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22 BUSINESS VISION, Thursday, February 2, 2012
J
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Procurement • Tender Notices • Bids • News • Analysis • Talkback
• New Deals • Expert Advice • Tender deadlines • Guidelines
New road repair technologies could
save Uganda billions of shillings
PICTURE BY BRENDA ASIIMWE
'·~'1""4''\'.
By BRENDA ASIIMWE
.;.;:.I .
Maisara Atete massages her bulging
belly thoughtfully. On a closer look,
you see fear written all over her face.
Atete, who is seven months pregnant, is due for her periodic medical
checkup, but the potholed nature of
city roads is giving her goose pimples.
Owing to her condition, she is
nervous about taking the trip because,
with the endless potholes, the worst
could happen. It is the price she has to
pay for living in a city with a run-down
road network.
The country's poor state of roads has
led to loss of many lives. Others have
gotten maimed for life as their vehicles
skidded off the road after a vain effort
by drivers to dodge potholes or oncoming cars that were skirting around
potholes.
No wonder this grim situation has
won Uganda an unfaltering title of the
'Capital of Potholes'.
But all this could change if the Government adopts new technologies in
road repair and maintenance.
New road repair technologies like
instant road repair; an American
technology and Polymer, which is used
in China and South Africa, could be
the cure for the potholes shame the
country faces.
Never mind that the works ministry
and local authorities spend billions
of shillings on conventional modes of
road repair with regrettable results.
According to Moses Byarugaba, the
executive director of BMC Capital,
promoters of the hi-tech road repair
solution in East Africa, new technologies are the panacea to the nagging
problem of potholes on our roads.
He says the process used in filling up
the potholes with the technology is less
labourious and time saving.
"It takes 20-30 minutes to fix a pothole because it doesn't require onsite
or offsite mixing of materials. The
pothole is first cleaned, the solution
is applied, spread and compacted,"
Byaruhanga explains.
He adds that the work doesn't require
specially trained personnel. "A few
semi-skilled people can do the work,
which saves the money to do other
projects," he says.
Mirembe Nassuna, the Kampala City
Council Authority (KCCA) engineer in
charge of roads maintenance, notes
that unlike other road repairs solutions,
the technology is good for cashstrapped economies like Uganda and
is durable.
She explains that the pilot project
done by BMC in August on the Nakasero Road has shown remarkable results
as it is still intact.
"It's one of the methods of repairing
potholes cheaply and fast because the
~ ~~
normal conventional process is usually
long and requires many labourers," she
says.
Nassuna adds that the technology is
good for repair works on potholes that
are developing.
Byarugaba explains that to patch up
one pothole with instant road repair
costs between sh95,000 and shlOO,OOO
per square metre. This compares to
between sh120,000 and sh160,000
per square metre when a contractor
uses the conventional way of repairing
roads.
The other new road repair technology, Polymer, which is almost similar
to the instant road repair technology, is
widely used in South Africa and China.
When used, however, the contractor
has to do onsite mixing of materials
and requires more workers.
The instant road repair technology
was used by the US forces after they
bombed Baghdad Airport on the onset
of the Iraq war, according to Internet
sources and sector experts.
Justin Ongom, an engineer with the
Uganda National Roads Authority,
explains that the technology is fast and
• The Uganda Communications Commission seeks bids
for the supply and installation
of quality of service measurement equipment. Deadline is
March 5.
• The Uganda Road Fund ref
quires providers of health irt-
Instant
road repair
technology is
only ideal for
developing
potholes on
new roads
surance services. Bid submission deadline is February 29.
• Uganda Revenue Authority requests for expressions of
interest for office premises for
tax investigations department.
~i d closing date is March 6.
Uganda Prisons Service
efficient when repairing potholes in
new roads.
He, however, argues that for this technology to be fully efficient, the road
should be strong with a good foundation. Most of the roads in Kampala
have weak foundations, he noted.
"The instant road repair technology
is ideal for small works as it allows a
large output of works since one doesn't
need to pre-heat the asphalt before applying the solution," Ongom says.
Byaruhanga points out that unlike
the conventional road repair, which is
subject to weather, the new technology
works well under extreme temperatures of up to 75 degree celicius and
during the rainy season.
"In case it rains when people are
working, the solution is water resistant
and cannot be affected. This ensures
consistency in product performance
and a contractor does not need to
own heavy machinery," Byamugisha
explains.
The technology has been used at Entebbe Airport, Mbarara town, Makerem
University, Nsambya Hospital, Kireka,
Jinja and Naguru.
seeks a supplier of a steam
boiler. Deadline for bids submission is March 7. Contract
award and signature will be
after expiry of the best evaluated bidder notice and solicitor General approval.
• GIZ requires suppliers to
supply food grains and consumables of maize, beans,
soya beans, corn soya blendunimix (flour), vegetable oils,
sugar and biscuits. Deadline
for submission is February 13.
Compiled by •
BRENDA AS II MWE