induced due to 2x106 cycles duly taking into account
impact factor and eccentricity effects as specified. A
certificate to this effect be furnished by the manufacturer.
14. PROOF OF CAPACITY
Where the assessment of the bending and shear capacities
of the bridge system are based upon testing, independently
certified evidence shall be provided of full-scale tests.
Furthermore, the published bridge capacities based upon
these tests shall be such that they provide as a minimum
factor of safety of 1.7 against failure.
Where the assessment of the fatigue capacities of the
bridge system are based upon testing, independently
certified evidence shall be provided of such tests that define
the fatigue characteristics of the main truss elements and,
where appropriate, of the main deck components.
15. MAINTENANCE TOOLS AND MANUAL
A set of tools needed for regular maintenance of bridge
alongwith maintenance manual shall be provided with the
bridge.
16. LAUNCHING OF BRIDGE
The supplier shall provide complete launching and
erection details of the bridge showing launching schedule,
 TECHNICAL PAPER
layout plan, load details etc to assure launching in safe and
effective manners. The complete erection and launching
of the bridge at the site on already constructed abutments
by the department shall be done by the Supplier of the
Modular Bridge at his cost under his own arrangements.
The Supplier shall be responsible for complete and
successful erection and launching of the bridge in all
respects to the satisfaction of the department.
17. LOAD TESTING
Load test of the bridge shall be carried out as per IRC-SP-
51 : 2015 and other relevant Code of Practice. The final
acceptance of the bridge will be governed by the successful
conduct of Load Test. The scheme for the Load test and
corresponding deflection details be submitted and got
approved from the concerned CE, Project.
Note : The list of components/parts alongwith their part
Nos to be attached along with the Technical Bid.
Appendix - 'B'
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR
MODULAR PRE-FABRICATED
QUICK LAUNCH STEEL BOX GIRDR BRIDGES
1. GENERAL
Bridge shall comprise of longitudinal steel box girders pre-
fabricated in modular form in factory condition which
could be easily assembled at site with the help of pins and
transverse spacer and launched efficiently .
The complete arrangement shall be such that it could either
be launched/constructed as a temporary bridge with
provision of steel plate deck or as a permanent bridge with
provision of reinforced concrete deck.
All components shall be manufactured in such a manner
that they are fully interchangeable with all other
components of the same type and could facilitate
construction of bridge either as single lane or double lane
or as multiple lane depending upon the specified
requirements.
The bridges shall be capable of being installed by the
method of cantilever /push launching and as also with the
help of mechanical crane across the gap to be bridged,
generally without the need for any temporary intermediate
supports.
All the bridges so constructed shall be capable of being de-
launched and dismantled for return to stock or site
relocation as necessary.
All connections to be made on site shall use pins, nuts and
bolts so that bridge could be easily constructed at site using
pneumatic or electric powered equipment. The bridge shall
comprise of pre-fabricated steel box girder and spacers
with simple connections so as to minimize the amount of
site bolting requirements. The girder shall not comprise of
such members that require excessive on site bolting neither
shall any on site welding be required.
All bridge components shall be unused and manufactured
by a fabricator accredited with ISO 9001and BS EN ISO
3834-2, or other equivalent, internationally recognized,
quality guarantee qualifications.
The bridge shall be capable of being installed quickly
based on the concept of a modular steel pre-fabricated
bridges. The bridge shall be capable of being erected and
installed within 7 days in response to natural disaster,
damage to an existing bridge or any other requirement for
emergency bridge. An erection plans shall also be
submitted showing the method and procedure of erection.
All the members of the bridge shall be stamped with its
identification number and batch number embossed over it.
2. BRIDGE SPANS, ROAD WIDTH AND FOOT
PATH
The bridging system shall be capable of constructing
desired bridge length in modular increments of 6.00 m and
above with minimum length in single span as 54.0 m . The
complete arrangement shall be simply supported placed on
suitable bearings on both the side.
The bridge system shall also be capable of forming
multiple span bridge arrangements. This shall be achieved
by the provision of suitable bearings beneath the girder of
each span, enable each span to be simply supported and
statically independent of the others. In such cases short
span decks shall be provided between the end transverse
girders of each span to provide a continuous carriageway
over the entire bridge length.
The bridge shall have a modular steel deck or reinforced
concrete deck (as specified) with a carriage way width of
minimum 4.2 m for single lane or 7.5 m for double lane
within the kerbs. The carriage way width shall also be
increasable by 3.5 m for every additional traffic lane.
Bridges shall also have provision for construction of
modular steel or reinforced concrete pedestrian footway
of width 1.5 meter on the outside of the bridge on both or
one side (as specified). Hand rails of at least 1.10 m height
shall be provided on outside of the footpath.
The Deck should have proper arrangement for drainage of
water from the carriageway.
3. CLEARANCES
Vertical clearance from top of decking to the underside of
top braces, if any, shall not be less than 5.50 m.
INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022 27
 TECHNICAL PAPER
4 LONGITUDINAL BOX GIRDER
The longitudinal members shall be made of modular steel
box girder connected together at ends by pins. The box
girder shall be pre-fabricated of steel plates and formed in
such a way that these are connected together with
minimum on site bolting/pins.
The same size of modular box girder shall be used and
capable of forming the main members of bridges for
different span length throughout the entire span range
All surfaces of structural elements shall be fully accessible
for inspection and maintenance.
Bridge should be designed to have maximum deflection
within permissible limits as specified in Para 504.5.1 of
IRC 24-2010.
5. DECKING SYSTEM
The decking system shall consist of suitable cross
girders/spacers .
The cross girders/spacer shall be either rolled steel section
beams or pre-fabricated plate girders and shall be
connected properly with the main girder with the help of
nuts and bolts.
The bridge deck shall consist of either prefabricated
modular steel deck units or the reinforced concrete (as
specified) with kerbs of at least 125 mm on each side of the
roadway.
The Deck units shall be fixed to the cross girders/spacers
using bolts and nuts. It shall also avoid routine access to
the underside of the decking when the bridge is in-situ.
In case of steel deck each deck unit shall comprise of
longitudinal stringer sections welded to a steel deck plate
that shall have a factory applied anti-skid wearing surface,
such as a polyurethane bonded bauxite chip system or
similar item.
6. FOOTPATH COMPONENTS
Where specified footpath bearers shall be attached to the
girder in such a way that footpath is in cantilever form on
outside of the outer girders. The footpath shall comprise of
prefabricated modular steel deck units or reinforced
concrete (as specified) that span between adjacent bearers.
Hand rails, that are of at least 1.1m height shall be provided
on each side of the footway.
7. MATERIAL SPECIFICATION
All materials used during manufacture and supply shall
comply with the relevant Indian Standards or equivalent
International Standards and have mechanical properties
suitable for the purpose for which they will be used.
28 INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022
Steel to be used in fabrication of box girder, spacer and
Decks shall be of appropriate grade equivalent to quality
B0 of IS-2062-2011( Grade E 410) or superior in strength,
Chemical composition and durability and the pins with
high strength steel having yield strength 1200 N/mm2 and
above.
Mill certificates shall be provided upon request as
confirmation of the steel quality used for the fabrication of
main structural elements. The organization maintain right
however, to take random samples from any equipment
supplied and to have the samples independently tested for
verification of material specification conformity.
8. MATERIAL THICKNESSES
The minimum thickness of steel to be used for the
manufacture of any major structural element shall be 5 mm,
and the minimum thickness of steel to be used for the
manufacture of any minor structural element or for a
deck component shall be 4 mm.
For bridge components which employ method of
corrosion protection other than of hot dip galvanizing, such
as painting, the minimum thickness of steel to be used for
the various elements shall be as follows :-
(i) All major structural elements, except for the webs
of rolled shapes and theribs and plates of decks,
shall have a minimum thickness of 8 mm.
(ii) Webs of rolled shapes shall have a minimum
thickness of 6 mm.
(iii) Ribs and plates of decks shall have a minimum
thickness of 5 mm.
9. WELDING
All welding shall be carried out in accordance with the
requirements of IS:1024 or its equivalents with other
National Standards. The welding wire to be used shall be in
accordance with IS:6419 or equivalent in another National
Standard.
10. CORROSION PROTECTION
All steel bridge components shall have surface protection
to the following standards:
(a) All structural components shall be hot dip
galvanized in accordance with the recommendations
and requirements of BS EN ISO 14713- Zinc
Coatings, Guidelines and Recommendations
Protective Coating of iron and steel structures, and to
those of BS EN ISO 1461, Hot Dip Galvanized
Coatings, or equivalent.
(b) All bolts, screws and nuts shall be spun galvanized
in accordance with the recommendations and
requirements of BS EN 1461, or equivalent.
(c) All pin, nut and bolts shall be plated in accordance
 TECHNICAL PAPER
with the recommendations and requirements of BS
EN ISO 2081 Metallic and Other Inorganic
Coatings, or equivalent.
11. DESIGN LOADING
All members shall be designed to sustain safely most critical
combination of various loads, forces and stresses that can
coexist during design life of the bridge. The provisions given
at Clause 103 of IRC-5 : 2015 shall be kept in view.
Design life of the bridge shall be 100 years.
Live Load combinations shown in at Clause 204.3 (table 6
& 6A) of IRC : 6-2017 (whichever produces severe effect,
including the effects of dynamic impact and vehicular
eccentricity) shall be adopted for design of bridge and
working out ultimate and serviceability limit states in the
members. However even for the single lane bridge one lane
of Class -70 R loading shall be considered for the design.
Seismic Forces corresponding to Seismic Zone –V of
IS:1893 shall be considered in design, in accordance with
Clause 219 of IRC:6-2017. Importance factor shall be
taken as 1(one).
The bridges shall be designed for the following
temperature effects and the wind effects in such a direction
that the resultant stresses in the member under
consideration are maximum.
(I) Temperatures (–) 40 C to (+) 40 C with a maximum
o o
range on any one side of 50oC.
(ii) Wind Speeds: 45 meter per second average,
gusting to 60 meter per second.
In case of bridges where provision of footpath is specified
basic loading of footpath shall be taken as 400 kg/m2, to be
modified in accordance with Clause 206.3 of IRC:6-2014.
12. DESIGN ANALYSIS
The suitability and conformity of the design for the
specified load class shall be self-certified by the
manufacturer of the bridge system.
13. FATIGUE LIFE AND FATIGUE ANALYSIS
The bridges shall be able to sustain a fatigue criterion as
stipulated at Clause 204.6 of IRC-6-2017 for the stress
induced due to 2x106 cycles duly taking into account
impact factor and eccentricity effects as specified. A
certificate to this effect be furnished by the manufacturer.
14. PROOF OF CAPACITY
Where the assessment of the bending and shear capacities
of the bridge system are based upon testing, independently
certified evidence shall be provided of full-scale tests.
Furthermore, the published bridge capacities based upon
these tests shall be such that they provide as a minimum
factor of safety of 1.7 against failure.
Where the assessment of the fatigue capacities of the
bridge system are based upon testing, independently
certified evidence shall be provided of such tests that define
the fatigue characteristics of the main elements and, where
appropriate, of the main deck components.
15. LAUNCHING OF BRIDGE
The supplier shall provide complete launching and erection
details of the bridge showing launching schedule, layout plan,
load details etc. to ensure launching in safe and effective
manners. The complete erection and launching of the bridge
at the site on already constructed abutments shall be done by
the Supplier of the Modular steel box girder Bridge under his
own arrangements. The Supplier shall be responsible for
complete and successful erection and launching of the bridge
in all respects to the satisfaction of the department.
16. BEARINGS
High Damping Rubber Bearings of appropriate size shall be
supplied along with the bridge components. Bearing shall be
designed conforming to IRC:83-2015 (Part- II) to take normal
design load and also the seismic loading corresponding to
seismic Zone V of India . At the ultimate limit state the strength
and durability of bearing shall be adequate to withstand
ultimate design loads and movement of structure.
17. EXPANSION JOINT
The supplier shall also arrange and install strip seal
expansion joints at both the ends of each span meeting the
design requirements.
18. LOAD TESTING
Load test of the bridge shall be carried out as per IRC-SP-51 :
2015 and other relevant Code of Practice. The final acceptance
of the bridge will be governed by the successful conduct of
Load Test. The scheme for the Load test and corresponding
deflection details be submitted duly proof checked from any
IIT for approval by the Department.
19. DEFECT LIABILITY
The bridge shall have a defect liability period of 3 yrs from
the date of taking over of the completed bridge by the
department.
20. MAINTENANCE TOOLS AND MANUAL
A set of tools needed for regular maintenance of bridge alongwith
maintenance manual shall be provided with the bridge.
21. LIST OF COMPONENTS
The list of components/parts along with their part Nos be
attached with the Technical Bid and also during supply.
INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022 29
 TECHNICAL PAPER

GROUND BASED HYPER SPECTRAL SENSING OF PAVEMENT

CONDITIONS-A CASE STUDY

MOHANSHU BHARDWAJ1 PRAVEEN AGGARWAL2 MAHESH PAL3

ABSTRACT

Spectroscopy is a technique for examining materials that involves looking at how matter interacts with electromagnetic
radiation. Advances in spectroscopy have resulted in the development of portable equipment that may be utilised in the field.
This research shows how spectral reflectance curves for various asphalt pavements change as a function of pavement quality,
its age and oxidation of bitumen. Analytical Spectral Devices (ASD) spectro-radiometer was used to collect field spectrum
data, using centrifuge extractor bitumen content was determined and a Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR) was used to
determine viscosity of the extracted bitumen samples. As a consequence, the reflectance of newly created asphalt surfaces was
found to be lower than that of old asphalt surfaces, and a linear relationship was discovered between reflectance fluctuations
and the increase in viscosity of the pavement due to ageing. The suggested technique enables for the prediction of spectral
curve modification with pavement quality, taking into account ageing and viscosity.

1. INTRODUCTION is indeed a single field spectro-radiometer which can detect

Flexible pavements and rigid pavements are the two most
common types of pavements in use. Bitumen act as binding
material in flexible pavements, and as time passes, volatile
matter separates from the bitumen, causing it to become
brittle, resulting in pavement distresses or fractures, which
eventually lead to pavement failure. For a pavement to
have a long functional life it must be repaired at regular
intervals and the state of the pavement must be checked on
a regular basis. Conventionally there is no systematic
technique to analyse the quality of the flexible pavement.
Here in an attempt has been made to correlate spectro-
radiometer reflectance with the condition/age of flexible
pavement.
Availability of portable spectro-radiometers, which are
dependable, accurate, and require minimal training or
experience to use, has made the power of spectro-
radiometers more accessible. Some portable spectro-
radiometers may be programmed to respond with a simple
yes or no, with the light on the instrument turning red or
green to indicate pass or fail. The ASD spectro-radiometer
1 M.Tech Student, Email: Bhardwaj.mohanshu@gmail.com
2 Professor, Email: Praveen_agg@hotmail.com
3 Professor, mahesh.pal@nitkkr.ac.in } Department of Civil Engineering, NIT Kurukshetra Haryana
wavelengths throughout visible and short-wave infrared.
This instrument's fibre-optic input allows it to scan quickly
and acquire single spectra in milliseconds, with a sampling
rate of 0.2 seconds per spectrum. It is intended for
measurements in the field or in the laboratory. This high-
resolution device's spectral range includes wavelengths
between 350 and 2500 nm.
In this study, the ASD spectro-radiometer was used to
acquire spectral reflectance values on five roads (1- State
Highway, 1- Major District Road, 2- Village Roads, 1-
College Road) segments in the Kurukshetra district of
Haryana, India. The reflectance curves were then studied to
see how they varied with the age of each stretch of the road.
Samples of wearing course were collected from each road.
After determining bitumen content using a centrifuge
extractor, viscosity of the extracted bitumen samples was
also determined using the Dynamic Shear Rheometer
(DSR). The findings were compared to the spectral
signatures acquired using the spectro-radiometer. The values
of reflectance curves were determined to follow a linear
fluctuation with regard to viscosity and the age of the road.

30 INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022

 TECHNICAL PAPER
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
A review of spectroscopy application in flexible pavement
is included in this section. Literature review also highlights
the effect of aging on viscosity of bitumen. The use of this
relates to the fact that it can assist in the prediction of
pavement age and viscosity using spectral reflectance
curves as the age and viscosity of a given pavement are
proportional to its reflectance values.
Herold et al., (2003) focused on mapping road infrastructure
in metropolitan settings that are considered to be
particularly difficult to map due to the environment's
spatial and spectral features. They used an ASD ground
spectrum library and high-resolution hyper spectral
AVIRIS data gathered in the Santa Barbara, CA
metropolitan region to conduct their research, which was
based on imaging spectrometry concepts. The studies
revealed a wealth of information about the spectral
properties of urban materials and road surfaces of various
types, ages, and conditions. Their research provided some
interesting results on the effect of asphalt condition and age
on the spectral characteristics of road surfaces as they
found how spectral characteristics varied with different
kinds of roads such as that of gravel road, concrete road,
asphalt road and parking lot. They found out spectral
reflectance of concrete road to be more in early range of
wavelengths from 400 to 1400 nm and after that gravel
showed more reflectance while minimum reflectance was
shown by parking lot.
Herold (2004) investigated how the spectral properties of
different road surfaces differed with low severity cracking,
high severity cracking, and normal pavement. The
reflectance of specific marks, such as white markings,
yellow markings, and regular asphalt pavement, was also
investigated when the wavelength of the ASD
spectrometer was adjusted from 350 nm to 2500 nm. He
discovered that the reflectivity of white markings was
higher than that of yellow markings and plain pavement.
The reflectivity of normal pavement was likewise found to
be higher than that of low and high severity cracking.
Herold & Roberts (2005) utilized an ASD full range
spectrometer to relate spectral reflectance to pavement age
and roughness using the Pavement Condition Index (PCI),
a pavement quality indicator. The researchers discovered
that spectral reflectance levels increased with age and
decreased with PCI. Because asphalt oxidation occurs with
increasing ageing time, absorption decreases as ageing
progresses.
Puttonen et al. (2009) examined spectral and directional
reflection properties of nine asphalt surfaces and concrete
and sand. The polarization characteristics of five asphalts,
as well as sand and concrete, were also measured. The
reflectance of the newly created asphalt surfaces that were
smooth were the lowest, and they produced a lot of
scattering in front. More scattering that is isotropic was
created by the aged and degraded surfaces. The aged
surfaces had a greater total reflectance than the newly
created surfaces, and they were darkest when seen near to
nadir. Light scatters more uniformly to the sides and
rearward on newly created and just slightly damaged
surfaces, but light scatters more evenly to the sides and
backwards on more deteriorated surfaces. Near the nadir,
the maximum reflection might be many times bigger than
the minimum brightness.
Mohammadi (2012) concentrated on two key goals:
identifying road surface materials and investigating
different asphalt conditions. The findings of the
classification reveal that the SAM classification based on
regions of interest is effective in distinguishing road
surface materials. The use of a combination of mean and
standard deviation spectral functions to identify asphalt,
concrete, and gravel was investigated over the wavelength
range of 619.9 nm-1323.7 nm. In terms of determining the
quality of asphalt roads, it has been discovered that the
mean function produces dependable findings with a high
degree of success in identifying roads in excellent,
intermediate, and poor condition. This is due to the fact that
the albedo spectra of various asphalt conditions varies
greatly. New asphalt has lower mean while old asphalt has
higher mean.
Singh & Garg (2013) compared values of spectra acquired
through an ISRO spectro-spectrum radiometer and ASD
spectro-spectral radiometer on a pavement surface around
IIT Roorkee's Geomatics engineering group. The ISRO
Spectro-spectrum radiometer's response curve does not
resemble the ASD Spectro- radiometer's, according to
readings made at 3:00 PM. This might be due to a mistake
in the instrument or a restriction of the ISRO Spectro-
radiometer, which cannot respond to low reflectance
levels. In addition, it was investigated how spectral
reflectance values in the ASD Spectro-spectral radiometer
changed from afternoon to evening, and it was discovered
that in comparison to the evening spectral response, the
ASD Spectro-spectral radiometer's response for various
asphalt road surfaces reacts effectively in the afternoon.
Pachón et al. (2020) investigated how reflectance curves
fluctuate on a road surface in Bogotá according on the
Pavement Condition Index (PCI) and the intensity of
ravelling. It was discovered that raveling with a high
severity had greater reflectivity values than new pavement,
whereas ravelling with a low severity had lower reflectance
values than regular pavement.
Chai et al. (2014) explained the effects of pavement age on
binder degradation and found a connection between
asphalt age and apparent bitumen viscosity. The tests were
carried out using a sliding plate viscometer in accordance
INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022 31
 TECHNICAL PAPER

with New Zealand and Australian regulations, and models increases, bitumen produces carbonyls and sulfoxides and
were created to depict the difference in viscosity with age. increases polarity, resulting in increases in bitumen
For the first ten years following construction, the viscosity viscosity and softening point.
of the binders was observed to grow at a fast pace.
Following then, the rise in viscosity was modest, with a Mastrofini & Scarsella. (2000) did the artificial ageing of
slower rate of binder degradation. bitumen in lab using RTFOT (Rolling Thin Film Oven
Test) and then discovered the variation of viscosity with
Lu X. et al. (2008) used FTIR analysis on asphalt to ageing in lab. It was concluded that Penetration got
investigate chemical changes in asphalt with respect to decreased with ageing while viscosity and softening point
ageing. They discovered that as bitumen oxidation got increased with respect to ageing.
Table 1 Details of Road stretches
Sr. No. Road Name/Identification Starting coordinates End coordinates Length (m)
1 Pehowa Road - A 29.9605°N, 76.7805°E 29.9600°N, 76.7754°E 500
2 Kirmach Road - B 29.9423°N, 76.8193°E 29.940°N, 76.819°E 500
3 KU road in front of swimming pool - C 29.952°N, 76.815°E 29.957°N, 76.817°E 500
4 Bagthala Road - D 29.976°N, 76.823°E 29.979°N, 76.817°E 500
5 Road stretch between Brahm Sarovar 29.957°N, 76.838°E 29.956°N, 76.840°E 500
and Anaj mandi - E

3. DATA AND METHODOLOGY i. Connect the instrument to power source.

The study is divided into two phases: (i) Field study
–spectral measurement of five road segments and sample
collection, (ii) Laboratory investigation – extraction of
bitumen content and rheology of four road segments
chosen in Kurukshetra.
For the study five road stretches with flexible pavement
were selected in Kurukshetra district with different age.
Details of these road stretches are shown in Table 1.
With the use of a programme called RS3, spectral
measurements using ASD spectro-radiometer were
obtained on 500 m portions of each road during November,
2021, in the afternoon & clear sunny weather and the
readings or curves that were plotted with reflectance on the
y-axis and wavelength on the x-axis were studied with
software's view spec pro, indico pro, and specchio and
accordingly results were analysed.
Samples of bituminous wearing course were collected
from four stretches for laboratory investigations. Bitumen
content is determined as per ASTM D-2172 using
centrifuge extractor and benzene as solvent. In order to find
out viscosity of bitumen, benzene was separated from
extracted bitumen using a hot water bath. After separating
the benzene from the bitumen, samples were tested for
viscosity using DSR system and results were analysed.
3.1. Operating Procedure of ASD Spectro-
Radiometer
Following are the stages involved in taking readings:
ii. Turn on the laptop and start it.
iii. Launch the RS3 software.
iv. Turn on the instrument after completing steps 1-3.
v. Depending on the option selected, the computer
will connect to the machine by wireless or Ethernet.
vi. Use a black cover on the fibre optic cable to apply
the dark current technique. After removing the
instrument from the box, this is always done.
vii. Connect the pistol to the fibre that will be used for
measuring.
viii. Optimisation: Using the "opt" command in
software, optimise the instrument using white
plate. It's a measurement criteria that adjusts the
responsivity of the device's sensors based on the
illumination conditions of the measurement. As a
result, it is vital to tune the detectors on a frequent
basis in the field to guarantee that the detectors are
not saturated by varying levels of downward
welling irradiance. The detectors may get saturated
as the irradiance rises approaching solar noon. At
this point, you must re-optimize.
ix. In the field, apply white reflectance by pointing a
fibre cannon at a white plate every 20-30 minutes.
x. Select "spectrum save" from the "control" menu to
create a file to save the data.
xi. Calibration which is defined as the process of
configuring an instrument to provide a result for a
sample within an acceptable range is done using
spectrum avg.
xii. Point the fibre cable at the item, shift the "spectrum

32 INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022

 TECHNICAL PAPER

avg" three times, and save the reflectance using the 4.1. Readings from Spectroscopy:
"space bar."
xiii. When using white reference, make a note of the i. Pehowa Road:
spectrum save number; these files will not be
utilised in the final processing.
xiv. Close RS3 after collecting data and then launch
View Spec Pro programme.
xv. Load all data files into "view spec pro" and then go
to "view" to see the reflectance curve.
xvi. Disconnect the instrument from the computer
before shutting it off.
Fig 2. Reflectance Curve and Image of Pehowa
Road (Age > 5yrs)
As shown in Fig. 1 reflectance varied from 0.068 till 0.099
when the variation of wavelength is from 350 nm to
1380nm and from 1400 nm to 1800 nm reflectance
variation is between 0.09 and 0.1 and similarly variation is
from 0.1 to 0.089 in between wavelength from 1900 nm to
2500 nm. This is how reflectance varied on the stretch of
pehowa road. Pehowa road is the second most aged (> 5
yrs) road from the roads selected for observations.
ii. Kirmach Road:

Fig. 3 Reflectance Curve and Image of Kirmach

road (Age < 1 yrs)
As shown in Fig.2 reflectance of the road stretch varied
from 0.05 to 0.06 when the variation of the wavel; ength is
Fig 1. ASD Spectro-Radiometer and its from 350 nm to 2500 nm. Kirmach road is one of the recent
Technical Console roads built in front of NIT Kurukshetra i.e. <1 years.

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS iii. KU Road Readings:

Spectrometers are used in the labs, in the outdoors and in

aviation nowadays. Natural surface reflectance and
transmittance spectrometry is sensitive to specific chemical
bonding in materials, whether solid, liquid, or gaseous.
Unlike certain diagnostic procedures, such as X-ray
diffraction, spectroscopy is sensitive to both crystalline and
amorphous materials. The traditional drawback of spectro-
radiometer is that it is too sensitive to tiny changes in a
material's composition. Shifts in the frequency and Fig. 4 Reflectance Curve and Image of
formation of absorption bands in the spectrum are frequently KU Road (Age > 3 years)
caused by changes in material composition. Thus keeping
this in mind the spectral readings that were collected and As shown in Fig. 3 reflectance of the road stretch varied
results obtained from them are discussed below: from 0.055 to 0.09 when the variation in wavelength is

INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022 33

 TECHNICAL PAPER

from 350 nm to 1350 nm and when the variation is between

1400 nm to 1800 nm then reflectance readings vary
between 0.09 to 0.095 and similarly when variation of
wavelength is from 2000 nm to 2500 nm then variation of
reflectance is between 0.09 and 0.1. KU road is the road
having aging less than that of Pehowa road but more than
that of other roads.

iv. Bagthala Road Readings:

Fig. 7 Combined Reflectance Curve of all the Roads

Fig 5. Reflectance Curve and image of Bagthala
Road (Age < 2 months)
As shown in Fig.4 reflectance varies from 0.03 to 0.6 when
the variation of wavelength is from 350 nm to 1400 nm and
it remains around 0.06 when the variation is from 1400 nm
to 1800 nm and similarly reflectance readings vary
between 0.06 and 0.05 when the wavelength variation is
from 2000nm to 2500 nm. Bagthala road is the newest road
selected in the five roads i.e. it is having age < 2 months.
This road comes under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna
(PMGSY).
v. Readings of Road stretch between Brahm
Sarovar and Anaj Mandi:
As shown in Fig. 5 reflectance varies from 0.1 to 0.16
when variation in wavelength is from 350 nm to 1400 nm
while there is no reflectance variation when wavelength
range lies b/w 1400 nm and 1800 nm and then reflectance
starts to decrease from 0.16 to 0.14 when wavelength
variation is from 1900 nm to 2500 nm. This road is the
most aged one ( >5.5 yrs) compared to other roads.
(A- Pehowa road, B- Kirmach road, C- KU road,
D- Bagthala road, E- Road b/w Brahm sarovar
& Anaj Mandi)
Few sudden jumps at some wavelengths may be attributed
to atmospheric moisture.
4.2. DSR Viscosity Results:
The viscosity of a fluid is a quality that prevents it from
flowing. The shear stress is divided by the shear rate to get
the viscosity. The stiffness of a fluid is represented by its
viscosity. The viscosity of bitumen is used to determine its
grade and use. Bitumen with a greater viscosity is utilised
in hot weather and high-traffic locations, whereas bitumen
with a lower viscosity is used in colder climates. Viscosity
tests were performed using DSR system consisting metal
test plates with a polished surface, one measuring 8 ±0.5
mm in diameter and the other measuring 25 ±0.05 mm in
diameter, an environmental chamber, a loading device, and
a control and data gathering system. Shear rate taken for
viscosity is 4/seconds. Viscosity tests were conducted at
60C after extraction of pure bitumen from the samples. The
variation of viscosity for different road samples is as shown
in the table:

Table 2 Viscosity Test Results

S. No. Road Viscosity Age (Years)

(Poise)
1 Bagthala Road 4853 0.167
2 Kirmach Road 5827 2
3 Pehowa Road 13770 5

Fig. 6 Reflectance Curve and Image of Road between 4 Brahm Sarovar 19671 5.5
Brahm Sarovar and Anaj Mandi (Age > 5.5 years) Road

34 INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022

 TECHNICAL PAPER
Fig 8 Viscosity Variation with Roads & their Age
4.3. Bitumen Content Results:
Bitumen content of four roads were calculated using
centrifuge extractor and following results were obtained:
Fig. 9 Bitumen Content Results
5. CONCLUSIONS
A number of readings were obtained on five road sections
(1- State Highway, 1- Major District Road, 2- Village
Roads, 1- College Road), samples were gathered from four
road lengths (1- State Highway, 1- Major District Road, 2-
Village Roads), and DSR was subjected to a variety of
viscosity tests. Based on the findings, the following
conclusions have been drawn:
i. Based on spectral reflectance measurements
collected from various roadways, it is observed that
with aging, the asphalt oxidise, resulting in a higher
reflectivity of the aged surface.
ii. The reflectance of the road b/w Brahm Sarovar &
Anaj Mandi was found to be more than other road
stretches being the oldest road as compared to other
road stretches.
iii. Viscosity showed an increase in its value from 4853
poise to 13770 poise to 19671 poise as the aging of
the road surface increases. This is because as
asphalt gets aged it oxidises and resistance to flow
increases causing bitumen to be brittle and hence
cracks in pavements begins to increase.
iv. Bitumen content of newly constructed road was
found to be highest i.e 5.2 % of Bagthala Road and
rest all road stretches have less bitumen content.
v. It can also be concluded that with increasing
viscosity of the pavement, spectral reflectance of
the pavement also increases as it is seen that
Bagthala road has least reflectance and viscosity
values while road stretch between Brahm Sarovar
and Anaj Mandi has more viscosity and reflectance
values.
vi. Conclusion may also be drawn for the condition of
the pavement as for newer pavements the viscosity
and reflectance values of the asphalt pavement is
less and for old roads the viscosity and reflectance
values got increased with the increase in oxidation.
This study provides an investigation on the relationship
between spectral reflectance and quality of road surface.
Problems were faced while taking the readings through
spectro-radiometer as it was sensitive to atmospheric
moisture and Signal to Noise ratio (S/N Ratio). In light of
this, it is possible to correlate reflectance measurements
with chemical analyses of samples recovered from various
road segments, as well as mathematically connect curves to
spectral density functions in future studies.
6. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors are grateful to the employees of NIT
Kurukshetra's Transportation and Surveying labs for their
ongoing assistance and for supplying tools to work with.
REFERENCES
1. Arnold, T. S. (2020). An Introduction to Spectroscopy
for Pavement Engineers (No. FHWA-HRT-20-033).
2. Chai, G., van Staden, R., Chowdhury, S. H., & Loo, Y. C.
(2014). A Study of the Effects of Pavement Ageing on
Binder Deterioration. International Journal of Pavement
Engineering, 15(1), 1-8.
3. Clark, R. N., & Rencz, A. N. (1999). Spectroscopy of
Rocks and Minerals, and Principles of Spectroscopy.
Manual of Remote Sensing, 3, 3-58.
4. Danner, M.,M., Locherer, M., Hank, T., & Richter, K.
(2015). Spectral Sampling with the ASD FIELDSPEC 4
5. Herold, M. (2004). Understanding Spectral
Characteristics of Asphalt Roads. National Center for
Remote Sensing in Transportation, University of
California, Santa Barbara.
6. Herold, M., Gardner, M. E., Noronha, V., & Roberts, D.
A. (2003). Spectrometry and Hyperspectral Remote
Sensing of Urban Road Infrastructure. Online Journal of
Space Communication, 2(3), 9.
7. Herold, M., & Roberts, D. (2005). Spectral
Characteristics of Asphalt Road Aging and
Deterioration: Implications for Remote-Sensing
Applications. Applied Optics, 44(20), 4327-4334.
8. IRC:SP:53:2010; “Method for Determination of
Complex Modulus”
INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022 35
 TECHNICAL PAPER
9. IRC:SP:11:1988; “Method of Test for Binder Content for
Paving Mixtures by Centrifuge”
10. Joshi, C., Patted, A., Archana, M. R., & Amarnath, M. S.
(2013). Determining the Rheological Properties of
Asphalt Binder Using Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR)
for Selected Pavement Stretches. International Journal
of Research in Engineering and Technology, 11, 192-
196.
11. Lu, X., Talon, Y., & Redelius, P. (2008, May). Aging of
bituminous Binders–Laboratory Tests and Field Data. in
Proceedings of the 4 th Eurasphalt & Eurobitume
Congress, Copenhagen (pp. 21-23).
12. Mastrofini, D., & Scarsella, M. (2000). The Application
of Rheology to the Evaluation of Bitumen Ageing. Fuel,
79(9), 1005-1015.
13. Mohammadi, M. (2012). Road Classification and
Condition Determination Using Hyperspectral Imagery.
Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci,
39, B7.
14. Puttonen, E., Suomalainen, J., Hakala, T., & Peltoniemi,
36 INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022
J. (2009). Measurement of Reflectance Properties of
Asphalt Surfaces and their Usability as Reference
Targets for Aerial photos. IEEE Transactions on
Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 47(7), 2330-2339.
15. Pachón, I., Ariza, A., & Fernández, W. (2020).
Identifying Flexible Pavement Distresses Using Spectro
Radiometry Classification on World view 3 images.
International Journal of Applied Engineering Research
ISSN 0973-4562, 15(10), 990-995.
16. Singh, P. P., & Garg, R. D. (2013, August). Study of
Spectral Reflectance Characteristics of Asphalt Road
Surface Using Geometrics Techniques. In 2013
International Conference on Advances in Computing,
Communications and Informatics (ICACCI) (pp. 516-
520). IEEE.
17. Saoula, S., Soudani, K., Haddadi, S., Munoz, M. E., &
Santamaria, A. (2013). Analysis of the Rheological
Behavior of Aging Bitumen and Predicting the Risk of
Permanent Deformation of Asphalt.
 TECHNICAL PAPER

EFFECTS OF VARIOUS PARAMETERS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF

CEMENTITIOUS GROUT BITUMINOUS MIXES (CGBM)

MANOJ SHUKLA1 NIPUN MADAAN2 DR. TANUJ CHOPRA3 DR. SATISH CHANDRA4

ABSTRACT

Both flexible and rigid pavements are linked with various advantages and disadvantages. So to overcome the disadvantages of
both conventional pavements, a new type of composite pavement Cement Grouted Bituminous Mix, is being acknowledged.
Cement grouted bituminous mix consist of high voids open graded bituminous mix (with suitable aggregate gradation,
bitumen type, optimum bitumen content) compacted with suitable number of blows so that there are 25 to 35% air voids in
them, interconnected with each other, the cementitious grout with high workability and high strength is then poured into the
open graded bituminous mix so that all the voids are filled and to achieve full depth penetration. The bulk density, porosity can
be determined for open graded bituminous mix. The fluidity using Marsh cone funnel method and compressive and flexural
strength of cementitious grout can be determined at different water content. The cementitious grout at optimum water content
with high flowability and high strength is taken to fill the voids of open graded high voids bituminous mix. The prepared
samples with full depth penetration of cementitious grout for Cement Grouted Bituminous Mix can be tested for Marshall
Stability, Retained Marshall Stability, Indirect Tensile Strength, Retained Indirect Tensile Strength, Resilient Modulus,
Compressive Strength, Flexural Strength, Skid Resistance, Abrasion Loss Resistance, Marshall Immersion test, Freeze-thaw
splitting test, Moisture Susceptibility, Hamburg wheel tracking test, Three Point Beam bending test, Four Point Beam bending
test for Low temperature crack resistance, Resistance towards oil induced damages as per various research papers. CGBM
shows better results than conventional BC mixes, thus can be used in the place of BC wearing course in terms of the studies
done by various researchers.

1. INTRODUCTION high repair cost, and release of high carbon dioxide

Both the flexible and rigid pavements have disadvantages
linked with it. Flexible pavements offers various
disadvantages like rutting, fatigue cracking, thermal
cracking, susceptible to moisture damage during monsoon,
prone to fuel spillage, raveling, bleeding, corrugation, oil
and chemical impact, prone to abrasion, ageing, not
durable if under heavy loading and prone to braking and
acceleration effects. Rigid pavements are also linked with
various disadvantages like poor riding quality due to noise,
more joints, slow setting time during construction process,
embodied system, difficulties in maintenance and repair.
In order to overcome these disadvantages and limitations
linked with both the conventional pavements, a new type of
composite pavement is being acknowledged. This type of
composite pavement is known as Cement Grouted
Bituminous Mix. It is a green construction method which is
becoming more and more popular.
Cement Grouted Bituminous Mix is offering advantages of
both the pavements i.e. to perform like rigid pavements and
quickly constructed and maintained like flexible pavements. It

1 Sr. Principal Scientist and Former Head, Flexible Pavement Division, CSIR – CRRI, Email Id: manojshukla1307@gmail.com
2
3
Former M.E. student, Email Id: nipunmadaan36@gmail.com
Assistant Professor, Email Id: tchopra@thapar.edu } Department of Civil Engineering Thapar Institute of
Engineering and Technology (TIET), Patiala
4 Former Director, CSIR-CRRI, New Delhi, Email Id: satishfce@gamil.com

INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022 37

 TECHNICAL PAPER
is the combination of both the conventional pavements. It has
hard surface, high strength, better durability, flexibility, more
flexural strength, high stiffness modulus, low shrinkage. It is
jointless. It has high skid resistance, rut resistance, fuel
resistance, oil spillage resistance, resistance to permanent
deformation, resistance to moisture damage, resistance to
abrasion, resistance to impact due to sudden braking,
impermeable, offer fast construction method, easily
maintained, cost effective and open to traffic easier than both
the conventional pavements.
Cement Grouted Bituminous Mix is being acknowledged as
Cement Grouted Bituminous Macadam (5), Semi-Flexible
Pavement (4,7), Semi – Rigid Pavement, Resin modified
Pavement, Cement Grout Asphalt Composite, Cement
Bitumen Composites (6), Grouted Macadam (3,9), Grouted
Macadam Composites Pavement (8), Epoxy Asphalt
Pavement, Densiphalt, by various names all over the world. It
is very well acknowledged in France, Singapore, France,
USA (1), Europe, Africa, South Pacific, Far East, North
America, Spain, Asia, China, Malaysia, Denmark, Germany,
Netharlands, Japan from last so many years.
The present study is based on evaluating and analyzing
different aspects involved in the performance of CGBM.
The performance of CGBM is based on the performance of
its two components; high voids open graded bituminous
mix and cementitious grout.
The factors affecting the high voids open graded bituminous
mix are selection of suitable aggregate gradation, suitable air
voids content, suitable type of binder, suitable amount of binder
content, mixing and compaction temperature and techniques
along with the suitable number of compaction effort. The
factors affecting the performance of cementitious grout is based
on composition of cementitious grout, fluidity of cementitious
grout, its strength criteria, filling of cementitious grout into the
high voids open graded bituminous mix and the degree of
penetration of cementitious grout into the mix.
Based on findings of laboratory studies conducted at CRRI and
subsequent performance studies on field trials done IRC has
published Guidelines on Cement Grouted Bituminous Mixes
bearing no. IRC:SP:125-2019 namely Guidelines on Cement
Grouted Bituminous mixes for Urban Roads. These Guidelines
are applicable for medium to moderate traffic conditions.
2. CEMENT GROUTED BITUMINOUS MIX
Cement Grouted Bituminous Mix is made of two
components; high voids open graded bituminous mix and
cementitious grout. The performance of CGBM is based on
the performance of high voids open graded bituminous mix
and highly workable and high strength cementitious grout.
3. HIGH VOIDS BITUMINOUS MIX
The high voids bituminous mix consist of suitable
38 INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022
aggregate gradation, suitable type of binder with optimum
binder content i.e. bitumen for hot mix or bitumen
emulsion for cold mix to obtain hot mix CGBM and cold
mix CGBM respectively. The high voids bituminous mix
also depends on mixing and compaction temperature and
techniques, compaction effort.
3.1 Effect of Suitable Aggregate Gradation on the
Performance of High Voids Open Graded
Bituminous Mixes
According tothe studies done, various aggregate gradations
are available to use for high voids bituminous mix. The most
suitable aggregate gradation are 19 mm, 13.2 mm, 9.5 mm
nominal mix aggregate size used in surface dressing as per
MoRTH Specification. Surface dressing grading 19 and 13
known as SD – 19 and SD – 13 respectively are most suitable
for construction of high voids bituminous mix for full depth
grouting of cementitious grout at optimum water content for
a wearing course which can replace the conventional
Bituminous Concrete layer and also as an overlay for the
existing pavement of 40 to 60 mm. Usually the aggregate
gradation chosen should have more coarse aggregates and
less fine aggregates to have the target air voids content,
which can be achieved at low compaction effort till no
crushing of aggregates takes place.
Fig. 1 Aggregate gradation curve for
SD – 19 and SD - 13
3.2 Effect of suitable air voids content on the
performance of open graded bituminous mixes
The air voids content in the high voids open graded
bituminous mix, according to various researchers is to be in
the range of 20 to 35%. But usually 25 to 35% air voids
content is chosen by most researchers. As, the porosity of high
voids bituminous mix should not be less than 25% as the
cementitious grout cannot penetrate into the voids of the
bituminous mix easily which makes the mix more flexible and
should not be more than 35% as the cement grout bituminous
mix should behave rigidity and would have lower stiffness. So,
in order make CGBM behave like semi – flexible pavement,
the air voids content should be in the range of 25 to 35%.
 TECHNICAL PAPER
Table 1 Effect of aggregate gradation and air voids on the performance and physical properties of semi-flexible
pavement (Source: Husain N.M. et al. (2014))
Gradation Porosity (%) Bulk Density Specific Average Drain Down Strength Abrasion Voids in
(g/cm3) gravity Optimum (%) (MPa) 28 (%) Mix
(g/ml) Binder Content days
G1* 33.4 1.63 2.52 2.67 0.15 7.1 19.27 3.1
G2* 32.5 1.72 2.52 3.30 0.05 6.7 20.43 3.3
G3* 28.8 1.79 2.52 3.83 0.01 6.2 21.36 3.5
*G1 to G3 means most porous to least porous

It was assumed that the filling of cementitious grout mix is higher in porosity and a lower amount of binder is
depends only on the voids volume but it also depends on the being used for the purpose of coating the aggregates. Lower
internal void connectivity, morphological characteristics, percentage drain down concluded that the gradation mix is
structure and size of pores. The air voids are of three types; lower in porosity and the amount of binder is otherwise.
open pores, closed pores and half opened pores. More
should be the open and half opened pores for better filling
of cementitious grout into the high voids open graded
bituminous mix. The size of air voids content should be
more than the size of cementitious grout, so that the grout
can penetrate easily into the open graded bituminous mix.
Single size aggregates are used i.e. maximum size of
aggregates retaining on a particular sieve, in SD – 13
aggregate gradation the maximum aggregate were of 9.5
mm sieves (nearly 72.5%).

3.3 Effect of Type and Amount of Binder on the

Performance of High Voids Open Graded
Bituminous Mixes Fig. 2 Effect of air voids/Porosity (%age) on the
physical properties in terms of strength and
CGBM is a type of mix which is compatible with every abrasion loss of semi-flexible pavement. (Source:
binder either bitumen or bitumen emulsion, VG 30, VG 40, Husain N.M. et al. (2014))
PMB, SBS modified binder, even emulsion. But it should
be kept in mind that the binder used should not be so hard or Table 3 Effect of Type and Amount of Binder on the
not be so stiff. The optimum binder content can be performance of CGBM (Source: Plug, C. P. et al. (2006)
calculated using various methods; drain down test,
Type of Binder B70/100 PMB PMB
Cantabro test, Schellenberg drainage test, Marshall Mix
design, porosity test. Some of the researchers uses equation Amount of Binder 4.3% 4.3% 4.7%
derived by the studies. The best suited method mentioned
in the Indian Standards, IRC: SP: 125 - 2019, clause 4.3 is Test Temperature OC 0 20 0 20 0 20
drain down test. ITS (MPa) 2.5 1.7 2.6 1.4 2.6 1.4
The optimum binder content is added in the high voids Toughness ITS (MPa) 3.7 4.3 4.0 5.2 4.5 5.3
bituminous mix so that there is adequate bitumen content
for uniform coating and compaction of the mix as excess Bonding Strength (MPa) 5.7 3.0 6.0 2.9 5.5 3.0
bitumen may lead to bleeding and drain down condition. As
thin coats binder film thickness will not give enough 3.4 Effect of Mixing - Compaction Temperature
stiffness to maintain the aggregate from friction and and Techniques on the Performance of High
Voids Open Graded Bituminous Mixes
durability. Bitumen will get aged and oxidation may easily
take place and thicker binder film thickness on the surface The aggregates satisfying suitable aggregate gradation and
of aggregates will risk of excessive binder run-off during optimum bitumen content are mixed. In case of hot mix
mixing, transportation, and laying, which reduces the CGBM, the mixing temperature and compaction temperature
strength of mix and in turn the performance of the mix. corresponds to temperature at which the viscosity of the
Higher drain down percentage explained that the gradation bitumen 0.17 ± 0.2 Pa-sec and 0.28 ± 0.3 Pa-sec respectively.

INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022 39

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But in case of cold mix CGBM the optimum bitumen
emulsion content is determined using MS – 19 manual. The
aggregates are mixed first with water so as to charge the
surface of aggregates, amount is determined as per the
visual inspection of coating of aggregates with water. The
optimum emulsion content is added at ambient room
temperature. The mixture is then kept for air drying and
curing process, either in oven for preconditioning at 40°C
or with any other method for breaking and setting of
emulsion.
3.5 Effect of Compaction Efforts on the Performance
of High Voids Open Graded Bituminous Mixes
Marshall samples are to be prepared of 101.6 mm diameter,
63.5 mm height with the aggregate binder mix. The
samples are compacted with compactor (Marshall
compactor or gyratory compactor) and its volumetric
properties are determined. The aggregate gradation and
binder (bitumen or bitumen emulsion) is mixed
accordingly at standard specifications and compacted with
less than or equal to 50 blows on either one side or both
sides as per the literature review. As, the number of
compaction blows decreases, the air voids content
decreases. The compaction blows which brings the air
voids content in the range of 25 to 35%, is selected as
optimum compaction blows.
Fig. 3 Air Voids Content Versus Number of
Marshall Blows
4. CEMENTITIOUS GROUT
The cementitious grout is another main component of
Cement Grouted Bituminous Mix. The cementitious grout
used as a grouting material, can be a readymade product, or
manufactured using different components at different
properties according to the requirement and purpose. The
cementitious grout is made of cement, sand, fly ash, slag,
micro silica, polymers, additives and superplasticizer.
Cement of any grade is used for binding purpose, Micro
silica for providing high initial strength. Fly ash for
limiting early age shrinkage and temperature rise and to
achieve required fluidity at low water content, which
improves the porosity, permeability and shrinkage
40 INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022
characteristics of the cementitious grout which in turn
results in the pore structure of the CGBM composite.
Silica Fume improves particle packing, porosity, work
ability, initial strength and durability characteristics of
cementitious grout. Crushed sand is for the easy
penetration of grout into the voids. To increase the
performance and reduce the water content, and to make
grout flowable enough to penetrate into the voids, chemical
admixtures are used. Additive-H helped to improve
particle packing and at the same time provide high
compressive strength to the mix. High range water reducer
(HRWR) allows a reduction in water/cement ratio and at
the same time maintains the desired pourable consistency
required. Styrene Butadiene Rubber increases the
cohesiveness, reduces cracks of the cementitious grout.
Cementitious grout is designed for two main criteria,
fluidity and compressive strength. The water at different
ratio is mixed with the cementitious grout to measure the
flowability and strength. The cementitious grout should be
highly flowable and should have medium to high strength.
The flowability of cementitious grout is measured using
Marsh cone funnel test as per ASTM C 939. The
cementitious grout should be so flowable so that there is
full depth penetration into the bituminous mix. Marsh cone
funnel apparatus with nearly 8 seconds flow time is
considered as appropriate for this test.
The fluidity should not be too high or too low, as too high
fluidity leads to the difficulty in the easy penetration of
cementitious grout into the voids of open graded
bituminous mix. Whereas, low fluidity cementitious grout
leads to the draining off the cementitious grout from the
bottom or lateral sides of the mould containing the
bituminous mix due to increased water content.
The compressive strength of the cubes of cementitious
grout is measured after 1, 3, 7, 28 days. The flexural
strength of the beam specimen is measured after 1, 3, 7, 28
days. The grout at optimum water content is determined
and designed as increase in water content increases the
fluidity of the grout with decrease in compressive strength.
Fig. 4 Flow time and compressive strength versus
water content
 TECHNICAL PAPER

5. CEMENT GROUT BITUMINOUS MIX – Table 3 Comparison between some of the mechanical
FINAL COMPOSITE properties of CGBM samples and conventional
BC mix samples
The cementitious grout is then poured into the voids of high
voids bituminous mix so as to fill the air voids in the bituminous
mix either by the influence of gravitational force or by vibratory
through vibratory compactor or vibration table. The grouting of
cementitious grout into high voids open graded bituminous mix
is done in order to achieve full depth penetration. The grout is
manually spread for achieving complete penetration and air
voids content which is almost equal to zero. The full depth
penetration is determined usually by visual inspection.
6. EXPERIMENTAL WORK
The specimens of cement grout bituminous mix are tested
for porosity, bulk density and air voids analysis, Marshall
Stability, Retained Marshall Stability, Indirect Tensile
Strength, Retained Indirect Tensile Strength, Resilient
Modulus, Compressive Strength, Flexural Strength, Skid
Resistance, Abrasion Loss Resistance, Marshall Immersion
test, Freeze-thaw splitting test, Moisture Susceptibility,
Hamburg wheel tracking test, Three Point Beam bending
test, Four Point Beam bending test – Low temperature crack
resistance, Resistance towards oil induced damages.
The results of some of the above mechanical properties of
CGBM samples and BC mix samples are shown below in
Table 1.
It included marshall stability of CGBM samples with
different binder compared with BC – 2 mix samples, tested
at 60°C according to ASTM D 6927. The ITS test is
conducted at 25, 35 and 45°C for both CGBM samples and
BC – 2 mix samples, tested according to ASTM D 6931.
The resilient modulus test is conducted at 25, 35 and 45°C
for both CGBM samples and BC – 2 mix samples, tested
according to ASTM D 4123, at 10% test load of the ITS
value.

Fig. 6 Variation of Indirect Tensile Strength value

with the type of mix at different test temperatures.

Fig. 5 Variation of Marshall Stability value Fig. 7 Variation of Resilient Modulus with the type
with the type of mix. of mix at different test temperatures.

INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022 41

 TECHNICAL PAPER

a. High voids Open Graded Bituminous Mixes

d. Indirect Tensile Strength Test determination

b. Final CGBM composite

c. Marshall Stability Determination e. Resilient Modulus Determination

Fig. 8 (a-e) Laboratory Photographs

42 INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022

 TECHNICAL PAPER
7. CONCLUSION
From the comparison between the CGBM and BC mixes,
the following conclusion were made.
1. Marshall stability of CGBM is 5 to 7 times as
compared to the conventional BC mixes. This
shows CGBM shows high shear resistance as
compared to the conventional BC mixes.
2. ITS at 25°C of CGBM is about 1.5 to 2 times more
than the conventional BC – 2 mixes at 25°C.
Similarly the ITS at 35°C of CGBM is about 2 to
3.5 times more than the conventional BC – 2 mixes
at 35°C, whereas the ITS at 45°C of CGBM is about
2 to 3 times more than the conventional BC – 2
mixes at 45°C. This shows that the CGBM mixes
has more ITS value than the conventional BC
mixes which means CGBM shows high splitting
tensile strength than the conventional BC – 2
mixes.
3. Resilient modulus of CGBM is about 3.5 to 5.5
times the resilient modulus of conventional BC – 2
mixes at 25°C. Similarly, resilient modulus of
CGBM is about 7 to 12 times the resilient modulus
of conventional BC – 2 mixes at 35°C, whereas, the
resilient modulus of CGBM is about 12 to 22 times
the resilient modulus of conventional BC – 2 mixes
at 45°C. This shows CGBM mixes has better
temperature sensitivity along with high value of
resilient modulus as compared to conventional BC
– 2 mixes.
4. CGBM also shows better resistance towards the
moisture induced damages. So, CGBM can be a
better alternative for the frequent and heavy rainfall
areas, which will have high performance and
requires less maintenance.
5. CGBM is rut resistance and skid resistant along
with negligible fatigue cracking as compared to the
conventional BC mixes. CGBM is also more
durable than the conventional BC mixes.
6. As compared to rigid pavement, CGBM provides
better riding quality and comfort to the road users
along with any joints.
OBITUARY
The Indian Roads Congress express their profound sorrow on the sad demise of Shri Ashok Kumar, Chief Engineer
(Retd.), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on 24th June, 2022. He was the Co-convener of B-1 Committee and
also Member of some other Technical Committees of IRC. He was an active Member of IRC
May his soul rest in peace
REFERENCES
1. Hou, S., Xu, T., & Huang, K. (2017). Aggregate
gradation influence on grouting results and mix design
of asphalt mixture skeleton for semi-flexible pavement.
Journal of Testing and Evaluation, 45(2), 591-600.
2. Karami, M. (2017, November). Application of the
cementitious grouts on stability and durability of semi
flexible bituminous mixtures. In AIP Conference
Proceedings (Vol. 1903, No. 1, p. 020012). AIP
Publishing LLC.
3. Afonso, M. L., Dinis-Almeida, M., Pereira-de-Oliveira,
L. A., Castro-Gomes, J., &Zoorob, S. E. (2016).
Development of a semi-flexible heavy duty pavement
surfacing incorporating recycled and waste
aggregates–Preliminary study. Construction and
Building Materials, 102, 155-161.
4. Surana, T. R., Dobhada, P. S., Jadhav, A. B., Giramkar,
R. V., &Bagul, T. R. (2018) Development of Robust
Grout for Cement Grout Bituminous Macadam.
5. Koting, S., Karim, M. R., & Mahmud, H. (2007). The
Properties of bituminous mixtures for semi-flexible
pavement. In Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society
for Transportation Studies Vol. 6 (The 7th International
Conference of Eastern Asia Society for Transportation
Studies, 2007) (pp. 281-281). Eastern Asia Society for
Transportation Studies.
6. Husain, N. M., Karim, M. R., Mahmud, H. B., &Koting,
S. (2014). Effects of aggregate gradation on the physical
properties of semiflexible pavement. Advances in
Materials Science and Engineering, 2014.
7. Koting, S., Karim, M. R., Mahmud, H., & Abdul Hamid,
N. A. (2011). Development of cement-bitumen
composites for semi-flexible pavement surfacing.
8. Husain, N. M., Mahmud, H. B., Karim, M. R., & Hamid,
N. B. A. A. (2010, November). Effects of aggregate
gradations on properties of grouted Macadam composite
pavement. In 2010 2nd International Conference on
Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering
(pp. 128-131). IEEE.
9. Plug, C. P., de Bondt, A. H., van der Woerd, B. J., &
Steensma, G. (2006). Improved Performance Grouted
Macadams–High Performance Applications of Grouted
Macadam. Published in Dutch at Wegbouwkundige
Werkdage. Doorwerth, Netherlands.
INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022 43
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GREEN TECHNOLOGIES FOR RIGID AND COMPOSITE

PAVEMENT CONSTRUCTION

SATANDER KUMAR1

ABSTRACT

The road sector produces the highest level of greenhouse gas, directly, through fossil energy used in mining, transportation,
paving works and indirectly through the emissions coming from vehicles with more stop and starts. Increase in the number of
road vehicles generates a substantial increase in pollution and noise disturbances particularly in rigid pavements. Efforts shall
be made to have cheaper and better production, construction and of course maintenance, all the more as raw materials are
becoming scarce and the environmental laws are getting stricter regarding air pollution and noise disturbances. As per World
Highways November 23, 2015, the overall population is increasing (by 2050, the UN predict that the world population may
reach 9.7 billion) and the number of natural resources like crude oil, aggregates or iron core is finite. Pollution is demarcated as
contamination of air, water and soil by harmful chemicals and toxins due to so many unexpected issues. Main pollutants of air
are carbon dioxide (CO2) generated from Industries and traffic movement mainly, vapours of carbonic acid (H2CO3), nitric
acid (HNO3), and sulphuric acid (H2SO4) during acid rains. Air pollution has harmful effects on natural vegetation and human
health such as respiratory illnesses besides corrosion in steel, reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete also. (IS:5182)
This indicates the need of Sustainable Green Highways. The paper, thus discuses different technologies to brand and maintain
rigid and composite pavement eco-friendly with minimum air, water, soil and sound pollution, with least production of CO2,
clear visibility and optimum riding quality on Highways for ease of traffic with minimum total transportation cost.

1. INTRODUCTION One of the objectives of green Highways is to reduce the

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has
promulgated Green Highways (Plantations, Transplantation,
Beautification & Maintenance) Policy – 2015. The National
Green Highways Mission NGHM signed MoUs with
different organisation for technical collaboration for
fostering research and innovation in Green Highways and
World Bank for strengthening Green Highways Programme.
Under the aegis of Green Highways Policy, NGHM is
mandated to plan, implement and monitor green corridors
development along upcoming and existing National
Highways. While constructing the National highways would
also be associated with restoring the environment through
aesthetic greening i.e clear visibility to minimise number of
black spots and thus reduce fatal accidents particularly in
case of rigid and composite pavements.
impact of air pollution and dust by planting trees and
shrubs along the National Highways. As per MoRTH
Specification clause 201.2 under preservation of
property/amenities it states that the Roadside trees, shrubs,
any other plants, pole lines, fences, signs, monuments,
buildings, pipelines, sewers and all highway facilities
within or adjacent to the highway which are not to be
disturbed shall be protected from injury or damage in case
it is seriously is the issue. As per MoRTH Specification
clause 408.2 the median, traffic islands shall be raised and
kerbed at the perimeter and the enclosed area filled with
earth and suitably covered with grass turf/shrubs as per
Clause 307 and/or paved/paver block as per Clauses
410.3.4 or 41 0.3.5/IRC:SP:63. These may act as natural
sink for air pollutants and arrest soil erosion at the
embankment slopes, for non-plastic soils like in Uttar
Pradesh and fly ash also with best drainage management.

1 Consultant, New Delhi, Email: satander50@yahoo.co.in

44 INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022

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The goal shall be to maximize the lifetime of a rigid and
composite pavements while restricting its emissions.
Amongst the different innovative construction techniques
in plain, hills, coastal regions and high altitudes in brief are
listed as under:
i. Recycling of flexible and composite pavement,
Construction & Demolition (C&D) wastes, slags,
waste plastic and industrial wastes, in accordance
with IRC:120, IRC:121, IRC:SP:121, IRC:98 and
IRC Draft on industrial wastes respectively,
ii. Ultra-thin white topping as per IRC:SP-76,
iii. Use of cement treated bases and sub base for
composite pavements IRC:37 and IRC:15, and
semi rigid pavements
iv. Use of innovative pre cast and short panelled
concrete pavement,
v. Porous/pervious pavement for rain harvesting,
vi. Continuously reinforced concrete pavements i.e
joint less rigid pavement as per IRC 101/IRC:118
with minimum air pollution and sound pollution
because of no joints,
vii. Roller compacted concrete pavements IRC:SP:68
in approaches and super elevation where speed is
low on Highways and for low volume roads,
viii. Vacuum concrete pavement,
ix. High performance and ultra-high-performance
fibre reinforced concrete pavements IRC
114/IS:456/ File No.RW/NH-33049/01/2020-S&R
(B) Pt. 22nd Feb 2022, best option for GHG
reduction,
x. Two lift rigid pavement construction, and
xi. Early Opening to Traffic (EOT) rigid and
composite pavements.
Ecosystem management refers to approaches ranging from
simply considering the impact of a management decision
on other elements of the ecosystem to the simultaneous
optimization of management strategies to meet
management goals of all elements of an ecosystem.
The establishment of an ecosystem management, the
implementation of energy reduction actions or storm water
retrieval systems may also be considered as the
technologies/skills for development of green rigid and
composite pavements.
The Air Quality Index, AQI is determined by the pollutant
with the highest index of the following:
i) PM10 AQI is 50,
ii) PM2.5 AQI is 125
iii) SO2 is 30,
iv) NOx is 50, and
v) Other pollutants are less than 125,
From the above data, the AQI is termed as 125 determined
only by the concentration of PM2.5. To minimise AQI, new
technologies maybe the prerequisite for the same.
2. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT AND GREEN DEVELOPMENT
The main difference between sustainable development and
green development of pavements is that:
i. Sustainable development focuses on society,
environment, culture, and economy that meets the
needs of mainly present generations i.e. that
focuses mainly on the environment and resources
protection.
ii. Green development strictly focuses on the
environment. Green development is a relatively
new term and has multiple uses.
Green and sustainable are two terms related to environmental
awareness and preserving natural resources. Some use this
term as a synonym for sustainable development. The above
development could be achieved by adopting the specified
innovative technologies like robotics, drones, geophysical
investigation etc. and proper planning of structural and
geometric design of pavements as per IRC:86 and IRC:73.
3. SPECIFIED INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES
BEING ADOPTED AND STUDIED
These technologies are given as under:
i. Installing bag filter house with good quality electro
static preceptors in concrete batching plants at sites
similar to hot mix plant at least where very fine
particles like use of fly ash, ultra-fine slag, silica,
ultrafine OPC, dusty aggregates are being used,
ii. Use of construction and demolition wastes, IRC:121-
2017/IS:383-2016 in foundation and sub base lean
concrete, low strength concrete and RCC etc
iii. Use of mineral admixtures viz flyash, ultra fine
granulated slag, silica fume, Composite cement,
Portland Pozzolana Cement, Portland slag cement,
ultra fine OPC.
iv. Geopolymer- an advance upcoming technology i.e.
treating fly ash with alkalis in limited cases
v. Use of precast/prefabricated components IRC:123-
2019/IRC:SP:63-2018 in plain and hills,
vi. By providing specified riding quality (IRC: SP:16-
2019/Network Survey Vehicle) with suitable
quality control as per IRC:SP:112-2017 during
construction and maintenance of rigid pavements
may help in curtailing the number of road accidents
and tyre bursting.
vii. Use of sustainable road furniture like road
marking, road signs, sign board, Rumble strips as
per MoRTH Specification and IRC:35-2015,
IRC:67-2021 & IRC:99-2018,
INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022 45
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viii. Table 1 and Table 2, 3 and 4 shows use of new Table 2 Comparison of Recycled and Natural Coarse
materials and their percentages besides Table 3 of Aggregates
IS 383-2016. (Ref: Use of Recycled aggregate in Concrete roads, IRC
ix. As per Table 1 conventional aggregates and concrete Highway Research Bulletin No 32-1987
were studied first for M 35 Grade of concrete to be by Satander Kumar VP Arora,)
used in concrete pavement. Later same strength
Sl. Property Recycled Natural Percent
concrete was studied with using different Aggregate Aggregate
percentages of recycled material mixed with
conventional aggregates with same type of cement 1 Impact Value % 29.9 24.7 + 21%
to know the optimum dosage of such recycled 2 Crushing Value % 35.7 26.5 + 35 %
material to have most cost effective not only in cost
but in getting carbon credit also as shown in the 3 Loss Angles 50.2 32.3 + 55 %
abrasion value %
Table 1 and 2 using different percentages of recycles
aggregates and concrete as well. 4 Specific gravity 2.45 2.63 - 7%
x. Based on the research being conducted in the 5 Bulk density 1530 1600 - 4%
country the codal provisions are allowing to make kg/cum
use of such processed waste materials as shown in
Table 3 as per IS 383-2016. 6 Water absorption 4.7 0.4 - 11
24 hours %
Table 1 Properties of Natural and Recycled
7 Water absorption 1 3.5 - -
Aggregates hours %
(Ref: Use of Recycled aggregate in Concrete roads, IRC
Highway Research Bulletin No 32-1987 8 Flakiness Index % 15.6 36 - 57%
by Satander Kumar VP Arora,) 9 Elongation Index % 17.5 24 - 27 %

S. Property Conventional Concrete Percent 10 Fineness Modulus - 2.35

N. Concrete with with x) Technologies which may indirectly help to reduce
natural Recycled pollution by minimum use of materials with
aggregate Aggregate minimum maintenance and longer warranty
1 Compressive 160 at 3 d 132 at 3 d - 17% periods of road furniture viz. W and Thrie beams,
Strength, 269 at 28 d 245 at 28 d -9% as per IRC:119-2015 as safety barrier in plains and
kg/cm2 385 at 90 d 371 at 90 d - 4% modified Thrie beam in hills, traffic lights-IRC:93
and IRC:102 etc.
2 Flexural 34 29.5 - 13 %
Strength, xii) Dignified employment to local people and
kg/cm2 communities by using local material available
3 Tensile Strength, 26.6 22 - 17% nearby by providing turfing in embankment/Jute
kg/cm2 geo textiles, coir geo textiles as per IRC: 113 for
slopes, median, separator besides tree plantation,
4 Bond Strength 40 36 - 10 %
with steel, kg/cm2 and its maintenance wherever justified.

5 E value in 280000 200000 - 43% 4. CASE STUDIES

compression,
kg/cm2 In Bangalore Mysore Expressway, composite pavement as
6 E value in 320000 270000 - 16 % white topping as per IRC:SP-76 has been used in about 30 km
Tension, length in which PQC was laid over milled asphalt surface,
kg/cm2 and under bridge portion, cement treated sub base was used as
7 Shear Strength, 19.5 23 + 18 % per IRC:15 to save material and minimise air pollution to
kg/cm2 have desired vertical clearance. (Figs. 1-3).There is saving of
carbon credits as 1 tone cement saving reduces about 1 ton
8 Drying 0.04 0.067 + 67 %
carbon dioxide gas in the environment, here thickness has
shrinkage,%
been reduced about 20%, there for saving in not only cement
9 Loss on 0.13 0.16 + 23% but saving of steel dowel bars, polythene sheet, sealant and
abrasion, % less use of natural aggerates also.

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Table 3 Extent of Utilisation as per IS:383-2016
In addition to this Yamuna Expressway was laid mainly
with rigid pavement of length about 165 km in which huge
quantity of fly ash was used not only in the embankment as
per IRC:SP:58 but also in Pavement Quality (PQC) and dry
lean concrete as per MoRTH Specification 2013 besides in
Truck Lay-byes portion, short panel pavement was also
Fig.1 Milling Asphalt layer
Fig. 3 TWT (2012)
laid with comparative less thickness to have minimum use
of conventional material. Similarly in West Bengal
Kharagpur short panel rigid pavements have been laid as an
experiment. Plants and equipments and material used in
165 Km long and 15.75 m wide carriageway of Yamuna
Expressway (Figs 4-7)are listed in Table 1:
Fig. 2 View Milled layer
Fig. 4: Plan of Yamuna Expressway (25%
INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022 47
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Fig. 5 Construction of Rigid Pavement Fig. 6 After Construction Toll Plaza View
flyash in PQC and DLC )

Fig. 7 Military Aviation Aircraft (2012) French Fig 8 Eastern Periphery Highway Repair
Dassault Mirage 2000 on Yamuna Expressway work is in Process 2017-2018
on May21, 2015
India's first smart and green highway of rigid pavements, the 135 km long Kundli-Ghaziabad-Palwal (KGP) Expressway
also known as Eastern Peripheral Expressway was laid in 2017. Fig 8, Fly ash has been used in Embankment, DLC and in
Kerb stones etc. Subsequently, the initial stretch of green highway being built under the Green National Highways
Corridor Project (GNHCP) in Rajasthan. Precast Pavements have been used in Nagpur City Roads Fig.9

Fig. 9 Recast Concrete Pavement in Nagpur City Maharshtra

48 INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022

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Table 4 Equipment Required for Yamuna Expressway about 165 km length and 15.75 m wide
(Ref: Booklet on Yamuna Expressway published in 2018-2019 by J.P. Associates)
Sl No Quantity of Material used in which fly ash content is about is
List of Equipments used: app equivalent to PQC used.
1 Cone Crusher 6 Earth 384 lac cum
2 Batch mixer twin shaft 12 Fly ash 27 lac cum
3 Slip Form pavers with TCM 4 PCQ 28 lac cum

4 Jaw crusher 4 Concrete in Structures 9 lac cum

5 Crushing and screening plant 6 Cement 12 lac ton
6 Cement bag splitter 12 Steel 1.3lac ton
7 Cement silos 24 Aggregates from Chandigarh, Gwalior, 130 lac ton
and Rajasthan, Saharanpur

8 Chilling plant 12 Land acquired 4405 Ha

9 Weight Bridge 18
10 Mobile Lighting Mast tower 24
11 Excavators- 115

12 Motor Grader 75
13 Compactors 110
14 Tippers/Dumpers 725
15 Water Tankers 175
16 Transit Mixers and DG sets 100 each

17 Concrete Batching plants 50

18 Tractors 118
19 JCB, Pug Mill, Boom placers, 300
cranes, troller

5. G L O B A L S P E C I F I C AT I O N / P O L I C Y / Guidance Manual For Highways Administrative

ORGANISATION FOR GREEN HIGHWAYS
The global specification/the organisation involved and the
policy involved for making Green Highways is briefly
discussed as:
I. The International Union for Conservation of Nature
and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international
organization committed to seeking pragmatic
solutions to our most pressing problems in the
environment and development. It was founded in
1948, and it's headquartered is in Gland,
Switzerland. It was recognized presently as the
World Conservation Union.
ii. Ministry of Environment & Forests Government of
India, New Delhi EIA Guidance Manual -
Highways Environmental Impact Assessment
Staff College of India February 2010 Bellavista,
Khairtabad, Hyderabad,
iii. Department of Public Works and Highways on the
implementation of the Philippine Green Building
Code of 2016.
iv. MORTH, Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF)
for Green National Highways Corridor Project
(GNHCP)
v. MORTH Public disclosure of Resettlement Policy
Framework (RPF) for Green National Highways
Corridor Project (GNHCP)
vi. MORTH Green Highways - Salient Features and FAQ
vii. MORTH Green Highways Policy-2015
viii. Key Features of Green Highways Policy 2015
ix. Vision of Green Highway Policy in India and
Implementation. It is listed as:

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a) 1200 road side amenities are being established.
b) Curtailing the number of road accidents.
c) M O RT H l a u n c h e d t h e G r e e n H i g h w a y s
(Plantation, Transplantation, Beautification &
Maintenance) Policy in 2015
d) The aim of the policy is to promote greening of
Highway corridors with participation of the
community such as farmers, private sector, NGOs,
and government institutions.
e) 1% of the total project cost of all highway's projects
shall be kept aside for the highway plantation and
its maintenance.
f) About Rs. 1000 crore per year be available for
plantation purpose.
g) Policy may generate employment opportunities for
about five lakh people from rural areas.
h) Strong monitoring mechanism in place
i) Every planted tree will be counted and auditing will
be done.
j) The agencies performing good will be awarded and
dignified employment to local people and
communities for conservation of environment.
k) Various other initiatives to cut pollution by
promoting bio-fuel and e-rickshaws, and now the
Green Highways Policy has been launched for
roadside plantation.
l) National Forest Policy envisages/foresee 33% of
the geographical area should be under forest or tree
cover, but the notified forest cover is only about
22%.
m) The implementation of new Green Highways
Policy could help in bridging this gap.
6. CONCLUSION
i. The essential components of the Green Highway
Project are sustainable development and
maintenance/strengthening of National Highways
both flexible, rigid and composite pavements,
Institutional Capacity Enhancement, road safety,
and research and development. India's Green
Highways mission-Central Government approves
the project for faster, smoother road travel;
ii. The Green Highway project will also witness
enhancement of road safety by adopting advanced
measures such as safety audits at design (providing
rumble strips at black spots and for passengers
crossings for their safety as required at
cuts/opening), implementation, operation and
maintenance stages on rigid and composite
pavements to avoid tyre bursting and minimise
sound pollution i.e up to 80 dB sound on
expressways
50 INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022
iii. Use of non-conventional Innovative techniques viz
C&D waste, fly ash, slag, blended cements, precast
components, stabilised material, use of Geo
textiles, paver blocks may care in making green
rigid and composite pavements as the potential
energy already spent on these may be reutilized.
The latest development of eqiuipments required for
this are elaborated in MORTH Pocket Book for
Road Construction Equipment- 2018. This may
help in getting carbon credits as well.
iv. In case of regions having very low/very high
temperature, high wind speed or in hilly regions,
where conventional construction of rigid pavement
is not possible, precast reinforced concrete
components may be cost effective there with or
without using local/supplementary /waste material
as per IS 383-2016/IS:456
v. Now a days very long booms/cranes and
helicopters are available for transporting
labour/materials/heavy duty construction
equipments on high altitudes/hills from plain as
being used in Arunachal Pradesh by BRO.
vi. To have best riding quality of concrete roads of
specified roughness index, proper gradation of
aggregates, clearing/grubbing with proof rolling,
least stop and start of paver with no mechanical
fault etc. are needed conforming to IRC:SP:16
measuring with network survey vehicles.Model
Contract Document as per IRC:SP:95-2011 shall
be strictly followed in all, penalty clauses as
mentioned if maintenance not completed in
schedule time and as per specification mentioned
therein for prevailing safe loads.
vii. IRC:52 and IRC:SP:48 regarding alignment survey
and geometric design of hill roads and other
specification may be referred for hilly regions .
REFERENCES
1. Satander Kumar VP Arora, Use of Recycled Aggregate
in Concrete Roads, IRC Highway Research Bulletin No
32-1987
2. https://times-bulletin.com/author/ timesbulletin/ Times
Bulletin Team, December 22, 2020
3. https://www.iucn.org/
4. http://environmentclearance.nic.in/writereaddata/form-
1a/homelinks/highways-10_may.pdf
5.. h t t p : / / w w w. i i b h . o r g / k i j u n / p d f / P h i l i p p i n e s _
05_Green_Building_Code_of_Philippones_Y2015
4. https://www.morth.nic.in/search/node/Green%
20Highways
5. https://blog.studyiq.com/green-highway-green-
national-highways-corridor-project-burning-issues-
free-pdf-download.
6. National Convention on Innovations in Green Highways
underway in New DelhiNov 08, 2016: MORTH,
ADVERTISEMENT

INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022 51

 IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

NEW DATES OF 81ST ANNUAL SESSION OF THE IRC

Due to COVID 19 pandemic the 81st Annual Session could not be organized in the month of April, 2022 and now it is
scheduled to be held at Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) from 8th to 11th October, 2022. The Invitation Booklet containing the
Tentative Programme, Registration Form, Accommodation Form etc. will be available in our website www.irc.nic.in
shortly. Accommodation is available on first come first serve basis. All members of IRC are invited to attend the 81stAnnual
Session.
It is expected that more than 4000 Highway Engineers from all over the country and abroad will attend this Session.
During the Annual Session of IRC, there has been a practice for various firms/organizations to make Technical
Presentations on their products/technologies & case studies (with innovative construction methods or technologies or
having special problems requiring out of the box thinking and special solutions). The presenters will get an opportunity to
address a large gathering of highway professionals from Private Sector as well as decision makers in the Govt. Sector.
These presentations evoke lively interaction among the participants.
A time slot of about 12-15 minutes is normally allocated for each Technical Presentation. Time is also given for floor
intervention. During such Technical Presentation Session, no other meetings will be held parallel so as to ensure maximum
attendance during the Technical Presentation Session. The stakeholders are, therefore, requested to participate in the
event and book presentation slots at the earliest.
Interested Organizations may write to IRC conveying their willingness for participation and send the topics of their
Technical Presentation by E-mail: paper.irc-morth@gov.in/ad.irc-morth@gov.in or through Speed Post alongwith a
Demand Draft for Rs.1,50,000/- (Rupees One Lakh Fifty Thousand only) drawn in favour of Secretary General,
Indian Roads Congress, New Delhi latest by 26thAugust, 2022 so that necessary arrangements can be made by IRC.
For any enquiry about the 81stAnnual Session like Registration, Membership & Technical Presentation etc. please address
to Secretary General, Indian Roads Congress Kama Koti Marg, Sector-6, R.K. Puram, New Delhi-110022. For assistance
the contact details are given as under:

REGISTRATION MEMBERSHIP TECHNICAL PRESENTATION

Shri Ajay Kumar
Section Officer
Phone +91 11 2617 1548
Mobile +91-9999901610
Email: admn.irc-morth@gov.in
ircannualsession@gmail.com
Shri Naveen Tewari
Under Secretary-II
Phone + 91 2338 7140
Mobile +91 9811099326
Email: us2.irc-morth@gov.in
ircmembership1962@gmail.com
Shri Anil Sharma
Section Officer
Phone +91 011-26171548
Mobile +91 9899417608
Email: paper.irc-morth@gov.in
indhighways@gmail.com

LOCAL ORGANISING SECRETARY ACCOMMODATION TECHNICAL EXHIBITION

Shri Ashok Kanojia,
Local Organising Secretary,
81st IRC Session
Chief Engineer, National Highways
U.P.PWD, Lucknow
Phone No. 0522-2235835, 2237353
(PBX- 241, 214)
Mobile No. + 91 9415047035;
9554547035
Shri Yogesh Pawar
Managing Director,
UP State Bridge Corporation Ltd.,
Lucknow
Phone No.0522-2205815
Mobile No. + 7599380127
Or
Shri A.K. Agarwal
Chief Engineer, Bridge
U.P.PWD, Lucknow
Phone No. 0522-2237323
(PBX- 212)
Mobile No. + 91 9839692613

Or Shri Rakesh Singh

J.M.D.
Shri J.K. Banga UP State Bridge Corporation Ltd.,
Coordinator Lucknow
81st IRC Annual Session Mobile No. + 91 9415010673
Chief Engineer (Building)
UP, PWD, Lucknow
Phone No.0522-2237323 (PBX. 203)

52 INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022

 ANNUAL SESSION REGISTRATION FORM

81st ANNUAL SESSION - LUCKNOW (UTTAR PRADESH) FROM 08TH TO 11TH OCTOBER 2022

INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022 53

 ANNUAL SESSION REGISTRATION FORM

54 INDIAN HIGHWAYS AUGUST 2022

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UNDER ‘U’ NUMBER U(SW)-12/2022- 2024
At Lodi Road, PSO on dated 28-29.7.2022 LICENCE TO POST
ISSN 0376-7256 Newspaper Regd. No. 25597/73 WITHOUT PREPAYMENT
PUBLISHED ON 23 JULY 2022
INDIAN HIGHWAYS
ADVANCE MONTH, AUGUST 2022
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Edited and Published by Shri Sanjay Kumar Nirmal, Secretary General, Indian Roads Congress, IRC HQ, Sector-6, R.K. Puram,
Kama Koti Marg, New Delhi - 1100 022. Printed by Shri Sanjay Kumar Nirmal on behalf of the Indian Roads Congress
at M/s B. M. Printing & Writing Papers Pvt. Ltd., (H-37, Sector-63, Noida), (UP)