Three stretches of road along Sungai Kerawai in Teluk Intan, Perak have just been constructed from cup lump modified asphalt (CMA, otherwise known as rubberised road). Although much smaller in scale than the project in Johor, this officially makes them the first in the country and the world to use CMA technology.
According to the Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) and Public Works Department (JKR), rubberised roads yield several key benefits over conventional bitumen, such as increased durability, the ability to withstand higher loads, higher heat resistant, provide better grip and is cheaper to maintain in the long run. Initial cost however, is much higher at RM53.60 per metre compared to RM29.90 a metre using the conventional method.
Cup lump is naturally-coagulated rubber obtained directly from rubber trees without going through any manufacturing process. Bitumen is then added to the cup lumps and this, when mixed with asphalt, results in CMA. An estimated 4.2 tonnes of coagulated rubber is required for every kilometre of road.
This falls in line with the government’s effort in boosting domestic consumption of rubber, a commodity which has been suffering from falling prices. Plantation industries and commodities ministry minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong said 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) which need support, who might otherwise shift away from natural rubber due to weak prices.
Malaysia produces some 700,000 metric tonnes of rubber every year, and using them to produce rubberised roads will see domestic demand grow by 10%. Watch the video below for a glimpse of the construction process.
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“Plantation industries and commodities ministry minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong said 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) which need support, who might otherwise shift away from natural rubber due to weak prices.”
We always support rubber especially tyres on our car . But i dont know how the management can say rubber business may shift away. Rubber should be gain alot unless some greedy middle man try to slash the price from poor rubber farmer.
Hello bang…your car tyres are mostly made out of synthetic rubber and other materials la..been like that for sometime…
So the synthetic rubber was make by metal?
Synthetic rubber is polymer based. Therefore dependent on petroleum resources, not rubber
wrong. natural rubber makes up between 35-45% of each new tyre. the rest is a combination of nylon cord, rubber chemicals etc.
The rubber industry is a sunset industry bcos many rubber products are being replaced by better/superior synthetic products.
Our Gov should ask those smallholders to replace their rubber trees with Durians trees as the yield or ROI is much higher given the high demand by the Chinese who loved our King of Fruit.
Why is the cost of CMA technology so high when the price of Rubbers are so cheap ??
Then 10 years from now it will be back to square one when all rubber famer plans Durian. To many supply, price drop. So smart la you. What do you do from over supply Durians? Make someting out of it so it can be sold. Sound familiar when u read this article?
Cannot even sort out our basic roads with potholes, now want to do rubberised roads.
Hello, sort basic first. In capital KL, full of potholes. Basic maintenance also cannot do want to do rubber roads.
Then, the manholes also like 5 inches deep. Despite having cover, the car incurs damage going on it.
The drain at the side of the road, but on the road also got cover. But the cover is 5 inches deep. Car go in, tayar also letup
Hello, still want to do rubber?
Imagine Plus highway from north to south…using rubberised asphalt…
Another round of premium toll hike.
Maybe protong’s new test track done by Geely…boleh pakai this new asphalt lah.
I would imagine a much smoother and quite drive for my family. Toll hike I can understand. But concession extension? If that happens, I’ll burn the rubber hiway!
malaysian need no fancy road, just give us an road without hole.
Why not do outside my Taman? So many potholes!!
Video not related also ?
As far as I know, Malaysia had rubberised roads as long as 60 years ago..
Rubberised roads are good for the local rubber industry. If it is cheap, good quality, long lasting and comfortable to drive on, why not ? The government could save billions in the long term if they switch to rubberised roads.
But of course, we all know how things work here. Everything the government does, they do under the pretence of ‘good intentions’ and ‘benefit of the rakyat’. But behind the scenes, all kinds of nonsense is happening. In the end, the rakyat will rugi somehow. Sigh.
Years ago, in India, they mix melted plastic scrap, collected from rubbish dump, with asphalt for road making. Maybe it is even better & cheaper. Natural rubber should be used to make higher value items like condoms. More so since our planet earth is being over populated!. But those in white or green robes will says condoms is haram!!. Maybe Malaysia could patent a “rubber clump & plastizied asphalt” road. But do not let the contractor to curi ayam and our road ended with too thin an asphalt layer. Then we are back to square one by getting expensive but lousy roads.
In future, if you want to upload any vids in your article, please make sure that you get the right facts. This article is about rubberised road but the video is actually another road solutions technology that they use using claycrete to stabilised the soil as base and makes it last 10 years before they lay the rubberised road. Meaning, no more pot holes in 10 yrs and the cost is much cheaper than normal method.