Tyre Asia – May-June 2018

42 Tyre Asia April/May 2018

GREEN

Fibres from end-of-life tyres have found a new application with the invention of futuristic

self-repairing of roads by Dr Nemkumar Banthia, Professor of Civil Engineering at the

University of British Columbia. He is also CEO of India-Canada Centre for Innovative

Multidisciplinary Partnerships to Accelerate Community Transformation and Sustainability

(IC-IMPACTS). The roads built using this technology are found to last longer and cheaper to

build and maintain. They are more sustainable from an environmental perspective too. He

has built a demonstration project to test this technology in Thondebavi village, 90 km from

Bengaluru (India). The India-born Canadian researcher has developed the road construction

material in such a way that adding scrap tyre fibres to the concrete has shown to improve

its resilience and extend the road’s lifespan. In this interview he explains to Tyre Asia the

benefits of the technology that he has developed which is environmentally sustainable

Nano technology for

self-repairing roads

Can you explain

your research on the

technology that can

be used to make self-

repairing roads?

There are three billion tyres

produced each year around the

world. When recycled, these

tyres generate about three

billion kilograms of fibre. We are

transferring the by-product of one

industry, which would otherwise

be disposed of, to another industry

as a recycled material. In doing so,

we are not only fixing the problem

of tyre disposal, but also reducing

the carbon footprint of the concrete

industry.

In some other fibre types and

concrete formulations (excluding

tyre fibre), research at our SIERA

(Sustainable InfrastructurE

ReseArch) facility at the University

of British Columbia has shown that

cracks can also heal themselves. As

cracks form in the concrete, nano-

coated fibres prevent them from

widening, and produce additional

materials in a high humidity

environment that allow the cracks to

heal. This was the technology used

in the road built in Tondebhavi near

Bengaluru.

It is said that roads built

using this technology last

longer and are cheaper

to build. Can you throw

some light on your

observation?

Because of this self-healing

mechanism (described above), the

concrete developed requires much

less maintenance than the typical

material used to pave roads.

We have developed a concrete

mix that reduces the required

cement component by 60 per cent,

replacing it with locally sourced

flyash. Reducing the amount of

cement significantly increases the

developed material’s sustainability,

as the cement industry currently

contributes around five to seven per

cent of global emissions.

What has been the

outcome of your road

project in Thondebavi

village?

The material was used for the

construction of a road in the

village of Thondebavi. The India-

Canada Centre for Innovative

Multidisciplinary Partnerships

to Accelerate Community

TA News Bureau

Nemkumar Banthia