Why roads in India fail prematurely especially during monsoons?

If somebody asks the aam aadmi (common man) in India this question, the majority response would be: Indian highway engineers intentionally construct road in such a way so that it keeps on failing prematurely and they keep on getting fat budget for maintenance (pothole repair) and resurfacing year after year. Whereas lack of quality control is a contributing factor, there is a major fundamental engineering problem which the Indian public does not know. Of some ten types of bituminous paving mixes used in India, seven are open graded (water-trapping) mixes. Examples: Bituminous Macadam (BM); Semi Dense Bituminous Concrete (SDBC); Dense Bituminous Macadam (DBM) Grading 1; Premix Carpet (PMC); and Mixed Seal Surfacing (MSS). The Built-Up Spray Grout (BUSG) is no different. The remaining three are dense graded (desirable) mixes. Examples are: Dense Bituminous Macadam (DBM) Grading 2; Bituminous Concrete (BC) Grading 1; and Bituminous Concrete (BC) Grading 2. The water-trapping mixes also happen to be initially cheaper than the dense graded mixes and therefore are used commonly. (It does not matter if they generally last for 1-2 years compared to dense graded mixes which may last for 7-8 years. In other words, they are really very expensive based on life cycle costs.) Water is enemy number one of bitumen. That is why, water-trapping mixes fail prematurely especially during monsoons. All across India, the deadly combination of BM and SDBC is being used brazenly. PMC is also used extensively. Most developed countries in the world generally have three dense graded bituminous mixes in their specifications: one each for base course, binder course and wearing course. And they have good durable roads despite heavy rainfall sometimes throughout the year. It is simply amazing as to why Indian highway engineers need additional seven water-trapping, problematic bituminous mixes for road construction/resurfacing? Obviously, some engineers are technically ignorant about the fundamental principle of highway engineering to keep the water away from bituminous mixes. Others keep on using these water-trapping bituminous mixes knowing fully well about their impending premature failure resulting in fat budgets for pothole repairs/resurfacing. This is despite the fact that two technical papers have been presented on this topic and discussed at the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) sessions after publication in IRC journals. These two papers give comprehensive, easy to read, technical, and economical justifications to ban the seven water-trapping mixes such as BM, SDBC and PMC. Interested Indian highway engineers can access and download these two IRC papers at the following links: Kandhal, P.S., V.K. Sinha and A. Veeraragavan. A Critical Review of Bituminous Mixes Used in India. Journal of the Indian Roads Congress, Volume 69-2, July-September 2008. Kandhal, P.S., A. Veeraragavan, and R.K. Jain. Guidelines for Long Lasting Bituminous Pavements. Journal of the Indian Roads Congress, Volume 71-3, 2010.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/19380138/A-Critical-Review-of-Bituminous-MixesUsed-in-India http://www.scribd.com/doc/44644959/Guidelines-for-Long-Lasting-BituminousPavements-in-India The following link to a technical note explains how the open graded Premix Carpet (PMC) is causing havoc on city streets and rural roads. It is only suitable for PMGSY roads outside village areas. http://www.scribd.com/doc/37020149/Premix-Carpet-is-Killing-Our-Roads-inTowns-and-Cities Unfortunately, the continuation of these seven water-trapping bituminous mixes in MORTH and IRC specifications gives them undesirable technical legitimacy and excuse for continual use by highway engineers across India. Those responsible for these specifications should either (a) delete these undesirable bituminous mixes or (b) publish an IRC paper justifying the use of these seven mixes on technical grounds (rebutting one by one all technical and economical arguments advanced in the aforementioned two published IRC papers). Vague responses such as: these mixes are good for India; India cannot afford expensive mixes (although the cheap mixes may generally fail within 1-2 years and are really expensive based on life cycle costs); there are success stories (if 80% projects fail prematurely and 20% survive, the latter cannot be called success story); etc.; etc. Based on past experience and recent deliberations (2012) of the IRC Flexible Pavement Committee, there is not much hope either of these two actions would occur in the near future. Therefore, it is up to young, rational highway engineers of India to challenge the old-timers who apparently have hijacked and sealed the fate of bituminous roads in India. [Note: Only the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) which maintains some 6,000 km of roads has banned all 7 water-trapping bituminous mixes and has used only dense graded bituminous mixes since 2010. JDA uses DBM Grading 2 for base course; BC Grading 1 for binder course; and BC Grading 2 for wearing course in new construction as well as resurfacing. This has resulted in smooth and durable roads, which remain largely pothole free after bearing the brunt of the last three heavy monsoons. Example of the JDA needs to be replicated across urban and rural India if good roads are desirable.]