14 S-East roads fail Reps standard test

 FOURTEEN of the sixteen roads inspected during an on-going inspection of federal roads by the House of Representatives House Committee on Works failed all standard tests.

When analysed in percentage, 87.5 per cent of the on-going federal road projects inspected in the South-East failed the standard tests conducted by  members of the committee who were mainly professional engineers.

Only 12.5 per cent of the 16 federal projects inspected met the required standard as specified by the Federal Ministry of Works.

The tests were carried out  through the use of rebound hammer and coring machines.

Rebound hammer was used to test the strength of completed culverts and drainage, while the coring machine was used to ascertain the thickness of asphalt used by contractors.

The tests conducted during the committee’s oversight visit to some on going federal road projects in Imo, Abia, Ebonyi and Enugu states, were based on job specifications as contained in the contractual agreement of the Federal Ministry of Works and various contractors.

All road projects inspected in Imo State failed the standard test, while the only road which passed the test in Abia State was executed by  Abia State Government on behalf of  the Federal Government.

In Ebonyi State, the already completed drainage and thickness of the road between Abakaliki and Afikpo which is on-going passed the standard test.

In Enugu State, the drainage on the Enugu-Abakaliki road rehabilitation, under  the World Bank’s Road Sector Development Team, failed the test, while the thickness of the asphalt on the completed section met the required standard.

Some lawmakers who spoke to Vanguard, described this development as unholy and unacceptable “because in engineering practice, there is nothing like half measures only 100 per cent compliance is acceptable.”