Patna, April 5: Implementation of new technologies and optimum management of funds are necessary to boost road construction in the state.

These were among many issues discussed at a seminar on “Concrete roads: rural and urban areas of Bihar” at a city hotel today organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Bihar State Council in association with the state government and supported by ACC Limited.

Rural works department minister Bhim Singh and road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav inaugurated the seminar. On the occasion, CII Bihar State Council chairman Nirmallya Ghoshal and Vivek Chawla, chief executive, East, ACC Limited addressed the gathering.

The seminar offered a unique blend of theory and practices where experts from across the country shared their methods such as the cell-filled concrete roads that has brought down the initial cost of roads in Karnataka and the use of non-woven geotextiles as interlayers in concrete pavement system — a kind of popular concrete roads in Germany. Officials from the road construction department, the rural works department, the state road development corporation, Bihar State Bridge Corporation, National Highways Authority of India, central public works department and others took part in the discussion on contemporary trends in road construction.

“The government has typically awarded highway pavement construction contracts based upon initial costs. Asphalt pavement or bitumen roads are often selected because they are less expensive than concrete,” said B.R. Srinivas Murthy, member of the task force, Karnataka chief minister’s office. Murthy also spoke of the new technology of white topping used in concrete pavements in the US.

“The past five years have witnessed revolutionary changes, where almost 15-16km of roads were constructed each day. Schemes by the state government like mobile inspector software help in monitoring road construction. Moreover, the department is also sending its engineers to other states and foreign countries to learn about new technologies,” said Pratyaya Amrit, secretary of the state road construction department.

B. Rajendra, secretary of the state rural works department, said 18,775 km of roads have been constructed under Mukhyamantri Gram Yojana and Seema Kshetra Vikas Yojana and the present government is also willing to boost the public-private partnership in this sector. “We have much to do in the road construction sector but the problem remains with resources and funds. Concrete roads are better because of less maintenance and long life. The problem is that it is not so useful for digging to lay sewer lines and cables. Ours is a developing state, we can’t afford expensive technology,” Yadav said.