Pozzolana Cement Will Save $24m Annually

Pozzolana cement a product of the Building and Road Research Institute (BRR), produced from local clay could replace 30% of the $80m spent annually on cement in non-structural masonry. This was disclosed by the Director of Building and Road Research Institute Mr. Amoah-Mensah during the celebration of "Fifty Years of Shelter and Road Safety" on Tuesday.

He said the institute has a vision of working towards knowledge-based value addition to our local resources. BRR's objective, he said, was to test the performance of selected imported construction inputs and identify alternatives.

Among the results of BRR research are the development of clay products for road pavement and house building and help in the construction of the prototype laminated timber bridge over River Subin at Kaase, Kumasi from local timber species.

Mr. Amoah-Mensah said the present inadequate and inefficient physical infrastructure is a major constraint to real socio-economic growth of the country.

Research efforts, he said, will be geared towards what we know best as a country.