Daijiworld Media Network- Mangaluru (RJP)

Mangaluru, Dec 18: As there have been many complaints regarding the skids at Shiradi Ghat road between Mangaluru and Bengaluru, it has been decided to use stone mastic asphalt technology (SMA) on major curves of the Ghat road.

Shiradi Ghat road has gone through many repairs in the last decade. Every year the road is closed in the name of repairs. Ultimately a plan to make the road, a four-lane, was taken and the work on the same is in progress.

But despite the repairs, the number of accidents was on the rise. It was discovered that due to skids on the curves, many accidents took place. Hence it was decided to use the SMA technology to contain this problem. The administration identified 13 most dangerous curves in the Ghat road for this purpose. Out of these 13, the application of mastic asphalt has been done already in 5 curves. All these curves were concretized 7 years before.

SMA technology is highly used in western countries including USA, Germany and Australia. India started using this technology very recently.

Mastic asphalt composition consists of 70−80% coarse aggregate, 8−12% filler, 6.0−7.0% binder, and 0.3 per cent fiber. Because of this composition, the road grip is better especially on curves. Mostly the vehicles which move in the slope area tend to tilt on the left side and this caused many accidents. But this SMA technology is believed to help the vehicles in such cases.

In the places where the concretization is being done or yet to be done, the mastic asphalt will be applied in later stages.