By Emmanuel Elebeke

The incessant road and building collapse in Nigeria have been traced to poor material specifications and concreting.

The Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute, Prof. Danladi Matawal disclosed this on Tuesday, when the Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu paid him an unscheduled visit in his office as part of his tour of parastatals under his ministry.

Matawal said his agency came up with the findings after carrying out series of studies on the remote and immediate causes of the incessant road and building collapse across the country.

On roads, he said that there are issues of material specifications on properties and the sizing of numbers as well.

‘‘We have done quite a number of studies both on road and building failure in Nigeria. We have done a case history on Enugu-PH express way, Abuja-Kaduna, Kaduna-Kano expressways among others.

‘‘There are issues of material specifications. Apart from specifications on property, there is also the sizing of members as well. Another important issue is drainage on our soils.

‘‘In buildings, it is primarily poor concreting. There was poor concreting because there was no supervision of workmen who are not well knowledgeable. There is also no regulation and planning by the authorities.’’

On the way out, the NIBRI boss said the agency is currently working out plans to come up with a new road designs specifications for all federal roads in the country.