25 days on,sea link top layer starts to peel off

The road surface,laid down using Dutch technology,has been designed to withstand the monsoon and bear high-density traffic. Despite that,uneven surfaces have appeared at a few spots,mainly at the Worli-end,merely 25 days after the sea link was opened to traffic.

Sharad Sabnis,Chief Engineer,Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation,said, “The surface is not cracking. It’s uneven at a few spots at the Worli-end. The polymer wearing course is coming off due to traction. The contractor has been asked to look into the matter and resurface it.”

The Polymer Modified Bitumen (PmB) has unique physical properties and is used for structural and wearing courses to improve both initial and long-term performance,provide increased service life and save maintenance costs. According to Sabnis,the main cause of the 4-mm-thick wearing course coming off is vehicles moving at high speed applying breaks at the exit of the sea link. “If not repaired now,these spots would develop into potholes. But it is not a serious issue and the contractor will repair the surface,” Sabnis said.

D K Sharma,Chief Engineer,Hindustan Construction Company—the sea link’s contractor,said,“There are some depressions on a particular stretch,but we are carrying out regular maintenance work to prevent it from developing into potholes.”

Since maintenance work on the road surface cannot be carried out during the day without stopping traffic,the contractor has to undertake the maintenance work from midnight to dawn.