Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the Dasna-Hapur section of Delhi-Meerut Expressway (package-3) in UP’s Pilakhuwa today. Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways Gen (Retd) V K Singh, Deputy Chief Minister of UP Shri Keshav Chandra Maurya, Lok Sabha member Shri Rajendra Agrawal, Rajya Sabha member Shri Anil Agrawal and several MLAs were present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Gadkari said the Delhi-Meerut Highway will bring prosperity to the region, and will help in decongesting the National Capital Region. It will also lead to reduction in travel time by more than 1 hour, and bring significant reduction in pollution level. He said, highways and infrastructure projects are directly related to the development of an area.

Shri Gadkari announced that the Ghazipur-Dasna section of this road (package 2) will be completed in next three months, and the entire Delhi-Meerut Expressway will be ready for commuters within six months.

Gen (Retd) V K Singh lauded the efforts of engineers and construction workers in completing a strong, wide and very useful road in such a short time. He said, the government has embarked upon an ambitious infrastructure development plan for the NCR, which will change the development scenario of the entire area.

Shri Keshav Chandra Maurya assured that the State government will accord priority to solving the problems before the highways sector, as these are important for upliftment of people in villages and suburbs.

The 82-kilometre long Delhi-Meerut Expressway connects Delhi with Meerut in western Uttar Pradesh. A sum of Rs 8346 crore is likely to be spent on the project. The third package from Dasna to Hapur in Ghaziabad is over 22 kilometre long. Its civil cost is Rs 1058 crore. This 6-lane section has 2+2 lane service roads on either sides, and a 4.68-kilometre long 6-lane elevated corridor at Pilkhuwa. It has seven new bridges, a flyover at Hapur bypass, 11 vehicular underpasses, two pedestrian underpasses, two foot overbridges, six major junctions and 105 minor junctions.

The 4.68-kilometre long 6-lane elevated corridor at Pilkhuwa has been conferred Gold Medal for innovation in construction technology, and has also been awarded as outstanding concrete structure of western UP.

The Delhi-Meerut Expressway project is being implemented in four packages – (i) an 8.72 km long 6-lane expressway/ 8-lane NH 24 from Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi to Ghazipur border, already completed in June 2018, (ii) a 19.28 km long 6-lane expressway/ 8-lane NH 24 from Ghazipur border to Dasna in UP, (iii) 22.23 km long 6-lane NH 24 with 2+2 lane service roads on either sides from Dasna to Hapur in UP, and (iv) a 31.78 km long greenfield 6-lane expressway from Hapur to Meerut.

Shri Nitin Gadkari also launched the use of plastic waste in National Highways construction at Delhi-Ghaziabad border. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Is encouraging the use of waste plastic in highway construction, especially on National Highways within 50 km periphery of urban areas that have a population of 5 lakh or more. A stretch of road has recently been constructed using waste plastic on NH-48 near Dhaula Kuan. A portion of Delhi- Meerut expressway and Gurugram- Sohna road have also been planned for construction, using plastic waste.

Plastic waste has already been used in wearing courses of National Highways construction on the pilot basis in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The technology used is in compliance with the guidelines of Indian Roads Congress for the use of waste plastic in Hot Bituminous Mixes in wearing courses. Construction of 1 kilometre of 4-lane highway can help in disposal of approximately 7 tonnes of waste plastic.

Laboratory as well as field performance studies carried out in India have identified many advantages of using waste plastic in bituminous mix for road constructions such as; Higher resistance to deformation, Increased durability and improved fatigue life and Improved stability and strength. This also reduces consumption of bitumen in the mixes. Besides, this process opens up an avenue for environment friendly disposal of waste plastic. Adding value to waste plastic will go a long way in curbing the menace of plastic littering, besides helping in disposal of tonnes of plastic waste in the years to come. NHAI has also planned taking up the task of long term performance monitoring of National highways using plastic waste with bituminous mixes for evaluation of pavement performance. This will bring confidence amongst the practicing engineers.

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