Akwa Ibom students study concrete pavement

The students came to learn about the modern technology of building concrete pavement which is said to be novel to road construction in Nigeria, said marketing director of UNICEM, Mr Vipul Agrawal .They were taken round the company’s 20km cement evacuation road which was recently constructed from the factory to boundaries of Akwa Ibom State.Unicem, […]

The students came to learn about the modern technology of building concrete pavement which is said to be novel to road construction in Nigeria, said marketing director of UNICEM, Mr Vipul Agrawal .
They were taken round the company’s 20km cement evacuation road which was recently constructed from the factory to boundaries of Akwa Ibom State.
Unicem, an associate of Lafarge Africa Plc and member of LafargeHoLcim Group, Nigeria is second largest cement manufacturers in Nigeria.  
Showing them the processes, Agrawal said Unicem was paving 3km of the 20km stretch of the road with concrete which he described as being more durable than asphalt.
He explained that the slip form paving construction is the first of its kind in Nigeria, noting  that though the new technology is more expensive than asphalt, cost of maintenance is less.
According to him, the concrete pavement approach is to showcase the advantages it has over flexible pavement (as in  the case of asphalt) particularly in swampy and difficult terrains in road construction.
Led by Vice President, Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Charles Uko of the University of Uyo, the students  expressed joy for having been given opportunity by the company to experience the first -hand  procedure in setting concrete pavement.