No more potholes in India with self-healing roads! What are self-healing roads, introduced by the government?

Potholes on the Indian roads have always troubled the drivers and passengers alike. The country holds the second largest road network in the world, but is still facing the problem of potholes on the road. In the year 2022, potholes on the roads became the reason behind over 4,500 road accidents, that killed about 1,800 people.

However, the National Highway Authority of India have come up with a smart solution to combat the issue and brought about a novel technology which may bring a monumental change for the conditions of the roads in India. The option of making use of self-healing materials for road construction is what the National Highway Authority of India is hoping for.

This technology is expected to make a road capable of repairing itself with the help of a unique kind of asphalt. The new composite mixture will then be infused with bitumen and steel fiber. What makes the technology unique and interesting is the fact that in case a gap comes up on the road, the bitumen will actually spread to cover it with steel threads in order to potholes.

Working of the self-healing roads

The officials of the National Highway Authority of India, the technology will actually fix the problem of potholes. The issue of potholes on the roads have led to a wide array of fatalities and road accidents in India. However, what is still not known is the fact as to how long the asphalt will take in order to cover or, in other words, repair a gap or pothole in the road. This technology of asphalt repair actually works by integrating small steel wool fragments in the composition in the bitumen. This is actually the adhesive component in the asphalt. The heating of the steel fibers are facilitated through an induction apparatus at the initial process. This melts and rebinds asphalts.