Online Reporter
Nyore Madzianike
Senior Reporter
NEWLY constructed major roads, particularly highways, are designed to last at least 20 years, with periodic maintenance expected to begin after a minimum of five years, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development has said.
Chief Director of Roads in the Ministry, Engineer David Jana said this when he appeared before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructural Development at New Parliament Building in Mt Hampden today.
Eng Jana said within the 20-year lifespan, routine maintenance activities such as grass cutting and drainage clearing should be carried out annually.
This came after the Committee raised concerns over poor workmanship by some contractors engaged to construct major roads.
Engineer Jana told the Committee that their biggest enemy to roads is water.
“Having had a deficit in terms of activities on our roads for 20 years, we have mainly been focusing on the carriageway while less effort has been put into drainage.
“When you deal with drainage, you deal with the entire area, not just where the road is.
“So most of the potholes you find have been caused by stagnant water which is making the bases fail.
“In urban roads, drainage has been a challenge. Blocked drains from the roads, all the way to the streams. So drainage has given us premature failures in some roads, and that’s something we are now looking at,” he said.
“Because of siltation, the water that starts within the city centre can’t flow if the river, like Mukuvisi for example, is silted.
“So, that water remains in the city and weakens the base. We are also working on that, although the resources are a bit constrained. We are going to prioritise that as we plan future projects,” he said.
Engineer Jana also said overloaded commercial trucks are exerting excessive pressure on the country’s roads.
