Minister of Works reiterates durability, cost effectiveness of concrete roads

The Minister of Works, Sen. David Umahi has reiterated that concrete road pavement has been discovered to be more durable and cost effective in the construction of roads in some parts of the country.

A statement by the Director of Press FMW, Mrs Blessing Lere-Adams, disclosed that the minister said this during a meeting with Directors of the Ministry in Abuja.

The meeting was held for the purposes of clarification on pavements built with concrete and asphalt.

Umahi said there were a lot of advantages in using concrete in road construction, stressing that roads built with concrete could last for 50 years without having issues of portholes or washout.

“Concrete roads have a longer lifespan, it can withstand heavy traffic loads, low maintenance, less affected by temperature fluctuations.

“A lot of advantages accrue to the use of concrete to construct roads, concrete roads last longer, compared to asphalt roads, reducing the need for frequent repairs and maintenance.

“It is stronger and can withstand heavy traffic loads, it also has low maintenance,” Umahi said.

Umahi, however, stated that nobody was insisting that all ongoing road construction in the nation should be changed to concrete.

He said such could happen under the some conditions, including roads constructed with asphalt pavement must be on concrete shoulder, with an alternative design on the road shoulder.

He added that some of the contractors were still working with obsolete and old machines.

He encouraged the directors to come to him for any suggestion or logical argument, saying that the mission of Tinubu’s administration was to improve on the road infrastructure across the nation for the good of all.

“I am appealing to our consciences to see ourselves as people going to the same direction and pursuing the same agenda for the betterment of all.

“All those in the field are the same with people in the office. Services in the office is what is keeping the services in the site,” Umahi said.