By Peter Dada
The Minister of Works, Mr David Umahi, has declared that the ongoing Akure-Ado Ekiti Expressway would be redesigned and constructed with concrete rather than asphalt.
The former Minister of Works, Mr Babatunde Fashola, had flagged off the construction of the road in May shortly before the end of the last administration of Muhammadu Buhari.
Umahi said Nigerians would see more of concrete pavements on roads as it had more lifespan than roads made of bitumen.
He stated this in Akure during a courtesy visit to the acting Governor of Ondo State, Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, on Friday evening while on inspection of federal roads in the South-West region of the country.
According to him, concrete roads had been tested in several states and it has a life span of 50 years, compared to asphalt roads that would only last for 15 years.
The minister explained that any road construction contract that the job was not more than 20 per cent done would be redesigned to concrete pavement roads.
He added that importation of bitumen alone was putting more pressure on the naira and with the use of concrete pavement roads, it would be more of local content.
He said, “A very important thing that I must let you know is the introduction of concrete technology in our roads.
My argument is that you see a lot of roads that are built on concrete with a shelve life of 50years.
“But there is no asphalt road here, especially in South-South, South-East and South-West even if it’s done by top contractors will not last more than 15 years.
‘’You see jobs that are still ongoing, and that is why we are going round and then redesigning a portion of roads that are maybe 10 to 20 per cent completion and we are sure that this is the way to go and it has guarantee of 50 years.”
In his remarks, the Acting Governor of the state, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, commended the minister for the zeal on his official engagements, stressing that most of the federal roads in the state were either deteriorated of poorly maintained, adding that many of the roadssuffered severe degradation.
Aiyedatiwa called for the dualization of Ore-Ondo-Akure road and the need for the rehabilitation of Ore-Okitipupa axis among other federal roads in the state.
