Fact check: Did NHAI make it to Guinness for laying 75 km highway in 105 hours?

New Delhi, Jun 08: There were several media reports that the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has set a Guinness World Record by completing the longest highway length of 75 kilometers (km) of bituminous concrete in a single lane between Amravati and Akola in the record time of-105 hours and 33 minutes.

Even, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari announced the same on social media.

But has the Guinness World Records recognised NHAI? Several websites and Facebook users claim so.

Well, the claim is true.

In a video message Gadkari had said the record has been made for laying 75 km of bituminous concrete in a single lane 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 and the work started on 3rd June 2022 at 7:27 am and completed on 7th June 2022 at 5 pm, he added.

The Minister also said the bituminous mix of 36,634 MT consisting of 2,070 MT of bitumen was used. He said the project was implemented by 720 workers including a team of independent consultants worked day and night to complete this task.

Gadkari said before this, the Guinness World Record for the longest continuously laid bituminous was for building 25.275 km that was achieved in Doha, Qatar in Feb 2019. The task took 10 days to complete.

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

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

Hence it can be concluded that the media reports being shared with the claim State-owned NHAI created a Guinness World Record for the longest continuously laid bituminous lane of 75 kilometres in 105 hours and 33 minutes is true.

(Written by Madhuri Adnal)