Roads in our country

There are many different types of roads around the world, which means that there are a huge number of roads made using different materials in various ways. This is a major infrastructure facility in any country and it is a factor that directly affects the economy of a country. Generally, the main purpose of a road is to allow anyone to travel easily between two places. In addition to that, there are roads made for other purposes, for example, if you want to travel quickly and in less time, there are roads made for things like highways. Sometimes with this related purpose, the quality of the road, the speed that can be traveled, the materials used to make the road, etc. will change. It is possible. So today we will see what kind of road systems have been prepared in our country using different raw materials like this.

01. Earth roads

                            Photo by Micah Boerma: https://www.pexels.com/photo/dirt-road-1008739/

02. Gravel roads

                                                        Image by Lisa Johnson from Pixabay

03. Concrete roads

Image by Kamil Hakov from Pixabay

04. Tarmac roads

Image by tookapic from Pixabay

05. Carpet roads / Asphalt roads

                                    

                                                Image by ❄️♡💛♡❄️ Julita ❄️♡💛♡❄️ from Pixabay

These are the road systems that have been seen in Sri Lanka for a long time. 

The first two; That means dirt and gravel roads are hardly seen now. The roads leading to neighboring houses may still be in this condition. But most of the dirt and gravel roads have now been replaced with concrete. In any case, one of the aspects of the giant development done by the government nowadays is the concreting of those roads. So they can't see a gravel road five times, they put concrete. So they won't even see a gravel road five times ahead.

A mixture of black stone and bitumen was used in the main roads of our country about a decade ago. We called them bitumen roads. With the progress of time, those bitumen roads became carpet roads. Asphalt roads are the same. Many highways, intercity roads etc Now there are carpet roads. You can see a beautiful and smooth finish in asphalt roads that is not in tar.Asphalt and concrete roads are the most commonly used roads in Sri Lanka, so we will only talk about them in this article.

An asphalt road has several layers.

01. Subgrade - This is what we usually call subgrade soil. But if it is called subgrade soil, if there is dirt or other debris in that layer, it is removed and used to build the road. If the nature of subgrade soil does not satisfy the required factors, that means If the soil is not strong enough, a thin layer on top of the existing soil is removed and reinforced with suitable soil.

02. Subbase - This layer is applied on top of the subgrade. For this, a higher quality material than the subgrade is used. 6*9 black stones and gravel are added and crushed to make this layer. It is best to use black stones because the entire road is heavy. It is supported by this layer. If this is not in accordance with the planned conditions, the durability and safety of the road will be completely lost. The subbase of a road is like the basement of a building.

03. Base coarse - This layer is laid after the subbase. This makes the road uniform and leveling without piles. In Sri Lanka, ABC is used for this purpose. ABC means aggregate base coarse. It is made from stone powder. It contains stones of various sizes, from the size we use for concrete to black stones. Actually, this is a mixture. When a little water is added to this mixture and it is crushed well, it will stick together and give a somewhat rough finish with a uniform surface with more strength.

04. Surface coarse or wearing coarse - This maintains the smoothness of the road. A binder layer made of bitumen is prepared by applying an asphalt layer with something like gum. After this, we see it as a carpet road.

In addition to these layers, we have to say about these roads, when all these layers are prepared, they are made with a slight slope on both sides so that the rain water drains and is necessary to maintain the friction.

Now let's turn to concrete roads. In this too, the existing soil is strengthened well and the concrete is placed on top of it. There should be a minimum thickness of five inches in this. Otherwise, the fixing strength will not be enough. This net should be used in the middle or below the concrete layer. Otherwise, scratches may occur. To prevent the damage caused by the expansion caused by the sun, it is very valuable to put a regiform strip every few meters and put the concrete.

If we make a comparison about these two roads, the friction of concrete roads is much less, and the durability is also higher. Often used.

Both sides of any of these roads should be prepared in such a way that they do not erode. If the road is made in such a way that there is a drop on both sides, it is completely wrong. For that, a concrete column or drains are used on both sides of a carpet road. In a concrete road, drains or soil are also used. This part is called the shoulder. If the road is built without this part, the layers of the road will be pushed to both sides due to the pressure caused by the traffic. If there is a strong shoulder, the durability of the road is very high. or the drainage system is not seen. Because most of the allocations allocated to build a road are spent on other activities 🤫🤫.It is everyone's right to always find out the quality of the roads being built in their area. Because they are built with our own tax money. This article will be of some help to know how to build the quality of a road. Let's meet again in an article like this.