INTERVIEW WITH AFUA BONI

 

 LEVERAGE ON STATE-OF-THE-ART CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING LABORATORY TO SUSTAIN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT –MR. MARK BEDIAKO

 

•        High-rate of population growth contributing to establishment of more structures and its consequence.
•       The need to employ state-of-the-art construction engineering laboratory method.

 

BY MATILDA MENSAH

 

Mr. Mark Bediako, the Research Scientist of Building and Road Research Institute at Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-BRRI), has brought to board the need to maximize advantage on the state-of-the-art construction. 

This is because, since the introduction of sustainable development by the United Nations in the 1960s, it has been one single important issue of shaping the world into a better one. Where, many nations are suffering from shortage of some finite raw materials including construction materials such as limestone for cement production, sand for concrete in infrastructure and residential buildings.

Again, population growth and urbanization in many African countries have resulted in a corresponding high rate of infrastructural development. Whereby, in Ghana, the current population is approximately 31 million and is projected to reach 40 million by 2050. In which, meeting the demands of the increasing rate of the population requires a commensurate expansion and construction of roads and residential facilities.

As such, the government of Ghana will need to embark on the construction of many infrastructure projects, reinforced by private developers, and the boom in the construction industry will mean that the country will be using so much of the finite resources which includes: cement, sand, stones and many more. However, this situation will lead to unnoticeable further dwindling of these materials and currently, there have been reported cases of short supply of sand in some parts of Ghana like the Accra and Kumasi.

As a result, Mr. Bediako encouraged that, by setting up a civil engineering laboratory will help the government and private developers to ascertain prudent use of materials and predict the durability of concrete infrastructure, steel work and other building materials.

Furthermore, one area of the construction sector where there is little or no prudent use of materials in Ghana is the concrete industry. From the hindsight, the concrete industry either over design or under design concrete parameters which have effect on collapse of buildings and shows conspicuous symptoms of excessive cracks, exposed iron rods and others. Hence, Research has posited that the construction industry is not complete when there is the absence of state-of-the-art laboratory facilities.

 

Henceforth, the government and private developers will be able to sustain national development to meet population growth if they make more innovative means to ensure prudent use of these materials. This is because, many developed nations have relied upon such facilities which has yield positive results and have been able to use these materials prudently as well as predicting the longevity of the structures. For instance, In the Netherlands and many other European countries, the life cycle of buildings is known from the laboratory before construction. That is, in the United States, concrete bridges are built to last longer through the efforts of these laboratory services.

Therefore, the presence of a state-of-the-art civil engineering laboratory in Ghana will have a significant value for the developers to be hinted with advice on employing innovative methods to build, which will bring impact on the construction industry in Ghana in a way of not seeing bridges, concrete roads, residential buildings deteriorating at a faster pace.