The Union Transport Minister inaugurated India’s First National Highway constructed using Bio- Bitumen material in Nagpur-Mansar Bypass project of National Highway 44 in Nagpur District.
Key Highlights
This eco-friendly road construction will reduce the cost of road construction, generate employment and curb pollution due to stubble burning.
This is the first national highway in the country built using bitumen made from crop residues -lignin.
This road made from bio-bitumen is 40 percent stronger than a traditional asphalt road, and by mixing 15 percent bio-bitumen in the asphalt, a 1-kilometre-long stretch has been constructed in the Nagpur-Mansar National Highway project.
The trial patch begins near the ‘Kamptee 22Km’.
About Lignin
Lignin is one of the main components of plant cell wall and it is a natural phenolic polymer with high molecular weight, complex composition and structure.
It forms the chief constituent of wood. It is second to cellulose as the most abundant organic material on Earth, though relatively few industrial uses other than as a fuel have been found.
The making of ethanol out of crop stubble, as well as compressed biogas (CBG), generates lignin as a byproduct.
Lignin can be used as a raw material for making bio-bitumen. The bio-bitumen is then blended into the conventional bitumen.
