Eastern Corridor Road partners introduce new technology

Joint Venture Partners for the Eastern Corridor Road Project, Odebrecht Engineering and Construction International and Andrade Gutierrez, both multinational Brazilian companies, have introduced a number new technologies in construction and engineering in Ghana.

A statement signed by Otavio Schaitza, Communications Officer – Eastern Corridor Road Project, and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Monday said: “The Eastern Corridor Road Project has introduced new technologies to improve its work in Ghana.”

“One example is the use of Sitech’s 3D system for Graders and Paving machines”, which through the use of GPS technology, automatically regulates the machine’s configurations according to the project specifications.

“This allows the company to spread materials with accuracy, increasing productivity and quality,” he said.

The Ghana Eastern Corridor Project is a National Route N2 starting at the Tema Roundabout and ends at Kulungugu, the North-Eastern border with Burkina Faso, a distance of 695.6 KM.

The route is conceived as a north-south trade corridor, providing a shorter access to the Tema Port and improving integration between Upper East, Northern and Volta Regions of Ghana and also between Ghana and Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

The Project partners- Odebrecht Engineering and Construction International and Andrade Gutierrez, are working on the Lot Five and Six component of the entire Eastern Corridor Road Project.

“We are ensuring knowledge transfer. More than 94 per cent of the total workforce for the Project are hired locally in Ghana and are Ghanaians. We are encouraging technical knowledge transfer to Ghanaians working on the project,” Mr Schaitza said.

Lester Quarcoopome, a worker, said: “This is the first time in Ghana that we have seen some of the technologies this Project has introduced. We have been trained and are able to operate the new technologies.

“Our technical knowledge is enhanced and our competitiveness has also increased, because we have been introduced to the state-of-the-art technologies used in most parts of the developed world.”

The government, through the Ministry of Roads and Highways, awarded the rehabilitation and improvement works of Lots Five and Six of the Corridor- a 209km passing through the towns of Damanko, Bimbilla, Yendi, Gushegu and Gbintiri.

It also includes 63 other communities which the consortium comprising Construtora Andrade Gutierrez and Odebrecht Engineering and Construction International is undertaking.