Concrete Makes the Headlines

Concrete has been a newsmaker for the last few months. And in these times of concern and disruption, good news is a welcome relief.

If you’ve been following the news, you’ll already know that in February, the Ministry of Road transport and Highways announced that Patel Infrastructure Limited, a contractor of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) placed the highest reported quantity of concrete on a four-lane highway in 24 hours to date.

This stretch of pavement on which the record setting achievement occurred is a portion of the greenfield Delhi-Vadodara-Mumbai 8-lane Expressway project.

About the Project

During a 24-hour period, the Patel Infrastructure team constructed a concrete pavement that was measured to be 48,711 square meters of concrete. To accomplish this they batched, transported, placed, and finished 14,613 cubic meter of Pavement Quality Concrete (PQC) in 24 hours.

The area of highway pavement placed along with quantity of materials produced in the 24-hour period were recognized as record setting.

According the Patel Infrastructure website, this section required a huge of amount of materials. They reported that the contractor’s procurement division coordinated delivery of 5,000 MT of cement in bulk, 1,500 MT of fly ash, 80 MT of admixtures and 150 KL of HSD, 500 MT of ice and finally 18000 MT of aggregate along with 130 MT of dowel bars and tie bars.

To learn more about the project, https://www.patelinfra.com/world_record.php

Success in the details

But for us concrete folks, the devil is always in the details. There are three important takeaways from this news.

First and foremost, when concrete contractors invest in the most current batching and placement technology, productivity and quality outcomes will be achieved. Patel reports that it purchased a Wirtgen paver that is the world’s widest machine. And by looking at the pictures on the contractor’s web site, I think the project also used stringless technology. And to keep the paver moving forward, the batching technology also had to be top-notch.

Second, from what I can learn of the project from report, great care was taken in pavement design. The use of ice to control concrete temperature to control set, the use of dowels, and the exacting layout of subgrade should ensure a long-service life.

And third, this project demonstrates that concrete construction can play a key role in sustainability. By incorporating a significant portion of this pozzolan in the mix design, the project had a smaller carbon footprint, and will benefit from this material’s contribution to long term strength gain.

The National Concrete Pavement Technology Center

One of the benefits of following us at World of Concrete India is our connection with research on going in North America. One of educational partners is the National Concrete Pavement Technology Center, located in Iowa. Established more than 20 years ago, The CP Tech Center’s goals are to shorten the time it takes for scientific research to become day-to-day practice by introducing new approaches and technologies into the hands of users more quickly and efficiently.

The CP Tech Center is very active in the virtual education world as well. The staff conducts monthly webinars focus on concrete road construction; ranging from mix design to repair and maintenance. You can learn more by visiting their outreach area at: https://cptechcenter.org/webinars-and-videos/

 And the other good newsmakers about concrete

While all of us are still restricting our activities to reduce the spread of the covid pandemic, there appears to be some light at the end of the tunnel. Recently we announced that World of Concrete will occur in June in Las Vegas. We are working with health professionals to create a safe and welcoming event. Please follow what’s happening in our industry by visiting www.woc360.com and signing up for our bimonthly newsletter.

And finally, and just as exciting, we hope you will join us in October when we plan to host our first World of Concrete India. I’m hopeful that the borders will be open again, as I would welcome the chance to meet many of you in person.  And if I could arrange it, to visit the Delhi-Vadodara-Mumbai 8-lane Expressway project and walk on a concrete history making project.

Please stay in contact, you can reach me at rick.yelton@informa.com