India - National Highways Thread (Photos/Videos only)

[ajithv]

Bypass at Duvvur towards Nandyal





Shot Using Canon PowerShot SX40 HS on 27.11.2012

[ajithv]

Shot Using Canon PowerShot SX40 HS on 27.11.2012

[ajithv]

Realignment after Duvvur Bypass towards Chagalamarri



Shot Using Canon PowerShot SX40 HS on 27.11.2012

[tall_dreams]

NH2 on the outskirts of Burdwan,WB

[rsrikanth05]

Looks neat!.

[wO_Ow]

[tall_dreams]

Why are they ignoring the completion of nh 3 ( Indore to Jhansi) and nh 6?

[tall_dreams]

Originally Posted by rsrikanth05

Looks neat!.

Durgapur Expressway, particularly between Burdwan and Dankuni, is in immaculate condition, and it has a US Intersate look to it with wide grassy patch between the carriageways.







image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr

[rsrikanth05]

Smashing!

[megacity30]

tall_dreams... agree with u... these highways have a US interstate / Canadian inter-provincial feel to them. Very nice indeed!

What's the total length of highways + expressways in India that have at least been 4-laned?

4-laning all state highways and major district-level roads would catapult India's GDP (PPP) to significantly high levels.

[tall_dreams]

The current highway design in India that have a raised flower bed as a divider does not gel well with a conventional highway look. These highway looks more like city avenues than highways and in the middle of nowhere they certainly look out of place. Also maintaining these flowering plants require considerable amount of money and manpower. If land is a limiting factor in having wide grassy medians they could have adopted concrete barriers or rail guard barriers. Those would have been a one time investment and have also looked better.

[m_1973]

Flower bed is faulty design and NHAI must change it. Flower bed does not help drives as many pedestrians/animals try to cross the haighway and driver most of time fail to see the pedestrian / animals resulting in accidents. The NH designs are very bad in terms of not providing safe passage for people living along the highways.

Originally Posted by tall_dreams

The current highway design in India that have a raised flower bed as a divider does not gel well with a conventional highway look. These highway looks more like city avenues than highways and in the middle of nowhere they certainly look out of place. Also maintaining these flowering plants require considerable amount of money and manpower. If land is a limiting factor in having wide grassy medians they could have adopted concrete barriers or rail guard barriers. Those would have been a one time investment and have also looked better.

[rsrikanth05]

The purpose of those flowers are to avoid the beam from oncoming vehicles.
Pedestrians shouldn't be crossing the road everywhere and anywhere/

[tall_dreams]

concrete barriers can also help to avoid beams so as a wide median.

[Nelaturi]

Thanks Wo_ow for posting the NHAI maps on #6083. Good find.

Coming to the NH4 (Old Madras Road) between Bangalore and Chennai, the stretch up to Mulbagal has been upgraded to a great highway a year ago. Well planned and executed with a great surface to drive on. Relatively straight too, compared to the NH7/NH46 through Hosur, Krishnagiri and Vellore.

However, the stretch of NH4 beyond Mulbagal, passing through Palmaner, Chitoor and Ranipet continues to be the old, meandering NH4, passing through the towns. This slows down the travel, as one has to negotiate town traffic. Past ranipet, it reconnects with NH46.

Given the ever increasing commerce between these two major cities, NHAI should take up the upgrading of these portions too. I read somewhere that such an redesigned and upgraded NH4 would cut down the distance by about 70 kms, which is a fantastic saving in fuel and time.

I also read about a planned expressway which will be a totally new route roughly parallel to this one.

Is anyone aware of such plans by NHAI?

[barrykul]

That NHAI map has the colors reversed for completed vs under implementation. I would expected Green for completed and Red for under implementation (or Yellow). This change in color shows how convoluted the NHAI really is.

Durgapur Expressway is well made. Broad lanes.

Originally Posted by Nelaturi

I also read about a planned expressway which will be a totally new route roughly parallel to this one.

I know a person intimately familiar with this project. A Malaysian company was hired to implement the project. The alignment is almost a straight line from Bluru to Chennai. The road surface is designed for high speed, proper banking, lane size etc. However, there are a lot of land acquisition problems, needs an "Eminent Domain" law to enforce. Of course there is the usual "grease the squeaky wheel".

[philebus]

Originally Posted by rsrikanth05

The purpose of those flowers are to avoid the beam from oncoming vehicles.
Pedestrians shouldn't be crossing the road everywhere and anywhere/

Yep, flowers and vegetation have been found to be better light filters than competing methods.

Additionally, highway vegetation and horticulture have been found to offer many other desirable features. For example,

1. Erosion management. Dry land and median without grass or flowers release dust or sand in windy conditions that limit visibility. The dust and sand can also be abrasive to intake filters and top coat of cars and other vehicles. During heavy monsoon rains, the uncovered soil can wash out and run on top of the highway/expressway, making it slippery. Vegetation helps prevent erosion.

2. Vegetation, grass, flowery plants reduces traffic noise by acting as absorbers, dampers, and by reducing echo. You will hear more echo in dry canyons, than in valleys carpeted with gardens or forest. Less noise and echo reduces driver fatigue, and the traffic is less annoying to community around highways.

3. Vegetation can improve contrast and background, making highway signs easier to read in some locations.

4. Vegetation and flowers make driving more pleasant, provide a change in scenery, and reduce psychological monotony - important for truck drivers etc.

5. In places such as Singapore, which is very densely populated, flowers and vegetation along 4/6/8/10 lane highways passing next to urban area, make the city pretty, the drive aesthetic, views from skyscrapers more attractive, improving real estate values and general urban-nature harmony.

For more reasons, see this manual on vegetation and highways from one of the states in USA. Many states here, and EU nations have similar design guidelines. See: http://www.dotd.la.gov/highways/main...Management.pdf

[philebus]

tall_dreams,

Those pics look like any world class expressway. India has come a long way in improving its infrastructure in last 20 years.

[tall_dreams]

Originally Posted by philebus

tall_dreams,

Those pics look like any world class expressway. India has come a long way in improving its infrastructure in last 20 years.

I wonder if the same highway would have looked world class if it had a flower bed median like other Indian highways. I think it is the wide grassy median that give the world class look.

[philebus]

In many parts of the world, regionally adapted grasses are the best option. In others, particularly tropical areas, the options are many, including native flowering plants.

Flowering plants are part of highways in Provence, French Riviera, Monaco, Italy etc; these highways are a delight to drive on. Same story in parts of The Netherlands, Belgium, Japan, northeastern Australia. China too.

Proper vegetation integrated with highways can be valuable. Careless planting can become a problem (e.g. non-native trees whose branches typically break in high winds).

Perhaps, this is getting OT for this photo/video forum. For more discussion on pros and cons of vegetation and flowering plants along highways/expressways, see

Roadside vegetation for rural/agricultural pollinators
The value of native plant vegetation alongside highways