ADVOCACY for modern road and building construction took the centre stage at the weekend when stakeholders canvassed the use of rigid pavement and modern technology in the sector.
The experts,who converged on Ikeja, Lagos during the Annual Lecture and Awards organised the Property & Environment Writers Association of Nigeria (PEWAN), urged all stakeholders to support the use of cement instead of bitumen for road construction, while adopting modern technology for mass production houses.
Head of Corporate Communication, Dangote Group, Mr Anthony Chiejina, said that rigid pavement construction was more durable with a life span of over 40 years as against 15 years for asphalt.
According to him, the Minister of Works, Mr David Umahi. should be supported in the advocacy for quality and durable road construction.
Chiejina urged journalists, engineers and other built sector experts to explain the benefits of the rigid pavement to Nigerians, as the needed solutions to bridging road infrastructure deficit in the nation.
He explained the difference between rigid and flexible pavements as well as type of construction materials used for the long term and short term benefits respectively.
He listed benefits of rigid pavement, also known as concrete road, to include resistance to fuel, hydraulics, grease and other chemicals discharged by stationary vehicles.
Chiejina said although concrete roads take longer to construct and may be more expensive, they are cheaper in the long term because of less maintenance cost.
He said that flexible pavements, which is also known as asphalt road, might be cheaper to construct but, on the long run, more expensive due to regular maintenance from constant degeneration.
He also listed environment-friendly attributes of the rigid pavements in addition to opportunity for recycling the materials; a situation not possible with flexible alternatives that cause high pollution and other dangers.
Speaking on: “ Technology as the New Normal in Modern Infrastructure Delivery, Sub-Deen, Faculty of Environmental Science, University of Lagos, Dr. Julius Faremi, listed Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning; Metaverse, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR); Digital Twins And Predictive Maintenance: Building Information Modelling (BIM); Big Data and Data Analytics; smart cities, the Internet Of Things (IoT) and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT); laser scanning; off-site modular manufacturing; wearable technologies and exoskeletons; robotics, automation and drones;3D printing or additive manufacturing; blockchain and 5g as technologies for the delivery of infrastructure.
According to him, the benefits of BIM to built environment businesses are wide ranging from increased efficiency and productivity to improved safety, a reduction in waste, avoidance of rework costs, error prevention, agile problem-solving, adding that by unifying a previously fragmented landscape, BIM would connect building owners, designers, construction teams, facilities managers and occupants through shared asset data, leading to safer, more efficient and profitable projects.
He called for research funding on AM and AR by stakeholders; industry partners, government agencies.
He also canvassed co-production and co-development of an implementation framework and driving the deployment of additive manufactured and automated/robots-constructed buildings.
He called for awareness and capacity building through training, workshops, conferences and seminars.
Chairperson of PEWAN, Mrs Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie, said the annual lecture is recording successes, proffering solutions to issues in the nation’s built environment.
She said PEWAN, a sub group under the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), had existed since 1995 with membership that cuts across print, electronic and online media platforms.
“The PEWAN Lecture and Awards is an avenue through which we the members of the pen profession steer the direction of public discourse on construction matters and volatile environmental issues.
“The lecture has the objective of inspiring ideas and robust intellectual conversations on issues affecting the built environment and the nation’s economy,” she said.
Award recipients at the event included the Dangote Group and Mr Adedamola Kuti, Director, Highways Construction and Rehabilitation, Federal Ministry of Works.
Others are Mr Kunle Awobodu, founder/inaugural President, Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG); Deacon Babajide Durojaiye, Managing Director, Legrande Group and Mr Festus Adebayo, CEO, Fesadeb Media Group.
Also awarded were Mr John Beecroft, Managing Director, Tetramanor Ltd; MrEmekaAnyiam, Chief Executive Officer, PWAN Elite; Mr Samuel Oni, Managing Director/CEO, Convvy Estates Ltd, among others who had made impact in the sector.
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