Engineers caution government: Fix roads first, plan expressways carefully

The Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) has urged government to complete and maintain ongoing road projects instead of abandoning them for new expressways, stressing that neglect and poor maintenance undermine national development and waste scarce resources.

“With road construction, the engineering is done right, but the biggest problem is lack of maintenance,” Mr. Ludwig Annang Hesse, President of the GhIE, observed.

He said governments often took too long to complete one facility, leading to weak engineering control and possible failure, while rushing into new projects without adequate preparation. This, he added, resulted in cost overruns and compromised quality.

Mr. Hesse was addressing participants at the maiden Ghana Geotechnical and Geosynthetics Conference (3G Conference) in Kumasi.

He cited the Accra–Kumasi highway, Ghana’s busiest traffic corridor, noting that portions at Ejisu, Anyinam and Nkawkaw had already been dualised. “Government must invest to complete these works, which will serve the country for a long time,” he said.

He further advised that if the nation had additional resources, it should focus on improving traffic corridors and expanding the Tema–Boankra/Kumasi railway line to provide alternative capacity, especially for freight. This, he said, would complement the Boankra Inland Port Project.

Mr. Hesse stressed that major projects like a new expressway between Accra and Kumasi required at least five years of preparation — from concept through engineering — before construction should begin.

The two-day conference, on the theme “The Critical Role of Geotechnical Engineering in the Nexus between Green Engineering and the Public,” brought together civil, geotechnical and geophysical engineers, engineering geologists, geoscientists, contractors, researchers, suppliers, and other professionals in soil, rock mechanics and geosynthetic engineering to deliberate on safety and environmental quality issues.

Dr. Patrick Amoah Bekoe, Executive Member of the Ghana Geotechnical Society, said geotechnical engineers played a crucial role in infrastructure development, from high-rise buildings to roads, bridges, oil, gas, and mining projects. He urged practitioners to collaborate and sustainably nurture Ghana’s infrastructure drive.

Professor Kwabena Biritwum Nyarko, Provost of the College of Engineering at KNUST, also appealed for more space for engineers in national development, especially across all infrastructure sectors.

He called for strengthening Ghana’s innovation ecosystem to support postgraduate research, prototyping, and testing to advance engineering solutions.

Source: GNA

 

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