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A SIMPLE AD EFFECTIVE METHOD OF REPAIRIG POTHOLES I IDIAByProf. Prithvi Singh Kandhal*
[This paper was published as Paper o. 544 in the Journal of the Indian Roads Congress, Volume 69-3,October-December 2008. Author’s response to comments made on this paper are also given at the end.]
ABSTRACT
Development of potholes on roads and streets of India after the onset of monsoons is acommon phenomenon. Quite often, potholes are repaired with antiquated techniques suchas placing soil or bare aggregate in the pothole because no hot mix asphalt is availableduring monsoons.An economical, generic, readymade stockpile cold patching mix has been proposed, whichis manufactured in a batch type hot mix plant using local aggregates. This generic mix can be placed without preparing the pothole such as drying, squaring the edges, cleaning, andtack coating. This patching mix developed by the author was adjudged as the best performer in the readymade bituminous patching mix category in a nationwide fieldevaluation research project conducted under the US Strategic Highway Research Program(SHRP). Since that study was conducted in regions with different climatic conditions(including hot and wet), it is believed this patching mix will be equally successful in India.Recent field trials of this mix in Rajasthan during monsoons have been highly successful.The mix can be stockpiled and remains workable for at least 6 months and, therefore, it can be used throughout the year including the rainy season. A detailed specification ready to beused by highway agencies in India is given in the paper.
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ITRODUCTIO
Development of potholes on Indian roads and streets after the onset of monsoons is acommon phenomenon. Every year there is a public outcry and newspapers are full of  pictures showing potholed road pavements. Hot mix asphalt plants are usually shut downduring monsoons and no hot bituminous mix is available for filling potholes. Therefore,many potholes are either not repaired or repaired with antiquated techniques. It is quitecommon for the government agencies to repair potholes as follows:
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Fill the pothole with soil, which is usually washed away in the first rain.
 ______________________________________________________________________ *
Associate Director Emeritus, National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT), AuburnUniversity, Alabama, USA (currently, Karanpura House, 50 Raj Bhawan Road, CivilLines, Jaipur 302 006) E-mail: pkandhal@eng.auburn.edu
 
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Fill the pothole with bare stones (Photos 1 and 2). This not only provides arough riding surface especially for motorcycles but the stone particles start toPhoto 1. Pothole filled with soil and aggregatePhoto 2. Pothole filled with bare aggregateravel out of the pothole during subsequent rains. If the stones survive in the potholes, these are not usually removed and pothole properly patched when theroad or street is overlaid with hot mix. This results in reappearance of the same pothole during next year’s monsoon.
 
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Very deep potholes are filled with cement bags full of sand, which isundesirable.
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Sometimes a penetration macadam type approach is used. A tack coat is appliedto the bottom of the pothole. A layer of large stone is spread in the pothole.Bituminous binder is applied to the stone layer and then another layer of stone isspread and compacted. This penetration macadam is extremely porous to water and gets saturated with water when it rains. Even when the road is resurfacedwith hot mix, the pothole redevelops at the same place year after year. Photo 3shows an example of the repeated failure of this technique in India.Photo 3. Reappearance of pothole repaired with the penetration macadam techniqueThe following are the major disadvantages of potholes when they are not repaired at all or repaired with the preceding improper techniques:
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Inconvenience to motoring public
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User delays which cost money in terms of their time
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Extra fuel consumed when the vehicles have to stop or go very slow
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Excessive wear and tear of the vehicles, which require frequent repairs
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Increased air pollution caused by vehicle emission due to slow or stopped traffic
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Accidents resulting from the tendency of the vehicles to go around the potholes
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srinivas_nayakuni

pl give details and whether the mix will be supplies to us . This is executive engineer , Roads and Buildings Dept. Sangareddy, Medak Dist - Andhrapradesh

reply08 / 20 / 2010
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