ACC Concrete has launched a ready-to-use, fast-setting concrete for repairing bitumen and concrete roads to get them ready for traffic within a day of repair.
Addressing officials of ChennaiCorporation after a demonstration of the new product, Anil Banchhor, Chief Executive-Concrete Business, ACC Ltd, said roads repaired with Ultra Thin White Topping can be opened for traffic within 24 hours.
Mumbai-headquartered ACC Concrete has seen good adoption of its new product in the city, where 10 per cent of roads under construction use UTWT.
The solution can be used in air pavement repairs, bridge deck repairs, and reconstructions in loading docks and port-related work.
Though the costs of laying bitumen roads are lower by 15 per cent, their lifecycle and maintenance costs are higher in comparison to the new method.
Input costs
Banchhor said the products’ roll out comes at a time of rising input costs: “Railway freight costs have increased, and so have prices of diesel. So, our input costs are on an uptrend. But, we have not seen any slump in demand.”
Avijit Chaubey, Head-Research and Development, says the concrete sets fast, and requires planning to make sure the mixture does not harden on the way to the work site.
Abrasives may be needed in some cases to reduce the degree of slipperiness.
The company has launched two more products for road repair — Speedcrete and Supercoat — for overlay operations. It recently tried these on Mumbai roads.