RCC Construction Company, one of the companies managing the completion of the Enugu–Onitsha Expressway in Anambra and Enugu States under the “Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme,” has been instructed by Minister of Works Engr. David Umahi to use concrete going forward to finish the remaining 23 kilometers of the road.
During an inspection tour at the Amansea axis of the road, Umahi gave the order, expressing satisfaction with the quality of work completed thus far by the two contractors. However, he insisted that going forward, all federal roads in the nation must be built with concrete rather than asphalt, claiming that there is no reason to waste money on asphalt since it costs N94,000 to asphalt a square metre of road that may not last up to 15 months while it costs N92,000 to build a square metre of concrete road that can last up to 100 years.
In order to ensure the longevity of the road, the Minister gave the contractor instructions to excavate the flooded sections up to two feet, fill them with lumps of roughly 30 cm, sharp sand, and stone base, and finish the inner and outer portions of the remaining 23 km with laterite and bring them to the level of the existing asphalt.
The contractor should use pulverization to grind up the current wearing course and binder course, apply 10 cm of stone foundation mixed with 3.5 cm of cement, properly compact it, then lay the remaining 10 cm across the pavement and carriageway using a paver, he continued.
Engineer Emeka Oparah, the Federal Comptroller of Works in Anambra State, stated that the road, which has been finished up to the second binder stage, will offer a long-term solution to its previously poor state. He also stated that the remaining eight hundred meters of the road, from the Amansea axis to the Immigration Junction, will be finished by the end of May 2026.
The MTN Nigerian project manager, Engr. The project was estimated to cost N202 billion, according to Tochukwu Onuora, who expressed their admiration for the Minister’s decision to allocate 104 km of single carriageway out of the 107 km dual carriageway. Engineer Sachin Thakare, the Project Manager for RCC, stated that they are confident in the road’s durability because it is elevated above the existing asphalt. (Ngozi Obileri, absradiotelevision)
