India sets Guinness World Record for laying highway in 5 days

India has entered the Guinness World Records for constructing the longest piece of road where bituminous concrete is laid continuously.

The plan of building 75 kilometres long stretch of bituminous concrete in a single lane on National Highway 53 was materialised by the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) consultants and concessionaire in collaboration with Rajpath Infracon Pvt Ltd and Jagdish Kadam.

The road was laid on a section of NH-53 between the Amravati and Akola districts of Maharashtra.

About 800 employees of NHAI and 720 workers of Rajpath Infracon started the project at 7:27 am while it was at 5 pm on June 7 when the laborious effort came to an end after 105 hours and 33 minutes. India Guinness World Record

Emphasizing the importance of the newly constructed road, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said “Amravati to Akola section is part of the national highway 53, which is an important east-west corridor. It connects major cities like Kolkata, Raipur, Nagpur, Akola, Dhule, and Surat. It passes through a mineral-rich region of our country. I have been informed that nearly 35 per cent of work is completed on this stretch, from Amravati to Akola, and nearly 65 per cent in Akola to Chikli section. Therefore, with this achievement, there will be a great relief to commuters, the movement of traffic will be smooth, and the travel time will be reduced.” India Guinness World Record Road

Previously, the Guinness World Record for building the longest stretch of bituminous concrete road was achieved by the Public Works Authority, Ashghal, Qatar for a 27.25-kilometre road which was part of the Al Khor Expressway and took 10 days to be completed.

About NHAI

National Highways Authority of India was set up by an act of the Parliament, NHAI Act, 1988 “An Act to provide for the constitution of an Authority for the development, maintenance and management of national highways and for matter connected therewith or incidental thereto”. It has been entrusted with the National Highways Development Project, which along with other minor projects, has vested in it 50329 km of National Highways for development, maintenance and management.

Source: Agencies