Consultancy Reports

Motorcycle and tricycle taxis have, in recent years, become an important public transport service option in Ghana. Nonetheless, the road traffic regulations (LI 2180) in the country forbid the use of Powered Two- or Three-Wheelers (PTWs) to offer fare-paying passenger services. The Ministry of Transport (MoT) is reviewing the transport regulations including the Legislative Instrument (LI 2180), which proscribes the use of PTWs for fare-paying passenger services. Consequently, a nationwide consultation was commissioned to elicit perspectives of all transport stakeholders from the ten previous regional capitals on the current legislation, which bans the use of PTWs to offer fare-paying passenger services. It was unequivocally established that participants wanted the current legislation to be revised to enable PTWs to offer fare-paying passenger services. Most participants were of the view that, for some communities, PTWs are the only available public transport modes; their operations offer employment for the youth and their services are cheap, flexible, convenient and fast. They usually will go to areas where ‘trotros’ and taxis find difficult to go because of the bad nature of roads. Though some stakeholders acknowledged some negative externalities like road traffic crashes, noise and violent crimes to be associated with PTWs use, they emphasised that these are preventable through effective policing. To improve the safety and operations of PTW services, participants stressed the need to regulate commercial use of PTWs through stringent licensing regime, training, enforcement of minimum age limit for operators and allowing operators to form identifiable riders' associations. The long-term goal for the transport ministry should be to provide standard public transport services that are amenable to the needs of all communities in Ghana.

This report presents the indicators for assessing the benefits of research investments, a detailed description of the Benefit Assessment System (BAS) and the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework using the indicators. BAS uses a systems approach where ReCAP-BAS is considered to comprise a number of interdependent and interacting subsystems of an organised whole system. Six subsystems are identified and performance indicators are categorized according to these sub-systems. A scoring system is used for the indicators, and their surrogates for each subsystem are scored according to the relative importance in defining the subsystem. The ReCAP-BAS can be visualized as a report (score) card where grades (or scores) are assigned to the various indicators or groups for each subsystem. Poor performance in one area does not necessarily lead to the conclusion that the program/project is a failure. The relative merits (scores) of the various subsystems of the framework need to be considered in assessing the overall benefits of the program/project in any given time frame. The systems architecture is also presented. It describes the structure of the database and M&E website using Open-Source software application. The open-source software suite is sustainable and presents a simple yet powerful architecture which integrates very well with other open standard application for data visualization and manipulation

Steep hill sections of low-volume (i.e. feeder) roads in Ghana are at high risk of slope failure, erosion, and drainage-related problems that ultimately affect the rural communities in respect of traffic delays, safety, damage to natural resources, and economic activities. These problems have been mainly attributed to prolonged rainy seasons, coupled with weak natural (lateritic) soils that are commonly used as wearing course on the feeder roads. A study was recently conducted to identify alternative surfacing options to gravel wearing courses used on steep gradients (in excess of 12%) of feeder roads in Ghana. A major outcome was three surfacing options (i.e. concrete, bituminous and stone setts/cobbles) that would be more effective to address drainage and erosion problems on the steep section than gravel wearing courses currently used by the Department of Feeder Roads (DFR). The objective of this paper is to present a life-cycle cost comparison of six pavement options proposed for steep hilly sections of feeder roads in Ghana. The economic evaluation methodology adopted is the present worth of cost. Although not very decisively, the life-cycle cost analysis of the six pavements indicated that with a real discount rate of 12%, 70 mm ultra-thin reinforced concrete surfacing has the lowest cost (GBP 69.7/m²), whereas 50 mm hot-mix asphalt emerged as the option with the highest cost (GBP 91.7/m²). Based on the analysis results, it is concluded that all six pavement options remain cost-effective structures compared with a gravel wearing course. However, the current policies of the DFR may influence the decision on particular surfacing to be adopted for feeder roads in Ghana. 

The challenges associated with acquiring road space for reconstruction works can be daunting, especially in urban or peri-urban settings. The objective of this case study was to present the main challenges in the acquisition of right-of-way (ROW) for the reconstruction of a 3.25km road connecting Apowa and Kejebril, Western Region, and make recommendations to minimise the impacts on future constructions in similar settings. The roadway finished with paving blocks, comprises a 7.5m carriageway with a 2.0m walkway/shoulders on both sides, thus lying within a 16m ROW. Key challenges that impacted the reconstruction works are delays contributing to 37% (4 months) of the originally scheduled period for construction, construction cost overruns estimated at more than 32.5% of the total cost overrun (GHS 4 million) comprising relocation of utilities- electricity, water, communication services and compensations for affected persons. The compensations for owners of buildings sited within the ROW, operators of commercial businesses along the roadway were thorny issues that contributed significantly to delays for the acquisition of ROW for the project. The difficulty in locating the exact positions of buried utility services (i.e water and communication) for relocations led to avoidable losses which contributed to construction cost overruns and delays. The keeping of accurate database on the positions of buried utility services using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications could significantly reduce the costs of acquisition of ROW. Also, spatial development agencies should enforce by-laws prohibiting roadside commercial activities to avert squatters demanding compensations when the need for acquiring the ROW for reconstruction works arises.  

The successful performance of roads, to a large extent, depends on the pavement structure that is capable of carrying the imposed traffic loads. However, in some cases, the subgrade is too weak requiring removal and replacement with a stronger granular material. Material weaned from borrowed pits may be deficient in meeting the required standard parameters for use as road pavement layers. Chemical and/or mechanical stabilisations have been employed in improving the host material to meet the desired applicable engineering properties. This study investigates the impact of three proportions of cement (2, 4, and 6% by soil weight) on samples of gravel from borrowed pits used for reconstruction of the Apowa-Kejebril road, Western Region, Ghana.  The index properties of gravel samples (e.g. gradation, Atterberg limits, specific gravity and Los Angeles abrasion test), and the advanced characterisation of the cement-stabilised material through resilient modulus at different partial saturation conditions and compressive and tensile strengths were established. The results suggest that cement stabilisation at doses ranging between 2 and 6% by weight of soil efficiently improves the mechanical properties of the gravel materials from the burrow pits, allowing for their use for subbase material for the Apowa-Kebril road project, a flagship composite flexible road with all concrete block paving as the road surfacing material.