Burst pipeline cause of collapse of Akwamufie road in E/Region
A burst pipeline lying parallel to the main road linking Akwamufie to the Adomi Bridge in the Eastern Region has been identified to be the cause of the collapse of a section of the road, the Head of Works Department at the Asuogyaman District Assembly, Mr Mohammed Danjumah Ahmed, has indicated.
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Incident
Last month, about eight kilometres stretch of the road from the monumental bridge, adjoining the banks of the Volta River, caved in and rendered the road unmotorable.
Road users were thus compelled to use an alternatively long route through Juapong to Akwamufie. Others resorted to water transport from Akwamufie to Asuogyaman and to other parts of the area.
The incident happened on November 11, 2016.
Leakage
Mr Ahmed who disclosed this to the Daily Graphic, dismissed assertions that the collapsed portion of the road was as the result of a landslide.
“The break in the road was unfortunately caused by a leaking pipeline lying parallel to the road which gradually ate away the earth underneath it, causing the road to cave in,” he indicated.
According to Mr Ahmed, the excessive absorption of water underneath the road eventually rendered the based material loosed, culminating in the collapse of the road.
Intervention
He explained that the assembly had since engaged the services of a contractor, Joshob Company Ltd, to replace the leaking pipeline and also repair the road.
When the Daily Graphic visited the scene, work was ongoing. A temporary road had also been created to facilitate vehicular movement to and from Akwamufie and its neighbouring communities.
Mr Ahmed said the incident had since been reported to the head office of the Ghana Highways Authority.
He, however, said the district assembly had the primary responsibility to prevent roads in the district from being destroyed.
Disagreement
The Eastern Regional Director of the Ghana Highways Authority, Mr Maama Sawyerr-Markwei, disagreed with the assertion by Mr Ahmed and insisted that the said damage to the road was rather caused by a landslide for which reason the contractor needed a special wire net, gabion box, to effectively repair the road. According to him, the use of the gabion box would help create a solid foundation that would be extended into the nearby lake before the collapsed portion of the road was filled. He was emphatic that, the incident was caused by a landslide saying, “A landslide is a fall. It is the movement of rock, debris or earth down a slope.”