Mumbai-Pune Expressway

[Shan2nu]

Are those Paki roads concrete or tarmac? The pune-bbay expressway is very noisy, could the road surface be chewing away through the tyres much faster?

I never felt comfy on that road, especially when the car i was sitting in, was doing 170kmph on stock tubed tyres.

Shan2nu

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

Are those Paki roads concrete or tarmac? The pune-bbay expressway is very noisy, could the road surface be chewing away through the tyres much faster?

I never felt comfy on that road, especially when the car i was sitting in, was doing 170kmph on stock tubed tyres.

Shan2nu

The roads are not Paki - the illegal taxi drivers are!!! The roads I am referring to are in the UAE, and they are tarmac roads.

I havent felt uncomfortable on those roads even at speeds over 200 kmph. I did feel a bit uncomfortable - or uneasy - about the Mumbai Pune expressway on the one time that I drove through it, though. I didnt go over 140.

I felt much more comfortable hitting 150+ on the Hubli Dharwad byepass (the one near your house) and at slightly lesser speeds on the Ankola highway, though.

[Shan2nu]

I felt much more comfortable hitting 150+ on the Hubli Dharwad byepass (the one near your house) and at slightly lesser speeds on the Ankola highway, though.

Same here. Those roads are pretty smooth, and since they're made of tarmac, they're very silent too.

I recently did a Hubli - Kolhapur trip on my car and i must say, concrete roads seriously need to be made more silent. I've never heard my tyres make such a noise on any tarmac road.

Shan2nu

[Rtech]

Yes, the surface of the expressway is concrete, hence much harsher on the car and tyres than the equivalent tarmac road. This is blatantly obvious when you reach the end of the expressway on the Pune side. The transition from noisy cement to silent and smooth tarmac is an amazing shock to the system!

However, concrete highways exist in most countries in the world. Proper maintenance of the vehicle you drive in is paramount. Blaming the roads is secondary.

[RX135]

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

Are those Paki roads concrete or tarmac? The pune-bbay expressway is very noisy, could the road surface be chewing away through the tyres much faster?

Concrete roads are hotter than tar roads, which means tyres heat up much quicker at high speeds and burst earlier. Not to mention that it is much more noisy. We should have some civil engineer here on the forum to shed more light on this.

[mohit]

I guess the thing going for concrete roads is their longitivity. While the tarmac gets damaged due to rains, concrete doesn't.

[Shan2nu]

I guess the thing going for concrete roads is their longitivity. While the tarmac gets damaged due to rains, concrete doesn't.

Longitivity of the road or longitivity of my tyre? Hmmm, i'll take the tyre please. Hehe

And about the rains, i heard someone say that the expressway tends to collect water which can cause the car to aquaplane. Has anybody faced such a problem?

Shan2nu

[RX135]

Originally Posted by mohit

I guess the thing going for concrete roads is their longitivity. While the tarmac gets damaged due to rains, concrete doesn't.

This is partially true. It depends on the how much it rains at that particular location and second, how well does the water drain out from the road. Of course, concrete does not face any such problems.

classic example will be JM road in Pune, which was built some 35 years ago and has not gone through any major rework.

[Rtech]

And about the rains, i heard someone say that the expressway tends to collect water which can cause the car to aquaplane. Has anybody faced such a problem?

Yea, there are pockets of standing water that collect. Mostly near overpasses I've noticed. Can get really dicey at times.

Also, tarmac, if made of the correct mixture, can be as resistant to wear & tear as concrete. You don't find too many potholes on Singapore's tarmac highways do you? And they experience heat and rain everyday.

[mohit]

classic example will be JM road in Pune, which was built some 35 years ago and has not gone through any major rework

But they have converted all the other major roads to concrete now.

[Shan2nu]

Also, tarmac, if made of the correct mixture, can be as resistant to wear & tear as concrete. You don't find too many potholes on Singapore's tarmac highways do you? And they experience heat and rain everyday.

Yup the war has been going on for a long time now. While tarmac roads are being made to last longer and resistant to rains, concrete specialists are finding ways to make their surface smoother and less noisy.

But, looking at the quality of both surfaces in India, i'll still have to go with Tarmac.

Shan2nu

[always_dui]

Other than water collecting causing the car to aquaplane as someone rightly put it ,
i dont see any other reason why the expressway should be blamed for reckless and insensitive driving ,
i hardly remember people who dont usually take long drives check tyre
pressure which is one of the main things to be done while you take a trip

Highway driving is way different than city driving .........all would agree

How many take it seriously..........

[RX135]

Originally Posted by mohit

But they have converted all the other major roads to concrete now.

That is rather idiotic. Concrete roads offer good grip for 4 wheelers but are a nightmare for 2 wheelers in wet conditions. And note that, Pune is a city with around million 2 wheelers and more. I have seen so many such accidents (mainly slipping and losing control) in last two monsoons. But who cares about 2 wheelers? Let them suffer.

[umeshd]

I am amazed why people crib about Expressway. There has not been a single instance on my Pune trips (1-2 a month at least if not every week) when I have not found someone driving hardly at 70-80 in the rightmost lane. And I have always come across crazy drivers in high end cars overtaking you from wrong side even when right lane is free. I usualy am in middle lane as my Indica doesn't go much beyond 125 - thats what speedo reads. But to me following are few main reasons why expressway is a cause of accidents:

1) Tyre pressure - since the concrete road gets tyres heated fast. I usualy keep 28-26 - front/rear (normal is 30/28) and the car keeps rock steady at 120.

2) No adherance to lanes . . . I have seen very few drivers that keep in one lane on turns.

3) Night time driving with no adjustment of headlights - whats good in city is obviousely not okay on expressway and you need the headlight beam a little higher and spread wider.

Another major cause is the number of obstacles like the drums that present themselves at most awkward spots from time to time due to road maintenance etc.

I feel even the drivers wake up to reality and take care of the three points I mentioned above, the number of accidents would reduce to a lot extent.

Regards

Umesh

[amitoj]

Gotta agree with everything u said, umesh. u have put things in the right perspective.
Moderators... can you please increase this guy's number of posts to say 40 so that he soon becomes a BHPian?

his post beats even some made by the seniors on this forum!
Lets bring on meritocracy!!

Cheers
Amitoj