Reps To Probe Umahi’s Concrete Technology For Road Construction

The House of Representatives is set to investigate the adoption of concrete technology for road construction in Nigeria.

This followed a motion on notice by a member, Honourable Khadija Ibrahim.

In the motion, lawmakers raised concerns that several studies have revealed that the use of rigid/cement concrete pavements in road construction has significant technical limitations and constraints.

The House is further worried that the Minister of Works’ new policy on cement concrete pavement adoption without in-depth studies of the comparative advantages/disadvantages with asphalt may contradict technical specifications, potentially leading to contract breaches and potential arbitration and litigations during a challenging economic time.

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, had advocated the use of concrete technology in road construction, saying that it is loaded with lots of benefits including durability with a life span of over fifty years.

According to a statement by the Director of Information in the Ministry of Works, Blessing Lere-Adams, the Minister took this decision while on an inspection tour of the rehabilitation of an outstanding section of the Onitsha-Enugu Expressway under the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme.

In an interview with journalists, Umahi gave reasons for using this concrete technology, saying that it’s loaded with lots of benefits including durability.

He said that it can stand for these numbers of years before it will require maintenance more than bitumen imported into the country that is more sub-standard.

He added that it’s cheaper to build with local content-sourced materials.