The Corporation of Chennai is to follow the new guidelines stipulated by the Ministry of Surface Road Transport for quality road works in its purview. The Corporation is perturbed by the public complaints that roads in the city were being damaged within a year of relaying them. As per the new guidelines, the Corporation will hold the contractor concerned responsible for the road damages.    

A Corporation official said that they intend to make the new roads qualitatively at par with roads in other metros. The ministry of surface transport has come out with a detailed prescription on road thickness, compaction and proportions for the bitumen mixture for different types of soil and its load bearing capacities, the official said.    

Sand, clay, silt and silt clay types of soils are found in Chennai city. To test the strength of soil, a method called the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) will be used. CBR is a penetration test which will evaluate the strength of the soil under the road. The test is done by measuring the pressure required to penetrate a soil sample with a plunger, made of California limestone, of standard area.