ACCs Initiatives for Promotion of Concrete Roads in India

The record of the first concrete road construction in India dates back to 1914. However, till the end of eighties, cement was a scarce commodity in India; therefore, concrete road construction was relegated to the background. After liberalization of cement market, concrete roads staged a comeback and in the nineties major projects were undertaken in the city of Mumbai and other cities. As India implements an ambitious National Highway Development Program (NHDP), the length of concrete road is slated to improve. On completion of Golden Quadrilateral (GQ), which is part of the NHDP, the share of cement concrete roads would be just about 3% of the length of National Highway. The choice of the pavement tends to get governed by the initial cost of construction. It is often felt that there is a scope to reduce the initial cost of construction of concrete pavements by adopting a rational design approach, which can lead to reduced thickness of the pavement. In this context this paper examines technical initiatives undertaken by ACC Ltd to explore techno-economic solutions incorporating High Flexural Strength Concrete (HFSC), High Volume Fly Ash Concrete (HVFAC) and designing and laying Special Concrete for White Topping (SCWT).