National highways in the country will be made of concrete and will use cement instead of bitumen to reduce construction costs, minister for roadways Nitin Gadkari said on Monday after flagging off the road safety week from January 11 to 17.
He played down safety concerns from such a shift. The Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the first cement-concrete highway built in 2002, has reported many instances of vehicle tyres bursting due to heat. When asked about this, Gadkari said, "Tyre technology has changed. What you are talking about was between 1995 and 2000." He added that the government can think of bitumen surfacing on such roads if the problem arises.