[Naman_Ferrari]

All of us who live in Bangalore have definitely seen the worst kind of roads that can be there in a metropolitan city. Recently, the road in front of my house in Indiranagar was dug up so badly that it was impossible for me to take the car out of the basement. This year's monsoon season caused almost all the roads in Koramangala to disappear.

While I agree that concrete roads are just not as good to drive on as tar roads, I am optimistic about this move. Having concrete roads that last is definitely better than having no roads. I'm sure most Bangaloreans would agree

I just hope this is not a political gimmick!
Fingers crossed

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by Naman_Ferrari

All of us who live in Bangalore have definitely seen the worst kind of roads that can be there in a metropolitan city. Recently, the road in front of my house in Indiranagar was dug up so badly that it was impossible for me to take the car out of the basement. This year's monsoon season caused almost all the roads in Koramangala to disappear.

While I agree that concrete roads are just not as good to drive on as tar roads, I am optimistic about this move. Having concrete roads that last is definitely better than having no roads. I'm sure most Bangaloreans would agree

I just hope this is not a political gimmick!
Fingers crossed

Everything that happens is a political gimmick. Why would you have so many projects during the last 6 months of a government ? This is true everywhere in the country, you suffer for 4.5 years and then you suffer another 6 months of ill planned, crammed development works.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by srishiva

Everything that happens is a political gimmick. Why would you have so many projects during the last 6 months of a government ? This is true everywhere in the country, you suffer for 4.5 years and then you suffer another 6 months of ill planned, crammed development works.

True.

I see it as the more widely accepted form of the steel flyover scam. The latter caused a big issue and had to be scrapped and suddenly this project came up - which no one really opposed because it was on top of existing infrastructure.

[KiloAlpha]

White-topping, as many of us have observed in this thread, is most probably a scam. And this is because there is concrete being laid on top of what was decent tarmac - even tarmac that did not degrade after the last monsoons.

The cherry on the icing on the cake, however, is the white-topping that is being done on the southbound stretch of Hosur Road between St. John's and Madiwala underpass. That stretch was already a concrete road, and it has been in good shape for at least a couple of years now!!

[TorqueyTechie]

Originally Posted by KiloAlpha

White-topping, as many of us have observed in this thread, is most probably a scam. And this is because there is concrete being laid on top of what was decent tarmac - even tarmac that did not degrade after the last monsoons.

The cherry on the icing on the cake, however, is the white-topping that is being done on the southbound stretch of Hosur Road between St. John's and Madiwala underpass. That stretch was already a concrete road, and it has been in good shape for at least a couple of years now!!

While I am not sure of other roads, the stretch from St.Johns until madiwala underpass was not so great and it indeed needed a fix. There were numerous potholes along the stretch and the underpass had big cracks which used to be bone jarring. What I don't understand is the need to concrete the stretch from Audugodi - bosch junction until Forum signal. That was actually a good stretch which I completely agree was not damaged even after monsoons.

[praveennvr]

I came from a city which has mostly Reinforced concrete roads (main roads), and I rode on 2 wheeler for years on those roads, without a single incident. The city name is Tirupati. When they initially laid these Reinforced Concrete roads, warranty of 5 yrs was given, but now even after approx 14 yrs, the roads are as good as new.

I heard that in Bengaluru, 20 yrs warranty was given (I don't have a proof though), if this is true then the advantages outweigh disadvantages.
As far as heating issues are concerned, Tirupati roads sustained 45 degree temperatures also without cracks. Rubber (or some kind of material) filling between sections of road will handle expansion issues, need not worry about this.

2 wheelers need not much worry about rain because good bickers will always slow down whereas rash drivers might suffer, but sand on the road will be serious concern.

Well, can't comment really on what government eats up or puts up (this crap is always here), but atleast these roads will not have potholes, which is actually good for my spine.

I see more advantages than disadvantages.

[Avikbrio]

Here is a list of pros and cons of concrete and asphalt roads:

Advantages of Concrete Roadways:

Durability and maintenance free life: Concrete roads have a long service life of forty years, whereas asphalt roads last for ten years. More over, during this service life concrete road do not require frequent repair or patching work like asphalt roads.

Vehicles consume less fuel: A vehicle, when run over a concrete road, consumes 15-20% less fuel than that on asphalt roads. This is because of the fact that a concrete road does not get deflected under the wheels of loaded trucks.

Resistant to automobile fuel spillage and extreme weather: Unlike asphalt roads, concrete roads do not get damaged by the leaking oils from the vehicles or by the extreme weather conditions like excess rain or extreme heat.

Greener process: Asphalt (bitumen) produces lots of highly polluting gases at the time of melting it for paving. Also, less fuel consumption by the vehicle running on a concrete road means less pollution.

Saving of natural resources: Asphalt (bitumen) is produced from imported petroleum, the reserve of which is becoming reduced drastically. On the other hand, concrete (cement) is produced from abundantly available limestone.

Disadvantages of Concrete Roadways:

Paving cost: The paving cost of the concrete road is little higher compared to asphalt paving.

Maintenance Problem: In case the concrete road breaks, the whole concrete slab needs to be replaced.

Safety features: In rainy and the winter season vehicles tend to slip or slide on concrete road due to rain and snow.

Advantages of Asphalt (Bitumen) Road:

Economical: Asphalt is still less costly compared to concrete. Moreover, it takes less time to build a asphalt road than a concrete road. (Asphalt dries faster.)

Recyclable: Asphalt is a recyclable material. It can be used again and again by melting it.

Easy maintenance: Repairing just a part of the asphalt road is easily possible. Asphalt roads even can be re-layered over the old layer.

Safe: Asphalt roads provide better traction and skid resistance for vehicles. Asphalt tends to help keep roads free from ice and snow.

Disadvantages of Asphalt (Bitumen) Road:

Durability: heavy rain and other extreme weather conditions damage the asphalt road, and the roads need to be repaired frequently.

Weather Pollution: Melting asphalt produces lots of harmful green house gases. Also costly petroleum is required to produce asphalt.

Source: http://www.brighthubengineering.com/...asphalt-roads/

[CarJunki]

Originally Posted by Naman_Ferrari

While I agree that concrete roads are just not as good to drive on as tar roads, I am optimistic about this move. Having concrete roads that last is definitely better than having no roads. I'm sure most Bangaloreans would agree
Fingers crossed

Only thing is current white topping are being done to roads which are already at higher level and seldom are badly impacted by rains. None of the current white topping is being done to low lying roads which get damaged in rain repeatedly.

[condor]

One big scam - the tar roads are not done properly. And then they go for this. Even below fly-overs too. The cement roads are not even even/smooth. Tyres wear out faster and lot of road noise.

[GTO]

Thanks to Debdas Pattnaik for sharing!

I have seen the White Topping activity from the time it started to the time the Kalyan Nagar + Banaswadi stretch was opened.

The White Topping is done on top of the existing concrete base. A new machine is used to prepare and set the white topping concrete for the three lanes. It ensures the leveling / slope so that water will not get accumulated in the middle. After the concrete is set, they have put drainage pipes along the road for draining rain water away from the roads to water drainage channels in the green areas on both sides. Whether it really drains or not remains to be seen during the monsoon season.

I didn't observe much road noise as I expected from normal concrete roads. This seems to be a different type of white concrete. Now that the Kammanahalli to Bennigana Halli sections are getting completed, I heard from Embassy group that Nagawara to Hebbal White Topping will start this month. Another 4-5 months of traffic misery coming up.