New Delhi: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has created a new Guinness World Record by laying 75 km of bituminous concrete in a single lane on NH53 in 105 hours and 33 minutes.
In a video message, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari said commemorating 75 years of India’s independence and under the aegis of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, NHAI has created a world record that was certified by the Guinness World Records.
The total length of the 75 km of single-lane continuous bituminous concrete road is equivalent to 37.5 km of two-lane paved shoulder road. The work started on June 3, 2022, at 7:27 am and was completed on June 7, 2022, at 5 pm, he added.
The bituminous mix of 36,634 MT consisting of 2,070 MT of bitumen was used. He said the project was implemented by 720 workers including a team of independent consultants who worked day and night to complete this task, said an official statement.
Before this, the Guinness World Record for the longest continuously laid bituminous was for building 25.275 km was achieved in Doha, Qatar in February 2019. The task took 10 days to complete.
The Minister said the Amrawati to Akola section is part of NH 53. This is an important east-east corridor, which connects major cities like Kolkata, Raipur, Nagpur and Surat. He said that once completed, this stretch will play a major role in easing the movement of traffic and freight on this route.