Guwahati: A faculty of NIT Calicut, Department of Civil Engineering, has devised a simulating machine that will be used for finding durability of bituminous mixes.

Dr Hilol Chakravarty told Business Northeast that the machine will check the durability of the material that is required for road construction.

The 32-year-old academician and researcher informed that this work was started on the basis of reviewing literature and discussions with engineers from Bihar. However, this machine can be used in all the tropical conditions. Based on the sample of material the machine can find out the amount of moisture damage in it and predict how good the bituminous mix is. This can help to find out how long the road will last. Accordingly, the concerned authorities can take suitable steps to improve the material standard.

He started it 5-6 years ago, but it ended a year back only. The machine has recently got a patent too.

Chakravarty said it is now the idea patent. They are currently discussing the commercialisation part. They are expecting that this aspect will take at least a year for commercialisation.

The cost of the machine is yet to be decided.

“It is a totally new concept in India and work is done. He informed that the way the testing has been done in India was completely different than that done in the United States of America and Canada. They are taking a different condition. We are trying to stimulate in tropical conditions,” said Chakravarty, who completed BTech from Jorhat Engineering College and MTech and PhD from NIT Patna.

The Dean of NIT Patna Professor Sanjeev Sinha informed that the cost of making the machine is also very less.

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