RECONSTRUCTION OF US$346.5M OFANKOR-NSAWAM DUAL CARRIAGEWAY AT 40% IN GHANA

Reconstruction of the $346.5 million Ofankor-Nsawam dual carriageway project is progressing steadily with 40 per cent of work completed so far, the resident engineer, Mr Thomas David Arthur, has disclosed.

The scope of work undertaken so far includes the construction of an underpass footbridge at the Agya Appiah section of the road, 50 percent complete, a footbridge at Fise, 95 percent complete with all the other components of the projects at various stages of completion.

The project is jointly funded by the government and Maripoma Enterprise Limited, a wholly-owned Ghanaian construction company, which is also executing the project under a Design and Build Contract with Associated Consultants Limited, supervising.

Mr Arthur who works with Associated Consultants Limited as the in-charge of Roads, briefing the Ghanaian Times on the progress of work on Wednesday, said the project involved the construction of eight lanes road from Ofankor to Pokuase Interchange and 10 lanes from Pokuase Interchange to the Nsawam Bypass.

He explained that the movement from Ofankor to the Nsawam Bypass which should take 30 minutes currently took much longer hours due to the heavy vehicular traffic on the stretch, stressing that when completed there would be free flow of traffic on the road.

According to Mr Arthur, the importance of the road was to ease the traffic congestion on the stretch.

He said the project which commenced on July 20, 2022 would take 24 months to execute and would be completed on July 20, 2024.

He explained that the main carriage (the mid-section); on the Pokuase Interchange to Nsawam Bypass would serve as express route with the outer lanes to serve as service roads for the communities on the stretch.

The Resident Engineer explained that the project would have 10 footbridges at various points including Festus, Fise, Toman, Amasaman and Pobiman.

He said the footbridge at Fise, and Kutunse were almost completed.

Mr Arthur said ramps had been provided on the footbridges to aid the movement of physically challenged persons.

Also, the Resident Engineer said there would be two overpasses at various sections such as, Medie, Pobiman which were at various stages of completion.

The Resident Engineer said Amasaman would have a three-tier interchange and Nsawam junction would also have an underpass with a roundabout on top, adding that work was yet to begin.

In addition, he said retaining walls had been constructed to separate the service road from the main carriage way.

Also adequate drainage facilities such culverts together with U-drains had been provided on the road to collect rainwater water from the road surface.

Further Mr Arthur said adequate security cameras would be installed at the underpass to assist the police in their work, saying that street light would be fixed to enhance visibility on the road.

“A police post will be sited around the Agya Appiah section to protect users of the underpass,” he stated.

When asked about the challenges facing the contractor, Mr Arthur mentioned encroachment on the “right of way” and waterways, some property owners in court over property issues and the relocation of utility lines which had not been done.

He said in spite of the challenges, work was progressing steadily and the contractor was expected to complete the project on schedule.

On the relocation of the utility lines, Mr Arthur indicated that the procurement of sub-contractors had been done and would soon commence.

On the socio-economic benefits of the project, the Resident Engineer said the project had helped to create jobs for the youth.

According to him, the contractor had a workforce of 875, including 814 local staff.

The completion of the road would ease traffic on the Accra-Nsawam route and promote socio-economic activities along the stretch.

In addition the road would facilitate trade between Ghana and its Sahelian neighbour regions such as Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.