TCL Guyana Inc (TGI), as part of its strategic plan to increase sales by promoting the use of cement in the construction of roads, partnered with the Ministry of Public Works last weekend to demonstrate the use of the soil cement stabilization technique to effect road repairs.
A release from the company said that the pilot project demonstrating one of the latest technologies in road construction was conducted at the junction of Water and Princes’ Street, Georgetown, where the road had been in a severe state of deterioration.
This was the outcome of a July 2013 meeting with Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn and staff of his ministry where approval was given for pilot projects to be conducted to demonstrate the soil cement stabilization technology, once the rehabilitation works were done on weekends.
It involved asphalt and other reusable material being removed from the deteriorated road. A sub-base was laid by stabilizing the existing material that remained, mixing it with cement and water, rotovating the mixture and compacting it. The base layer with crusher run was also stabilized with cement was then placed above the sub-base. The surface was then sealed using a bitumen sealant. The works were carried out by B & J Civil Works.
TCL Group Civil Engineer, Avaleen Mooloo supervised and gave technical advice on the process. He commented, “I am confident that the newly stabilized road will be stronger than the normal flexible roads. Although some ravelling of the surface is expected due to the constant trafficking of heavy-duty vehicles, coupled with the fact that the asphalt surface had not been installed, we anticipate that the road will stand up longer with time. This strip will be monitored for its longevity by ministry and TGI personnel, as is the norm with demo strips.”
The release said that TGI and its parent company TCL, in promoting the use cement in road construction has held a number of awareness sessions for government officers, students from the University of Guyana and technical institutes, contractors, engineers and some individual private companies. The soil cement stabilization technique and other technologies for using cement in road construction were explained, emphasizing that cement-based roads were more durable and had a substantially lower life-cycle cost.
TGI said that it remains committed to being a reliable supplier of quality cement to the Guyana market, and sees the dissemination of information on best practices in the use of cement and concrete as a major part of its responsibility.
