The Federal Government has directed China Harbour Engineering Company, the contractor in charge of the expansion of Mararaba-Keffi Expressway to complete the project by June, 2026.
Director of Press, Federal Ministry of Works, Abdullahi Muhammed disclosed this on Tuesday, during the Inspection Tour of Federal Road Projects and Interventions in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Muhammad explained that the inspection was part of the ongoing National Media Tour to see what the government was doing in the provision of road as well as transport infrastructure for Nigerians.
“As you are aware, the provision of infrastructure as well as transportation is one of the eight priority areas of this administration, the administration of His Excellency President Bola Tinubu, so we are here on the construction, reconstruction as well as expansion of the Mararaba keffi expressway”, he said.
On his part, the Federal Controller of Works, FCT, Engr. Yakubu Usman said the project was awarded in 2023 and the contractor moved to site immediately with a completion period of 30 months.
“The completion date is June 2026, so he still have like three months ahead of the completion period. So far, the contractor has achieved about over 90% completion of the works. The contractor has made good progress, the total project length is 43.65 kilometers.
“Work on the main carriageway has been completed 100%. There are other ancillary works such as median drain, side drain, and then the capstone, which you can see now where the contractors are working. Initially, the capstone was to be pre-cast, but under the guidance of our Honorable Minister, he directed that we do pre-cast, which is more durable”, he said.
Engr. Usman disclosed that the Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi made innovative changes to the project which would extend its lifespan:
“In the past, most of our roads used to have surface-grade shoulders. But the Honorable Minister introduced rigid shoulders to protect the carriageway and also make the shoulders last longer. Because with the rigid shoulders, it will protect the carriageway from the menace of erosion. These are innovative approaches that have brought some changes. All thanks to the Minister for his foresight and guidance”, he said.
Also speaking, Public Relations Manager of China Harbour Engineering Company, Amodu Reuben said about 43.15 kilometers of the project had been completed.
“The home base has been completed up to 43.5 kilometers, the wearing course as well has been completed. The remaining outstanding work will be completed by June, just like the controller has said. We are building roads that last for 50 to 100 years. On the renewed hope agenda, we are committed in delivering a quality job”, he said.
Similarly, the Abuja-bound section of the project being handled by JRB Construction Company Limited was given six months to be completed so as to ease the pain of commuters.
Project Manager of the company, Engineer Julian Njoku disclosed that they work at night to beat their deadline:
“We have embarked on night work as well, which we start by 10 p.m. and we are shutting down by 4 a.m. in the morning. Maraba, as everybody knows, has very large volume of traffic and regardless of that, we are trying our best to incorporate, the road safety, the civil defense and also the police as well while we are at work at night. So, currently, we are trying our best to make sure that this project is delivered on time”, he said.
The Director Press informed that the scope of work for the project consists of milling of the existing wearing course up to a depth of 40 millimeters. “The mill material is mixed with stone base and stabilized with 3.5 percent cement and laid back. Then we have the binder and then the wearing course.
“The total length of this project is 40 kilometers. So far, the contractors have achieved up to 10 kilometers up to asphalt, concrete, binder course. So we are on course”, he said.
A commuter named Matthew Daniel praised the government for the construction, adding that a lot of lives had been lost due to the deplorable nature of the road,
