Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu while presiding over a review meeting of the Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) with the Public Works department late Saturday evening here, said that first time in Himachal, roads would be constructed with Full Depth Reclamation (FDR) technology.
The Chief Minister instructed the Public Works Department to use this technology in the roads to be constructed under the PMGSY and said that at the initial stage about 666 KM of roads in various districts would be constructed by using FDR technology.
The state government is working with commitment to provide better road facilities to the people of the state and after Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Assam, Himachal is going to become the fourth state in the country to construct roads using FDR technology," he said.
Full Depth Reclamation is a pavement rehabilitation technique in which the full flexible pavement section and a predetermined portion of the underlying materials are uniformly pulverized and blended together to produce a homogeneous stabilized base course.
FDR uses the materials from the deteriorated asphalt pavement, and, with the addition of cement, creates a new stabilized base.The roads constructed by using this technology become more durable and better for plying the vehicles. Besides, it's a cost effective and eco-friendly technology as well, he added.
For the convenience of the people residing in rural areas, the road network is being strengthened and about 2682 KM roads will be constructed at a cost of about Rs. 2683 crore. Out of which, 666 KM roads will be constructed using FDR technology, 556 KM roads by cement stabilization and the remaining 1460 km roads will be constructed using traditional methods, said Sh. Sukhu.
Roads are the lifeline of rural people in Himachal and the PWD should ensure quality in road construction, said the Chief Minister and directed to complete the construction work of these roads in a timely manner, so that people can get timely benefit.
Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh, Principal Secretary PWD, Bharat Khera, Engineer-in-Chief Ajay Kumar Gupta and other officials attended the meeting amongst others.