CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
The importance of highways for the prosperity of any country cannot be over emphasized. The development of roads starts a chain reaction of atomic nature. It opens up new avenues or increases employment in the agriculture, industry, commerce health and sanitation sector by inherent virtue of being a communication and transport link between the developed areas.
The road, so necessary an instrument of social well being that in every new country it is one of the first things that is being thought of. The great essence or need for roads came about due to the invention of the wheel, some 5,000 years ago. The increasing rate of highway deterioration has become a source of great concern to both the Engineers and the people using it. There is a great need to ascertain the various causes of the deterioratory state of our roads. And some of the ways to ascertain the causes of deterioration is to carryout trial bore hole,site investigation, and also traffic census.
The major reason for unsatisfactory state of road construction in Nigeria, is the low priority given to road development and maintenance, also responsible, is the lack of concern for human life and proper qualification and experience to do a particular job. The construction of roads, require expert’s in the field, so that the road will be able to carryout its basic function effectively, and survive its life expectancy of years. This is in order to avoid the premature failure of our roads, which is an existing fact currently in Imo State, particularly on the road leading from Naze Junction to Futo Gate which forms the basis of this project. There is not just one type of road failure, so the issue of the premature deterioration of our roads requires finance, and experienced knowledge.
1.2 AREA OF STUDY
The road leading from Naze Junction to Futo Gate is located in Owerri, the capital of Imo State. The road was constructed in the year 1977/1978, by Mezu construction company during the honourable regime of Late Dr. Sam Onunaka Mbakwe the, then executive governor of Imo State.
The road leading from Naze Junction to Futo Gate is a ring road, provided to enable the free flow of traffic. It has a total length of about 6.00km, and has a lane width of about 7.3m. The road was constructed of Asphaltic Surfacing. It is a Surface dressed flexible pavement of single carriage way which has no shoulder. The routine maintenance work is been handled by the office of the Ministry of Works, housing and transport Owerri and currently the maintenance work has been awarded to Hardel and Erice construction company, a company owned by Chief Iwuanyanwu.