The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has introduced six (6) new policies to direct road construction projects across the nation as part of the Federal Government’s efforts to guarantee the quality delivery of construction works.
When Umahi received a courtesy call in his Abuja office on November 23, 2023, from the national leadership of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), which is led by its President, Engr. Tasiu Sa’ad Gidari Wudil, he revealed these policies.
This information was obtained by USAfricaonline.com from a press release that was posted on the Federal Ministry of Works’ official website on Friday, November 24, 2023.
The minister emphasized that the ministry needed to develop policies to ensure high-quality road construction work is delivered throughout the nation in order to break the “business as usual” mentality that has become the norm in the industry.
The following are the six policies that Umahi announced to direct road development initiatives throughout Nigeria:
- Good stabilized and tested subgrade, sub-base course before pavement placement.
- Expose subgrade, sub-base and base course to 60 days of vehicular movement and continuous sheep-foot rolling before pavement placement.
- Introduction of reinforced concrete road pavement in most roads’ carriageways and shoulders.
- Continuous maintenance of all roads under construction throughout the life of the project under contract.
- Effective design of road infrastructure anchored on a detailed report of environmental site conditions and geotechnical report.
- Community relations in terms of keeping roads motorable under the period of the contract.
The minister also noted that both asphalt and concrete pavement have requirements when building roads, but that concrete is best suited for the topography of Nigerian roads.
“You cannot put asphalt in water, but you can put concrete in water,” the minister explained.
He also emphasized the ministry’s stance on economy and caution by pointing out that the cost of materials for concrete pavement is far lower than that of materials for asphalt pavement.
Nonetheless, Umahi emphasized that supervision was required in order to actually implement high-quality road construction, regardless of whether asphalt or concrete was used.
