In the CW July cover story, we mentioned the increasing focus of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) on promoting the use of alternative materials to cement and steel in the construction of roads. A recent development in this context is the Green National Highways Corridor Project, which essentially involves the construction of highways using local materials, industrial and mining waste, recycled bituminous and granular layers and plastic waste materials, with the aim to conserve energy and natural resources and reduce the country’s carbon footprint.

As for construction techniques, green highways will necessitate bio-engineering solutions, water conservation and harvesting techniques, climate resilience techniques, solar lighting, and so on, observes Vishwas Jain, Managing Director, Consulting Engineers Group. On the equipment front, green highway projects will need recyclers, milling machines and stabilisers (the stabilisation of soils reduces the need for crushed stone).