LAGOS SEPTEMBER 26TH (URHOBOTODAY)-Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chieftain and former Delta State Gubernatorial candidate, Chief Sunny Onuesoke has advised the new Minister of Works, David Umahi against application of concrete merge in the construction of Federal roads across Nigeria by taking the difference geographical and environmental terrain into consideration.

Onuesoke who gave the advise on the backdrop of the present  altercations between the Minister and contractors on the usage of  concrete in the construction of Federal roads across the Federation recalled  that causes of  road failure in Nigeria is due to  stereotypical engineering design without taking the difference terrain across the country into consideration.

He argued that while the Minister is right with respect to the durability of concrete merge roads, he should not also forget the fact it has its own disadvantages.

The PDP Chieftain who spoke on the issue during an interactive session with Property Correspondents in Lagos disclosed that not until Nigeria engineers deviate from applying one particular design in the construction of roads across the country, the Nation will continue to experience the problem of road failure.

Onuesoke explained that while he welcomed Umahi’s idea of concrete construction of roads, he is  however against the argument that the same thing  should be done across all the Federal roads.

“Before Umahi  came on board as Minister, I have always complained against  stereotype road  construction as  the major cause of road failure across the country. Check Vanguard Newspaper of June 21st, 2020 titled,” ROAD FAILURE: Stereotypical design to blame- Onuesoke”. What do I mean?

“The road construction that is good for Auchi  in Edo state will not be good for Yenogoa in Bayelsa State because of the difference in terrain. Now Umahi is telling us that all Federal roads will be concrete merge. We have Federal roads in Warri, Bayelsa and upland Maiduguri where there is no water.  Why  did he  think of  using  concrete designs for  up North region  that have different terrain from the Niger Delta region,” Onuesoke queried.

Continuing, Onuesoke who said he was a project Director for sixteen years  explained  that in road construction, there are some areas that need bitumen, nylon tiles  while other a areas  need concrete merge because of the different terrain.

“In America there are Federal roads with nylon tiles, asphalt  or  concrete. In terms of durability, concrete maybe describe as the best but it all depend on the location you are putting the concretes. Concretes roads are better off in water terrain areas,” he stated.

Onuesoke who disputed some of the claims of the Minister with respect to advantages of concrete roads said, “ Also, the cost of building cement technology roads is twice that of asphalt. More so, while you can use asphalt roads after three hours, you can’t use concrete technology until after 28 days. This means it will take more years to complete such road projects. We need to look at such and many other implications too. Most importantly, is the government ready to face the cost implications?”

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