Eastern Expressway Overlay — eight kilometres of pavement

The Problem

The Eastern Expressway serves as a critical freight corridor for the NCR region, carrying in excess of 40,000 PCU daily. By 2023, eight kilometres of pavement between two junctions had deteriorated beyond the point of bituminous patching — rutting, alligator cracking, and base failure were widespread, with rehabilitation intervals dropping to under three years.

Our brief was to specify and execute a permanent overlay system that could withstand the heavy freight loading, complete within the budget envelope, and minimize traffic disruption.

How We Approached It

Following a detailed pavement condition assessment, we specified a 100mm RCC base course topped with a 40mm trimix (ironite-rich) wearing course. RCC provides the structural capacity; trimix provides the abrasion and impact resistance needed for heavily-loaded freight traffic.

Execution was staged in 400m sections, with traffic diverted to a single carriageway during each phase. Concrete was supplied from on-site batch plants to maintain consistent quality and pace. Daily compressive-strength testing kept QC rigorous.

Specification

• Base course: M40 grade RCC, 100mm thickness, OPC 43 cement with 20mm aggregate
• Wearing course: Trimix (ironite-modified concrete), 40mm thickness, designed for 8% abrasion loss maximum
• Reinforcement: 8mm mild steel dowel bars at 300mm centres for joint load transfer
• Jointing: Premoulded expansion joints at 60m intervals; saw-cut contraction joints at 6m intervals
• Curing: Wet Hessian and 7-day water curing cycle per IS 456

The Result

The overlay was completed on schedule and within budget. Post-completion monitoring at six months shows negligible rutting under the design freight loading, and the surface is expected to deliver a 15-year service life before any major maintenance intervention.

The success of this project has led to engagement on two additional expressway overlay programs scheduled for 2026.