IRC Code 82: Keeping Our Roads Smooth – A Guide to IRC 82-2015 for Bituminous Road Maintenance

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Bituminous roads form the backbone of our national highway and urban infrastructure, but like everything exposed to weather, stress, and time—they wear out. Cracks, potholes, ruts, and surface defects creep in silently and steadily. To ensure long-lasting road performance and user safety, the IRC Code 82 provides a comprehensive guide for maintaining these blacktop surfaces.

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In this blog, we take you through the key insights of the IRC 82-2023 (based on the updated IRC 82:2015), making it easy to understand how road maintenance should be done right—from detection to treatment.

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🚧 What is IRC Code 82?

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IRC Code 82, titled “Code of Practice for Maintenance of Bituminous Road Surfaces”, is published by the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) and serves as a technical manual for engineers, contractors, and authorities engaged in the upkeep of bituminous pavements.

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Originally published in 1982 and revised in 2015, this code has become the go-to standard for:

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• Routine
• Preventive
• Periodic Maintenance of black-topped roads.

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🛣️ Why Road Maintenance Matters

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Timely and strategic maintenance of bituminous roads offers immense benefits:

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• Prevents deterioration
• Reduces vehicle operating costs (VOC)
• Enhances road safety
• Minimizes pollution from poor road conditions
• Delays expensive rehabilitation
• Saves public funds

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The IRC highlights that regular maintenance can give a return of 15–20% on investment—making it not just good engineering but good economics.

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🔍 Types of Maintenance Under IRC 82

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The IRC categorizes maintenance activities into three distinct types:

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1. Routine Maintenance

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• Year-round tasks like pothole patching, crack sealing, and road marking repainting.

• Performed continuously by maintenance teams.

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2. Preventive Maintenance

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• Conducted while the pavement is still in good shape to extend its life.

• Includes treatments like slurry sealing, fog seal, and micro-surfacing.

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3. Periodic Maintenance

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• Scheduled resurfacing and renewal operations.

• Based on traffic volume, road category, and climatic conditions.

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📋 Planning and System Approach

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Effective planning is the core of good road maintenance. IRC 82 recommends a System Approach involving:

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• Visual and instrumented surveys to assess surface conditions.

• Assigning condition ratings (Good, Fair, Poor) based on cracking, rutting, potholes, etc.

• Use of Pavement Maintenance Management Systems (PMMS) to prioritize, plan, and monitor repairs with optimal resource allocation.

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Tools Involved:

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• Straightedge for rut depth
• Skid resistance testers
• Automated survey vehicles for large-scale evaluations

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🧱 Identifying and Treating Distresses

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🔸 Surface Defects:

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• Bleeding, smooth surface, hungry surface, streaking

• Caused by poor mix design or improper binder usage.

• Treatments: Fog seal, sand blotting, micro-surfacing, or milling and relaying.

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🔸 Cracking:

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• Includes alligator, longitudinal, transverse, edge, reflection cracks.

• Immediate sealing is critical to prevent water ingress.

• Treatments: Rubberized bitumen, crack sealing, or overlays.

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🔸 Deformation:

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• Covers rutting, shoving, corrugation, settlement.

• Causes include weak base layers, poor compaction, or overloaded traffic.

• Treatments: Patching, milling, re-compaction, or subsurface drainage improvements.

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🔸 Disintegration:

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• Stripping, ravelling, potholes

• Due to poor adhesion, water intrusion, or aging binder.

• Treatments: Patch repairs, rejuvenating seals, and overlay replacement.

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🧰 Materials, Tools & Safety

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IRC 82 specifies:

• Approved bituminous materials like VG-30, emulsions, and rubberized binders.

• Tools from manual patching kits to modern mechanized pothole machines.

• Guidelines for traffic management, safety signage, and onsite worker safety during maintenance operations.

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🏗️ Preventive and Periodic Maintenance Strategy

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• Preventive action must be taken before the condition rating drops below 2.

• Periodic Renewal should begin at Level 2 serviceability (Roughness: ~2400 mm/km; Skid: SN 50).

• Two condition surveys per year are recommended—before and after monsoon—for highways and urban roads.

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📊 Ratings and Decision Making

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IRC 82 provides rating tables (1 to 3 scale) based on:

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• Cracking percentage
• Potholes depth
• Rutting
• Settlement
• Riding quality (roughness index)

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Decision-making for repair type is then based on:

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• Overall condition
• Severity of distress
• Road category (NH, MDR, Urban)
• Available budget

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🧠 Conclusion: A Proactive, Scientific Approach

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IRC Code 82 isn't just about fixing potholes—it's about maintaining roads proactively, scientifically, and sustainably. By following this guide, road engineers can ensure smoother, safer roads and optimize taxpayer money. As India builds smarter infrastructure, bituminous road maintenance guided by IRC 82-2023 will play a vital role in longevity and safety. From pothole repair to micro-surfacing, this code empowers engineers to maintain quality consistently.

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RoadVision AI is revolutionizing the way we build and maintain infrastructure by leveraging the power of AI in roads to enhance road safety and optimize road management. By utilizing cutting-edge roads AI technology, the platform enables the early detection of potholes, cracks, and other road surface issues, ensuring timely maintenance and improved road conditions. With a mission to create smarter, safer, and more sustainable roads, RoadVision AI ensures full compliance with IRC Codes, empowering engineers and stakeholders to make data-driven decisions that reduce costs, minimize risks, and improve the overall transportation experience.