Roads and Highways Department Chief Engineer Md Feroz Iqbal (right) and Bashundhara Cement GM (sales) Khandker Kingshuk Hossain (left) seen at a seminar in city Monday. sun photo Concrete roads are more sustainable and less costly than the existing flexible pavements in terms of construction, maintenance, fuel consumption, environment and road safety, experts said. In addition, concrete pavements have long durability with some special features as they are hundred percent recyclable, have high visibility during night time and are resistant to water and temperature changes. It was revealed at a seminar titled “Sustainable Pavement for Bangladesh” organised by Sarak-O-Janapath Samity on Monday. Sponsored by Bashundhara Cement, one of the largest cement manufacturers of the country, the seminar was held at the conference room of the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) in the city. The developed countries are constructing their roads and highways using concrete instead of bitumen as concrete pavement is friendlier than the flexible pavement, said Santosh Kumar Roy, executive engineer of RHD and Project Manager 3 of Dhaka-Chittagong Highway 4-lane project. Concrete structure in highways will also be suitable for Bangladesh, he added. Narrating the characteristics of concrete pavement, Santosh said Tk 23,000 crore will be saved in 25 years as periodical maintenance cost if the country’s 3,619km highways are built using concrete. The construction of concrete pavement will also save Tk 2,00,00,000 cum construction during the 25-year period, Santosh said. “If we consider the entire road network of Bangladesh, including regional highways, zila roads of RHD and city corporations, the savings will be multiple of the amount mentioned above.” Chief Engineer of RHD Md Feroz Iqbal addressed the function as chief guest with Engineer Md Aftab Hossain Khan, president of Sarak-O-Janapath Prokaushali Samity, in the chair. Engineer Saroj Kumar Barua, assistant general manager (technical support) of Bashundhara Cement, presented a speech over-viewing the details of Bashundhara Group cement. Engineer Dilip Kumar Guha, project director and additional chief engineer of SASEC Road Connectivity Project of RHD, moderated the seminar while Khandakar Kingshuk Hossain, general manager (sales) of Bashundhara Cement, delivered the vote of thanks. While delivering the keynote speech, Santosh said they constructed 7km concrete road on Dhaka-Chittagong highway while the method was included in many other projects to find out its viability in Bangladesh. Besides, many pavements made of concrete also showed its strengthen, Santos said, mentioning the pavements at Chittagong Port Access Road, Alankar Moor and Colonel Hat in Chittagong. There is almost zero example of concrete culvert and bridge failure in the history of RHD though frequent premature failure of pavement of flexible pavement is often found, Santos said, adding that it is the high time to consider introducing concrete pavement in Bangladesh. The participants at the seminar also recommended constructing concrete pavement in highways and other roads for the greater interest of sustainable road communication. They said Bangladeshi engineers have little experience in constructing concrete pavements although construction of concrete pavement was a common phenomenon around 50 years ago. It needs to study or research to find out the viability of the concrete pavement in the country, they opined. They also suggested finding out the pros and cons of concrete pavement so that it can be informed to the high-ups of the government. Addressing the programme, Md Feroz Iqbal said, “We have to consider our socio-economic, technical knowledge, environmental hazards and geographical location before adapting any new technology.” Praising Bashundhara Group for assisting such seminar, Md Feroz Iqbal said it will not be possible to take immediate decision in this regard while construction material manufacturing companies like Bashundhara Group can assist the RHD in finding out the viability of concrete pavement. He called upon the Bashundhara Group to assist the RHD in conducting a research in this regard, saying that RHD alone cannot do such research for many limitations. In reply, Khandakar Kingshuk Hossain, general manager (sales) of Bashundhara Cement, said Bashundhara Group will play an effective role if it is being considered as a partner of the said research.
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