City roads’ construction underway

THE bid to solve Lae city’s incessant road woes with concrete surfacing instead of the rain-prone asphalt is underway with civil works contractor, R & Sons Construction Ltd, starting on its section of the work earlier.
The company started work three weeks ago on the 1.8km stretch of the street that is essentially the beginning of the Highlands Highway from the Boundary Road intersection to Milfordhaven Road and hopes to deliver it in six months time as scheduled.
The scope of work includes grubbing and drainage works and concrete paving of the road surface instead of the usual asphalt.
Concrete has been trialed and recommended as a solution to Lae’s road woes as the industrial city’s infamous rain and heavy traffic have continued to damage asphalt surfaces every time they are fixed.
R & Sons management said they could not wait any longer since the contract was announced  by the national government last December along with those awarded to three other contractors.
The three contractors, Cameron Construction, Shorncliffe and FTM Construction contracted to several other streets in the city have since joined the fray.
R & Sons project consultant engineer, Godfrid Umba of KaiaWorks Project Consultants Ltd, said they had
mobilised all their machinery and workmen and had to start work without delay.
Umba said the project should be delivered on schedule and the recent dry weather in Lae had helped them move it on.