By. Anuradha
The development of technology has created many changes in our daily lives including our modes of transportation. Most of us travel regularly several miles a day to reach our workplaces and to do various choruses and therefore, the quality of roads is a great indicator of the success of each country. However, something that most of the witnesses particularly after rains is the potholes in the rain. It costs a substantial amount to repair these roads and therefore, inventing rubber road pavements that self-repairs can be identified as one of the best inventions of the century!
Israel Antonio Briseno Carmona, who is a civil engineering student at the Autonomous University of Coahuila in Torreon, Mexico created this rubber pavement by using recycled tires. This would be the ideal solution for places where it frequently rains and would save thousands of dollars that are spent on repairs.
He got this idea after observing the invention of concrete which regenerates itself using bacteria, and by observing that potholes formed after rain, he came to the hypothesis that recycled tires can be used to create pavements. He experimented this idea with a formula using asphalt and after several experiments, he could finally test his formula by using recycled rubber from tires. The success of the experiment implied to him that this would make the process of road repairing both cheaper and more sustainable!
Image Credit: jamesdysonaward.org
Carmona was even awarded the prestigious James Dyson Award for this special creation. Other winners of the Dyson Award included an electric tricycle for carrying cargo (New Zealand), a compostable replacement for plastic (United Kingdom), and a self-sanitizing door handle (China). So, when comparing with these fellow entities, you can see how special and unique is the invention Carmona made!
However, Carmona also has several plans for the future of his product. First, he’s planning to meet with an engineer who would help him with the idea while simultaneously building a short strip of road which could be tested to make sure that it works as planned. Next, Carmona will seek certification for the new system through the national construction standardization organization ONNCCE, which he hopes can approve the formula for use in Mexico. Finally, the young inventor hopes to gain the approval of national authorities so that he could authorize any contracts using the self-generating pavement.
So, we wish this brilliant man all the best and if this works out, this would surely be the best solution for major issues faced by many nations around the world.
