In a bid to boost domestic consumption of rubber, Malaysia is preparing to construct rubberised roads across the country this year, the New Straits Times reports.
Plantation industries and commodities ministry minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong said the decision to go with rubber will help shore up the commodity, which has been battered by falling prices. He said that the ministry has been directed to build rubberised roads within the next few months by prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is concerned over the livelihoods of smallholders.
“There are about 1.2 million smallholders in the country (550,000 smallholders in the palm oil industry, 440,000 in the rubber industry and 60,000 in the pepper industry). We need to support our smallholders, who might otherwise shift away from natural rubber due to weak prices,” he told reporters at an event last weekend.
Although the initial cost of building rubberised roads is 16% higher than normal bitumen-based asphalt, Mah said maintenance costs in the long run will be cheaper. He added that rubberised roads are more durable and can bear heavier loads.
The roads will be made using rubber cup lumps, or naturally-coagulated latex, which will be processed into bituminous cup lumps and then mixed into asphalt. The use of cup lumps – which are obtained directly from rubber trees without going through any manufacturing process – is expected to boost domestic demand for the material by 10% annually. Malaysia produces 700,000 metric tonnes of rubber every year.
Mah explained that the prime minister said the rubberised roads have to be constructed in small towns and certain parts of major highways. “However, we have yet to identify the exact stretches of roads to be upgraded, and we are currently looking into that,” he added.
Last year, it was reported that several rubberised asphalt pilot projects were in place and their performance was being analysed. The field study involved five projects, one each in Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Pahang, Kelantan and Selangor.
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He concern more on livelihoods of smallholders or Felda deep pocket actually?
Felda is more palm oil than rubber.
Ayuh org kampung.
Kira-kira 90 peratus daripada peruntukan RM200 juta untuk Insentif Pengeluaran Getah (IPG) yang disediakan kerajaan dalam tahun ini masih belum dimohon pekebun kecil di seluruh negara.
Obviously, you didn’t do your homework. Felda deals with oil palm plantations whereas Risda takes care of rubber industry. This is what happened when a mediocre trying to be smart.
I might be wrong but my uncle and his relatives still live in felda as 1st to 3rd generations planting rubber trees. Are they selling rubber to risda agent? no :)
Aiyo VJ. You also dont do your homework….Lembaga Kemajuan Tanah Persekutuan (FELDA) telah ditubuhkan pada 1 Julai 1956 di … kemiskinan melalui penanaman tanaman minyak sawit dan getah.
Felda settler’s pocket.. u think their pocket so deep ka? Some even got holes ma…
I’m not aware of the pros and cons of rubberized roads but I have a perception that it may reduce road noises. But aside from that there are other methods to boost usage of rubbers too. Some can even help lower teenage pregnancies
this comment! can put rubber on our roads but can’t put rubber on our kids
in a hot climate country, i wonder how it performs….rubber road vs rubber tyres…it could melt? = more grip = more faster tyre wear probably
Rubber tyres seems ok so far even in extreme temperature areas and during heat waves.
you don’t have to spend more on tyre with better grip as the road already has better grip
Meaning bald tyres are safe to use, right?
Rain & Sun cycle could just made those rubbers chipped and become dust – rubbers can’t even last long as car wipers nad tires.
Instead of sandstorm, we’ve created rubberstorm.
I wonder if you will get better traction on rubber coated roads…?
I wonder the same thing. Also, what about during wet conditions?
Politicians have never had long term perspective, only short term to get them re-elected. Cost is also irrelevant as they spend our tax monies without care. Who knows what is the cost benefit vs long term efficacy of this method. I see it like another diesel B20 fiasco.
some road in US n Europe have already use rubberized road for quite sometime.. B20 fiasco?
In the article, they’ve state that in long there will be lesser maintenance cost.
MACC better keep an eye on the funds used here
I remember this project was piloted by Arizona State Government in battle to reduce the increase piles of used tyres. The project take of successful over there. Hope Malaysian Government not just using lump cups rubber but also recycling the used tyres in help to conserve the environment.
I was about to say the same. Recycle used tyres makes a lot of sense provided its a practical solution and we can differentiate differring tyre grades and wear.
should recycle used tyre instead. these used tyre are taking large amount of dumping ground space…. grind used tyre and mix them into bitumen-based asphalt and its ready to go….
Good but give it 1 month later TNB kena korek letak cable. Two weeks later Syabas korek letak pipe. After that Bandaraya also korek nak pasang longkang. So it the end it becomes a Frakenstein road with patches here and there
I rather they use rubber to make more tyre than to build road
For the sake of our rubber tappers or road user? Even now the roads (excluding highways) we use were considered not really good with potholes sizes that we could pet some carps in it.. But its a good thing though if its a realty Bolehland roads can use the technology
Congratulation !
The government intend to apply some new formulation to use rubber in road pavement.
However, it must be caution that the use of any new formulation in Engineering practice is termed as an experiment or research if there are no available standard code of practice to apply the formulation.
As an example an Engineer must refer to a code of practice to design a structure of any sort, he then is responsible for the structure and is liable for the design and the stability of the structure for life.
Similar to the Rubber in road technology …. who will be responsible for the design, site supervision and application ?.
If there is no such person or party(s) as such then the use of rubber in road is a pure experimentation and is must be declared as an experiment or it must go through a full scale experiment first before a code of practice can be formulated for use in Malaysia.
The attempt to use rubber in road was as far back in 1980’s when a company by the name ‘Rivertex’ introduce it usage and a simple trial was carried out without proper research basis and there was not report made available. JKR Research team carried out several trials during the 80-90’s and some laboratory and field results were available but not fully or properly published.
In 1995-2000 recycled rubber from shredded tyres was used in KLIA1 service roads. The pavement design was carried out by Professional JKR Engineers and supervise by a team supported with a specialize road and airfield Q/A laboratory equipped with the most advance pavement and asphalt testing facilities worth nearly RM10 million (1995 price). The team had three professional Engineers, 3 with Msc. (Degrees). One full time laboratory senior Engineer and 3 field Engineers. Those Engineers had more than ten years training in asphalt pavement design and construction.
That rubberized road pavement is still in use today…..after 20 years in service.