RDA short of Iranian bitumen

Receives alternatives from China, Malaysia, Oman, Thailand

Bitumen stocks required for the Road Development Authority (RDA) have reached zero after supplies from Iran stopped in February, seriously affecting road construction work, particularly the Central Expressway’s Third Section from Pothuhera to Rambukkana, RDA Director General H H N A Hettiarachchi said.

Responding to questions from The Daily Morning yesterday (5), Hettiarachchi said that the RDA had previously used 100 per cent Iranian bitumen and had used the remaining stocks in the market after the supplies stopped. “The market has not received any Iranian bitumen since February. We used the stocks that the market had, and now, we have none left,” he said. He said that the RDA is looking at alternative sources, including China, Thailand, Malaysia and Oman, and the RDA knows that bitumen suppliers of Sri Lanka had already placed orders, with small quantities having started to arrive around the middle of the last two months. “Our specifications are based 100% on Iranian bitumen. However, we are looking at alternatives from China, Thailand, Malaysia and Oman. We have modified our designs and are planning to use other types of bitumen where possible,” Hettiarachchi said. “We have modified the designs based on research and development solutions to make them suitable for use with the alternative bitumen,” he said. Hettiarachchi said that the RDA had completed the necessary design changes and had begun receiving small quantities of alternative bitumen from Thailand, China, Malaysia and Oman.

When queried as to whether the shortage had affected expressways under construction, Hettiarachchi said that most had not yet reached the surfacing stage. However, he said that the Central Expressway’s Third Section from Pothuhera to Rambukkana had been affected to a considerable extent as it had reached the surfacing stage but he expects that the delay can be caught up. “We are continuing with other work on the project for the time being,” he said.