Union Minister Nitin Gadkari today released country's first ever Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) which will guide road engineers and policy makers about road expansion.
The manual known as 'Indo-HCM' has been developed by CSIR-CRRI on the basis of an extensive, country-wide study of the traffic characteristics on different categories of roads like single lane, two-lane, multi-lane urban roads, inter- urban highways and expressways and the associated intersections on these roads, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said in a statement.
The road transport and shipping minister "released India's first ever Highway Capacity Manual. The manual will guide Road Engineers and Policy Makers about Road Expansion", it said.
The study involved seven academic institutions including IIT-Roorkee, Mumbai and Guwahati, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, Indian Institute of Engineering and Science and Technology, Shibpur, Sardar Vallabhai Patel National Institute of Technology, Surat and Anna University, Chennai.
The manual lays down guidelines for when and how to expand or manage different types of roads and their intersections and the level of services to be put in place. It has been developed based on the unique nature and diversity of traffic on Indian roads.
"While countries like the US, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan developed their own Highway Capacity Manuals long time back, this is the first time that the manual has been developed in India," it said.
The minister has expressed hope that the long awaited manual would help in the scientific planning and expansion of road infrastructure in the country, the statement said.
Gadkari also underscored the need to popularise the use of new material like fly-ash, plastic, oil slag and municipal waste in road construction, saying that scientists and the media should also play an active role in this regard.
He also called upon researchers and engineers to expedite formulation of a good design for safe and effective speed breakers for Indian roads.
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