Bangalore’s famed potholes could be history, if only the amnesiac Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) looks up the manual it had published in 2009 for the construction of city roads.
Believe it or not, the BBMP had published a book ‘’Guidelines for Construction of City Roads’’ compiled by KN Shivashankar Rao, chief engineer (retired), PWD, in 2009; but not many in the BBMP are aware of its existence.
“I recall that the HC had constituted a committee under Captain Raja Rao after hearing a PIL on the pathetic condition of roads in 2005. The BBMP engineers are not following the recommendations made by the committee. I think rampant corruption among BBMP engineers and staff is the main reason for the substandard work,” said Raghavendra Guru, a civic expert.
According to the book, potholes, which surface especially after rains, are caused owing to the result of water seeping into the pavement through cracks, lack of bond between the surfacing and the base course and use of insufficient bitumen in the surfacing.
As per the guidelines, the potholes should be cut as nearly as possible to the shape of a square or a rectangle, the sides being vertical. All loose materials have to be cleaned out. If there are deep potholes, as a result of improper drainage or existence of soft pockets in the sub-grade, these should be dug out down to the solid sub-grade and made good with well graded aggregates.
In water-bound macadam (WBM) roads, potholes should be filled with aggregates and screenings and compacted with heavy-hand rammers. In asphalt roads, the bottom and sides of the potholes duly trimmed to a quadrilateral shape. The metal should be compacted in layers of 25mm at a time. The finished surface sometimes is kept at about 6 mm higher than the original surface to allow for subsequent settlement under the roller. After repairs, the surface should be slightly dusted with sand before opening it to traffic, says the manual.
The other reason cited for the development of potholes are overflowing drains and stagnation of water during monsoon. “I agree that sub-standard work is the main cause for the development of craters on city roads,’’ said a BBMP engineer, who wished to stay anonymous.
The reluctance of BBMP engineers and contractors to use plastic in asphalting the roads also contributes to the pothole menace. During former CM SM Krishna’s regime, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the BBMP and KK Plastics for using plastic in road construction.
But till now plastic has been used in constructing only 1,500 km of the city’s roads, as against the total length of 9,697 km. Roads in which plastic was used while asphalting can survive without any damage for four to five years.
Replying to dna’s query on the pothole menace, BBMP commissioner Lakshminarayana said the ongoing pothole filling exercise was a temporary measure.
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