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January
3, 2008
MIS-FIT OF ROAD CONSTRUCTION
- LIBERIAN STYLE
By Adolphus G.
Mccritty
This is the Jallah Town road. The Liberian
people just accepted the road as is, because it is better than it was before
and is cool with them. The disabled and handicapped people are the ones who
have the most difficult time trying to navigate the road. Who speaks for them?
Nobody cares. Now people are building eye-soaring shacks in spaces where
sidewalks supposed to be built. Who stops them? The government sporadically
knocks down shacks but in the end, people built right back in the same
spot.
However, from all the issues being raised about
this road and other matters of public interest, I get this feedback from
disappointed Liberians.
"My brother.. you wasting your time.. who
the F**k cares, this country or government is not concerned about proper
development. As long as the people can see something different from what was
there before, it doesn't matter." This is primarily why all this
sub-standard work is being allowed here. No one to check and double check in
the public interest.
Everybody is interested in politics and
corruption investigations, and are also interested if they got rice to eat
they next day. I had thought that we could make a difference in our country,
but that is a very long shot. I am re-thinking my whole stay here now, because
this battle is too embedded and too large to go up against without losing
one's limb or life.
While I have been here I have seen where people
just give up and die or get crippled for life over some silly things. Its as
low as, say you hire a man as a plumber to do some plumbing. Not only he turns
out not knowing a thing about plumbing, but he messes up materials totaling
$200 or more cutting the wrong pipes and laying them the wrong way.
You fire him and demand he replaces the
materials he damaged. OH!! Now he wants you to pay him the plumber's salary,
or he will cast witch on you to die or be crippled. I mean how can you deal
with people with mindset like this? I mean its like that with majority of
Liberian tradesmen.
on a personal note: The
reason The Market Project went on so smoothly for me is that I used only
workers and laborers from Guinea. They are very skillful in their trade and
work diligently just like the Mexicans back in the States. Now a day everyone
uses what we call here "Guinea-Kpelleh" workers.
I just might see you sooner than I had thought.
This is a picture of me
on the infamous Jallah Town Road. You can see for yourself how bad the road
was done.
MIS-FIT OF ROAD CONSTRUCTION
- LIBERIAN STYLE
THIS
IS HOW IT BEGINS (FIG.1
PROGRESSES TO THIS (FIG. 2)
RESULTS TO THIS STAGE
(FIG.3)
AND ENDS UP TO THIS 6 MONTHS LATER (FIG.4)
This all adds up to waste of
millions of dollars, and Waste of Time, Energy, Fuel, and Manpower.
*(All Photos courtesy of TLC
Africa)
The above photos demonstrate
how over and over the same tradition is carried on; 40 years has come and gone,
the cycle continues. The time has to come when someone is bold enough to stand
up and say it is time for a desperately needed change of the old guards.
Let us start with Fig. 1.
Notice how rubber tire equipment are used to create a crevice with the intention
of it being a road. Both sides of the freshly-graded road have no outlet for
water runoff. Since this road is graded flat without a crown, storm water will
set in this valley and eventually absorb itself in the dirt thereby creating a
soft spot. With continuous vehicle traveling on the road, the soft spot becomes
wider and deeper.
Figure 2. Shows how the valley
becomes even deeper as the stretch of road progresses. In this photo, notice how
the embankment on both sides of the road slopes directly towards the main road.
There are no drainage systems on either side to divert the storm water coming
off the embankment away from the main road. You will notice that there are no
provisions allotted for the direct water hitting the main roadway to channel
towards the side of the roadway.
Figure 3. Shows the eminent
effect of what happens when a stretch of road network is not designed and built
properly. Notice the potholes, weak spots, crevices, and drop in elevation of
the road, and the blocking of both sides of the road for storm water to divert
away from the main road.
Figure 4. Shows the end result
of lack of experience in road construction, the lack of proper planning and
execution of works. This also spills over to not having real Civil Engineers who
specializes in Highway design, and Construction, plus not having the proper
equipment to perform the specific tasks. This creates horrific and treacherous
driving conditions for all who plough up and down these roads. Is it unfair to
say that taxpayers and donors money are wasted in the road construction business
here in Liberia, most especially so if roads are only to last for six months at
a time?
Adolphus G. Mccritty, is Architect/Construction Engineer for
Design Builders D'Christell, Inc. He resides in Monrovia.
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