LUCKNOW: Planning and constructing pavements required climate consciousness in engineers, said Arvind Swamy, professor at IIT Delhi, during the discussion on disaster resilient road infrastructure, at the 81st Indian Roads Congress session here on Sunday.
“Multi-hazard scenarios will have cascading effects,” said Swamy, elaborating on the factors that impact roads and pavements. Considering India ranked second after the United States in road length, many parts of the country would be affected by the fallouts of climate change - like melting ice, rising sea levels, flash floods and landslides, he added, quoting 2020 CIA data. Thus, he stressed the importance of making pavements that would be resistant to disasters imminent as a result of climate change.
According to Swamy, one of the guest speakers on the panel and an expert on pavement design and construction, there are four main factors that ought to be taken into account when planning pavements - the traffic, the foundation, the climate and the properties of the materials used. When planning pavements, engineers must also take into account the worst-case scenario in terms of air temperature, so that possible fluctuations in the same cannot affect the streets negatively.
It was also noted that since passenger traffic far surpassed freight traffic in India, “climate change will have significant effects all over the country,” said Swamy.
{{/usCountry}}It was also noted that since passenger traffic far surpassed freight traffic in India, “climate change will have significant effects all over the country,” said Swamy.
{{/usCountry}}Two others on the panel also spoke of disaster management with respect to mountainous highways, and the Arunachal Pradesh experience respectively.
Chairperson of the discussion, senior IRC member MC Bansal also spoke to the importance of disaster resilient pavements, while also acknowledging that it was not a permanent solution but an important one for the near future.