Don urges sustainable asphalt roads to boost economy

Nigerian governments and stakeholders in road infrastructure development have been urged to make concerted and deliberate efforts to ensure the provision of durable asphalt roads at reduced costs, protecting the environment and stimulating economic growth.

A professor of Civil Engineering (Transportation Engineering) at the Federal University of Technology and Environmental Sciences, Iyin-Ekiti, Moses Ogundipe, said that “attention should be given to ensuring sustainability in the design, construction and maintenance of infrastructure.”

Ogundipe, who is the university’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic, Research and Partnerships), spoke at Iyin-Ekiti while delivering the maiden inaugural lecture of FUTES-IYIN, titled ‘Paving the way to sustainability: Asphalt innovations for safe and durable road pavement.’

The don, who identified soil stability as a crucial condition for the durability of asphalt roads, said, “The soil, being the foundation for the road pavement, must be stable, and this is not always the case where roads are desired.”

He said locally sourced sustainable materials such as groundnut husk, coconut shell, palm kernel shell, snail shell and bamboo leaf ashes could be used with hydraulic binders such as cement and lime to stabilise the soil.

Ogundipe said such measures would ensure “construction of safe and durable roads, protect the environment and improve the economy by ensuring that these materials are not disposed of indiscriminately, but are also used to generate revenue.”

The don, who said asphalt concrete was temperature- and loading/time-dependent, thus affecting performance, advised stakeholders that asphalt mixtures must be modified with sustainable materials to address temperature susceptibility.

Ogundipe said materials, including glass waste, polyethene terephthalate, hospital waste, steel slag, crumb rubber, ceramic tiles and lime, “are effective and ensure a cleaner and safer environment by reducing the waste requiring disposal and promoting the economy through job creation.”

Ogundipe urged the Federal Government to prioritise the exploration and refining of Nigeria’s largely untapped natural bitumen resources to reduce road construction costs, improve infrastructure delivery and stimulate economic growth.

The don identified the country’s natural bitumen deposits as a strategic resource that could strengthen domestic asphalt production and reduce dependence on external supply, saying, “Nigeria has an estimated 42bn barrels of natural bitumen deposits that remain largely unexplored.

“Domestic production of bitumen, the main binder in asphalt concrete, will ensure cheaper and more reliable supply, while also generating multiplier effects on construction costs, revenue, job creation and overall economic growth.

• Rivers community leaders hail NDDC over bridge project
• Adapting UAE’s AI model for Nigeria’s digital future
• UN, LEAP Africa urge greater youth inclusion in governance

“It is, therefore, recommended that the government, in collaboration with the private sector, should, as a matter of priority, commence processes for the exploration and refining of the nation’s bitumen resources.”

To avoid failure, which has been the bane of asphalt roads in Nigeria, Ogundipe advised the government, through relevant ministries, departments and agencies, and in collaboration with academia and industry, “to conduct a thorough review of the stone mastic asphalt and other sustainable materials capable of delivering durable infrastructure for inclusion in the general specifications for roads and bridges.”

The don further advocated the integration of Life Cycle Costing and Life Cycle Assessment into public procurement and tender evaluation processes, noting that road construction contracts should reward contractors who adopt sustainable local materials and technologies.

He stressed the need for infrastructure policies to be driven by reliable research and comprehensive data rather than individual opinions, as he recommended the regular collection and analysis of information on road construction, pavement distress, failures and maintenance.

The professor also called for the establishment of a national pavement test track equipped with Heavy Vehicle Simulators to facilitate accelerated testing of innovative pavement materials and validate their performance under different conditions.

He identified inadequate research funding and weak collaboration between academia and industry as major obstacles to translating research findings into practical development.

As such, the don urged the government to increase funding for research and development, strengthen partnerships among universities, professional engineering bodies and industries, and provide higher institutions with modern facilities and qualified personnel for effective engineering training.

The FUTES-IYIN Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Gbenga Aribisala, hailed Ogundipe for the research, which he described as insightful and a great contribution to knowledge as well as to sustainable road construction in the country.

Aribisala took pride in the research work being undertaken by FUTES-IYIN staff, disclosing that “some of the academic staff were listed as part of the top 500 researchers in Nigeria in the 2026 edition.”

The VC said the feats of the university in less than a year of academic work “highlight the arrival of FUTES-IYIN on the global map.”