THE IMPACT OF HIGHWAY FAILURE ON THE ECONOMY(A CASE STUDY OF ENRHEN-OVWIAN-UDU-UGHELLI INTER-URBAN ROADS)

Most of the road networks in the developing countries of Africa are in deplorable conditions. Nigeria being one of these countries is not an exception. The conditions of the roads in Nigeria were examined. The causes of these conditions of the roads in Nigeria were articulated and their effects to the citizen, government and the economy of the country were highlighted and solutions to these problems given in the form of recommendations that will remedy the situation. Some of the identified causes were; poor design and construction, poor maintenance of already built highways, use of low quality materials in construction, poor workmanship and poor supervision of construction work and the plying of heavy traffic that were not meant for the road and were not meant to be on the road. Some of the recommendations to remedy the situation are; Use of the appropriate design of the roads, avoiding unnecessary congestion of the roads with traffic especially heavy traffics that were not meant for the roads in the first place, prompt maintenance of the roads, application of suitable construction material in the construction of the roads, applying appropriate tests to the soil in road construction, use of qualified engineering personnel in road construction and the application of sanctions for highway failures