Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh:

Himachal Pradesh will build its first road using Full Depth Reclamation (FDR) technology in Ghumarwin subdivision of this district, minister in the state government Rajesh Dharmani said here on Thursday.

The 7-kilometre Gahar-Naswal road will be constructed at a cost of Rs 5.50 crore and benefit 5,000 people in the area, officials said adding that the FDR technology would reduce the cost by almost 80 per cent.

Roads constructed by using FDR technology are more durable and better for vehicles.

Dharmani, who holds the portfolio of Technical Education Minister, said that in the initial phase, as many as 113 roads of the state will be built using FDR technology.

FDR is a pavement rehabilitation technique in which the full flexible pavement section and a predetermined portion of the underlying materials are uniformly pulverized and blended together to produce a homogeneous stabilized base course.

FDR uses materials from the deteriorated asphalt pavement and with the addition of cement, creates a new stabilized base.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had in October last year instructed the Public Works Department to use FDR technology for construction of 666 km of roads in all the districts under Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).

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