India is taking steps towards modernised and efficient infrastructure as it celebrates the opening of the first section of its ambitious highway linking New Delhi to Mumbai. With a length of 1,386 km, this roller coaster will become the longest in India and significantly reduce travel time between the two major cities, making the entire journey only 12 hours. The historic moment was marked with the inauguration of the 246km stretch of the highway, which connects Delhi to Lalsot in rajasthan state.

The inauguration of these stretch marks covers multiple states and even more cities and marks a new milestone. Mudit Garg, Project Director, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), reveals: "This is the first highway to pass through the states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra and includes major cities such as Gurugram, Jaipur, Kota, Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Ujjain, Indore, Vadodara, Surat, Ahmedabad and Mumbai." It further connects to key infrastructure such as Jawaharlal Nehru Port.

The construction of a 246 km motorway is no easy task. The road was designed using the prefecture sidewalk design with a life cycle of 50 years. "The bituminous layer is 300mm thick, and the layer is so smooth that the quality can rival a concrete road," Garg adds.

To further improve the quality of the road, distilled dense bituminous macadam (DBM) was used in the bituminous layer along with mastic asphalt. The mastic asphalt plays an important role in ensuring that the bearing surface retains its smoothness and offers commuters an easy ride.