The Federal Government has clarified that it has not banned the use of asphalt in road construction.
This clarification, the statement said, comes in response to recent media reports suggesting that the government had made a policy shift towards the use of concrete pavements exclusively.
In the statement, the Federal Ministry of Works said there has been no directive issued mandating the use of concrete pavements for all road projects. The ministry added that contractors have the option to continue using asphalt or switch to concrete without incurring any additional costs.
However, some conditions that must be met include:
Use of asphalt: contractors shall stick to only a 5% Variation on Price (VOP) in line with the signed contract agreement throughout the project and the signed contract shall not be subject to review, especially on bituminous items.
The thickness of the asphalt pavement as designed must be strictly adhered to by all such contractors and the design shelf life for the asphalt (at least 15 years) shall be guaranteed by issuing an insurance bond through a reputable insurance company in favor of the Federal Government.
For the use of concrete, contractors must abide by the 5% VOP and 50-year design shelf life using concrete grade 40.
The minister further revealed that most of the road construction projects across the country are still ongoing with asphalt pavement in line with this new policy, while some are redesigned on concrete pavement, depending on the terrain and with full understanding of the affected contractors of those projects.
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