[TorqueyTechie]

After the whitetopping boon, now comes the blacktopping boon. It seems that the government have earmarked around 4000 crore for asphalting roads in Bangalore. This money was earlier identified for whitetopping but the current government have scrapped it citing irregularities in its implementation.

More info in the article from TOI here.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

After the whitetopping boon, now comes the blacktopping boon. It seems that the government have earmarked around 4000 crore for asphalting roads in Bangalore. This money was earlier identified for whitetopping but the current government have scrapped it citing irregularities in its implementation.

If they can use this money into asphalting more roads, then that is far better than white topping a few already good roads and rendering it unusable for months. Not like the white topped roads are so nice either. Instead if they can asphalt a greater number of roads, that will be faster and effective, except that quality should be taken care of.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by audioholic

except that quality should be taken care of.

That is the achilles heel. In past 2 months, many of the roads around Sarjapur road, Bellandur had repair work done. The asphalt stayed for few days to few weeks depending on how many days it took to rain after the work was done.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by audioholic

If they can use this money into asphalting more roads, then that is far better than white topping a few already good roads and rendering it unusable for months. Not like the white topped roads are so nice either. Instead if they can asphalt a greater number of roads, that will be faster and effective, except that quality should be taken care of.

The process & technique of tarring Bangalore roads has been so poor for the past many decades that craters appear after a few weeks. But I like the optimism and the silver lining folks have on Bangalore infrastructure.

[TorqueyTechie]

Originally Posted by audioholic

If they can use this money into asphalting more roads, then that is far better than white topping a few already good roads and rendering it unusable for months. Not like the white topped roads are so nice either. Instead if they can asphalt a greater number of roads, that will be faster and effective, except that quality should be taken care of.

That is the biggest question mark, will they or wont they.

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

That is the achilles heel. In past 2 months, many of the roads around Sarjapur road, Bellandur had repair work done. The asphalt stayed for few days to few weeks depending on how many days it took to rain after the work was done.

+1 to that. It's always the case of by when the asphalt will give away rather than why.

Originally Posted by msdivy

The process & technique of tarring Bangalore roads has been so poor for the past many decades that craters appear after a few weeks. But I like the optimism and the silver lining folks have on Bangalore infrastructure.

I do always pray for Bangalore to be as good as any other metros of the world (very very optimistic idea/only in my dreams, yes yes I hear you all) but hey home is where the heart is and Bangalore is home for many.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by audioholic

If they can use this money into asphalting more roads, then that is far better than white topping a few already good roads and rendering it unusable for months. Not like the white topped roads are so nice either. Instead if they can asphalt a greater number of roads, that will be faster and effective, except that quality should be taken care of.

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

That is the achilles heel. In past 2 months, many of the roads around Sarjapur road, Bellandur had repair work done. The asphalt stayed for few days to few weeks depending on how many days it took to rain after the work was done.

Originally Posted by msdivy

The process & technique of tarring Bangalore roads has been so poor for the past many decades that craters appear after a few weeks. But I like the optimism and the silver lining folks have on Bangalore infrastructure.

The reason why freshly tarred roads develop craters in a matter of days, is not the quality of the road itself, but water. Well, not just water, but that the drains and channels for water to flow are often blocked and plugged by garbage, construction material, etc. resulting in stagnation of water. It could also be a leak from a pipe / plumbing underneath the road that leads to the corrosion of asphalt.

Water needs to find a way. If it's left stagnant or if there's a localised dripping of water, it is bound to corrode that portion of the road. This is exactly the reason why patching up craters by filling it with tar will not serve the purpose.

White topping aka concreting the surface negates the corrosion, somewhat. But it comes with its own share of problems, that is: lack of grip (there's half the grip you get on a concrete road when compared to tar), and the fact that the life of your average tyre is nearly halved when driven constantly over such surfaces.

In conclusion, the move from white topping to asphalt is a welcome move, but organizations like KREDL and BBMP need to focus on implementing effective drainage channels in order to ensure that water does not collect in a localised manner, or we will never rid this city of potholes and corroded roads in our lifetimes.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

In conclusion, the move from white topping to asphalt is a welcome move

Not in the least because asphalting/patch-up happens much quicker, overnight even, compared to white-topping which is proving to be a never ending saga and continuous cause of traffic snarls. Bangalore's road contractors are going to screw up both while doing the work anyway. It's better for us road users that they screw up asphalting. Lesser of the two evils.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

The reason why freshly tarred roads develop craters in a matter of days, is not the quality of the road itself, but water.

There can be n reasons being offered. Blame the water, blame that soil is soft, blame traffic. There are places which are worse off than Bangalore. Their engineers have overcome the constraints and designed better infrastructure.
But here, the whole civil engineering effort has been mediocre, be it in designing layouts, roads, bridges, flyovers, underpasses, bus-bays, footpaths, parking spots.

[Haque]

I think, we@TeamBhp should pitch in and collectively develop an app that can be used to record & maintain road history. This should help gather establish greater transparency in the works done. At some point in time, I hope this is linked to a government database of tenders/work allocations, payments and progress.

[wildsdi5530]

The biggest advantage of asphalt is that it is self healing. Tar tends to creep over time and thus levels itself. In concrete roads, the imperfections at time of setting remain and cause an undulant surface which makes us feel like riding on a roller coaster. This damages the tires and the suspension too. Of course asphalt needs to have a fresh layer every year or two. And white topping is expected to last for 20-30 years which is why the central Govt has started this program. Unfortunately in Bengaluru, the white topping wears off in a few months and exposes the reinforcement bars underneath which could spread tires. I was appalled at the condition of white topped roads in the ORR.

[fordday]

Originally Posted by wildsdi5530

Of course asphalt needs to have a fresh layer every year or two.

This is not entirely correct. I can vouch from an example road which I use daily.
BTM 29th main road.
Till about 2005-06 it was a horror. Every meter there were huge potholes even when they were repairing and patching every other week.

Then in 2006-07, they undertook a complete overhauling of it. It was dug up some 3-4 feet. Bricks and stone dust were filled for 1-2 feet. I exactly forgot with what else they filled it up. But it lasted more than 10 years. Only in last year or two the top layer started coming off in few places.

I assume they did a very good work on it.

[srishiva]

Even for asphalt roads, the foundation has to be done right. The soil layers need to be compacted with base course, sub-base course and at the top with a coarse layer of stone. Tar layer needs to be on top of that. This is not done for all roads except highways. Drains are non-existent and roads become water canals and lakes.

Even potholes need to be cut with straight lines, cleaned and have a base layer upon which tar layer needs to go. They just fill it up and it doesnt bind properly with existing roads.

The concrete roads do last longer and are apt for our slow roads. You dont need a lot of grip and can even be cleaned easily without affecting the road.

The problem is although we have engineers with multiple levels and fancy designations in govt, even common sense is not used.

[Newpunter]

In the end, the type of the road will not mater, since some other department will start digging it up as soon as the road work is completed and we are back to square one :-) .

[vsrivatsa]

Here is an article that made my day:
BBMP is a public-funded terrorist outfit: Citizens miffed over roads in Bengaluru - Link

“BBMP is a public-funded terrorist organisation whose only motto is to terrorise residents of Bengaluru"

[Chetan_Rao]

Half-done white-topped bits of ORR on the Nayandahalli - Tumkur Road stretch have just been abandoned, causing horrendous traffic with no end in sight.