Guinness World Record: NHAI lays 75km highway in 105 hrs; breaks Qatar's record

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has created a Guinness World Record for laying 75 km of bituminous concrete in a single lane on NH53 in 105 hours and 33 minutes, says road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari.

Gadkari, in a video message, says the NHAI created a world record that was certified by the Guinness World Records, commemorating the 75 years of India’s independence and marking the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Proud Moment For The Entire Nation! Feel very happy to congratulate our exceptional Team @NHAI_Official, Consultants & Concessionaire, Rajpath Infracon Pvt Ltd & Jagdish Kadam, on achieving the Guinness World Record (@GWR) of laying 75 Km continuous Bituminous Concrete Road in a single lane on NH-53 section between Amravati and Akola. I would specially thank our Engineers & Workers who toiled day & night to achieve this extraordinary feat," says Gadkari via a video message on Twitter.

“A proud moment as India commemorates Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. NHAI achieves a Guinness World Record by constructing 75 km of continuous bituminous concrete in a single lane on NH 53 between Amrawati and Akola.” NHAI says in a tweet.

Exhorting everyone who contributed to the project, Gadkari says the vision of New India is being "built on your perseverance & sweat". "The whole nation is proud. Keep up the great work!".

He says the record has been made for laying 75 km of bituminous concrete in a single lane road on NH-53 between Amrawati to Akola districts in 105 hours and 33 minutes.

"The total length of the 75 km of single-lane continuous bituminous concrete road is equivalent to 37.5 km of two-lane paved shoulder road," says the minister, adding that the work started on 3rd June 2022 at 7:27 am and was completed on 7th June 2022 at 5 pm.

The bituminous mix of 36,634 MT consisting of 2,070 MT of bitumen was used in the construction of the road. Around 720 workers, including a team of independent consultants, worked day and night to complete this task, the minister adds.

Before this, the Guinness World Record for the longest continuously laid bituminous was for building a 25.275 km road, which was achieved in Doha, Qatar, in February 2019. The task had taken 10 days to complete.

"This record was previously achieved by Public Works Authority - ASHGHAL (Qatar) on 27th February, 2019. The road was part of the Al-Khor Expressway and it had taken 10 days to complete the task," says Gadkari.

The Amrawati to Akola section is part of NH 53, which is an important east-east corridor that connects cities like Kolkata, Raipur, Nagpur and Surat. Once completed, this stretch will play a major role in easing the movement of traffic and freight on this route, says the minister.

Gadkari also congratulated all the engineers, contractors, consultants, and workers from NHAI and Raj Path Infracon Pvt. Ltd. for the efficient implementation of the project, which helped in the successful completion of the world record.