Date:31/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/31/stories/2008053160160400.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Cold milling machine initiated

Staff Reporter

A layer of road will be removed before re-laying

— Photo: Chennai Corporation

NEW PROCESS : The cold milling machine in operation on North Fort Road near Esplanade on Friday.

Chennai: The Chennai Corporation on Friday initiated the use of a cold milling machine to remove the surface layer of roads before re-laying them.

Mayor M. Subramanian said the thickness of roads increases over time when they are re-laid. Through cold milling, a layer of road would be removed before it was re-laid so that the grade and slope of a road remained the same.

City residents had complained that increasing road thickness meant that the buildings on either side of the road seemed to ‘sink’, resulting in rain water run-off flooding the homes during the monsoon.

Cold milling was taken up on North Fort Road near Esplanade on Friday. Asphalt picked up during the milling process can be recycled for road work. One bus route road in each of the 10 Corporation zones would be re-laid after the cold milling process this year, the Mayor said.

Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni said the cold milling machine would be used to remove only about 20 mm of road surface so as to prevent damage to the road foundation. The technology was tried a few years ago but was given up when the cold milling machine scraped off several layers and damaged the foundation.