Motorists using the Benin-Asaba Expressway may see a faster pace of permanent construction from October as the Benin-Asaba Expressway Concession Company Limited (BAECC) prepares to intensify work along the 125-kilometre corridor.
The company has also appealed to motorists and communities along the highway for patience, acknowledging the difficulties caused by ongoing reconstruction, particularly during the rainy season.
BAECC Chief Executive Officer, Samuel Daramola, said the company understood the frustration being experienced by road users but stressed that the project involved reconstructing a heavily travelled highway while keeping it open to traffic.
“We recognise the inconvenience that motorists and communities have experienced, and we do not take their concerns lightly,” Daramola said.
He explained that the company's responsibility went beyond constructing the permanent highway to ensuring that traffic could continue to move while the work was ongoing.
The project is being executed under a 36-month construction programme and involves extensive reconstruction and expansion, including earthworks, drainage, pavement construction, culverts, traffic management and the installation of production facilities.
According to BAECC, substantial work has already been carried out on different sections of the highway, covering earthworks and subgrade preparation, drainage and culvert construction, asphalt and binder-course works and carriageway expansion.
The company has also mobilised asphalt plants, concrete batching plants, paving equipment, concrete mould plants, Wet Mix Macadam plants and other specialised equipment for the project.
Daramola said billions of naira in private-sector resources had been committed to equipment, construction plants, materials, logistics and other supporting infrastructure.
He acknowledged that much of the preparatory work taking place may not be immediately visible to motorists travelling along the route.
“A project of this magnitude is built in stages. Before the travelling public sees kilometres of finished asphalt, there must be drainage, earthworks, pavement preparation, production plants and equipment mobilisation,” he said.
One of the major challenges confronting the project, according to BAECC, has been persistent rainfall.
The company said saturated ground conditions had affected some earthworks, pavement stabilisation and asphalt operations, although the weather had not brought construction to a complete halt.
Daramola said the rainfall had mainly affected the sequencing and pace of certain activities, with construction teams continuing with other engineering works and palliative interventions where permanent pavement operations were restricted.
The reconstruction has also had to contend with the volume of traffic on the corridor. The Benin-Asaba route carries thousands of motorists, buses, commercial vehicles and articulated trucks, making it difficult for the contractor to completely close sections of the road for extended periods.
Daramola said some treated sections had occasionally been reopened earlier than engineers would ordinarily prefer in order to reduce congestion and ease the burden on motorists.
“We are building and managing traffic at the same time,” he said. “There are occasions when engineering considerations would favour keeping a section closed for longer, but the realities facing motorists require us to reopen the road.”
BAECC said palliative work would continue on difficult portions of the highway while permanent reconstruction progresses.
Daramola said the immediate priority was to reduce the hardship being experienced by motorists without losing focus on the long-term objective of delivering a permanent road.
The company is now preparing for what it described as a major acceleration of permanent works from October as weather conditions improve. The planned dry-season construction programme will include drainage completion, pavement reconstruction, asphalt binder and wearing-course installation, culvert construction and other permanent works across multiple sections of the highway.
Additional personnel, equipment and construction resources are also being mobilised ahead of the construction window. “As the rains recede, Nigerians will see a significant acceleration of permanent works,” Daramola said.
He appealed to motorists and host communities to assess the project within its overall construction programme, rather than solely on the basis of the difficulties currently associated with the reconstruction.
The BAECC chief acknowledged the concerns of road users but said the company was working to manage the immediate challenges through palliative measures while continuing with the permanent solution.
“What we ask for is the time and opportunity to deliver the project within the construction programme. Judge us ultimately by the quality, durability and safety of the highway we deliver,” he said.
BAECC also pledged to continue working with the Federal Government, relevant agencies and host communities towards the completion of the project.
For Daramola, the current condition of the highway should be viewed against the larger reconstruction taking place. “The road people see during construction is not the road they will see at completion,” he said.
He urged motorists and communities to exercise patience as the company works through the remaining stages of construction, particularly as the weather improves and permanent works gather pace.
For the thousands of people who depend on the Benin-Asaba corridor every day, the real test will ultimately be whether the promised acceleration translates into safer, smoother and more reliable journeys.
And that, as Daramola put it, is what the company expects motorists to judge when the project is completed.
