Planning, Design, and Construction of Low-Cost Roads and Bridge Accessibility

The goal of donors in poor countries and in countries after conflicts and natural disasters has been to restore safe road accessibility, create employment, and build the local capacity of road infrastructure management. The paper presents the engineering considerations and the socioeconomic outcomes of low-cost road and bridge improvement and maintenance projects that have been planned and implemented at various locations around the world. The 2008 Haitian rainy season caused a complete collapse of the transport system, including the Ennery Bridge, as well as major crop destruction. The U.S. Agency for International Development supported the Haitian government to accelerate the restoration of safe accessibility over the Ennery River by building a 60-m two-lane ford in 2 months in 2009. In southern Sudan, demining work along priority roads had to be completed before the implementation of basic engineering activities needed to develop effective road improvement work. Low-volume road projects in Latin America demonstrated that hundreds of community-based microenterprises can produce effective road maintenance services on more than 15,000 km of unpaved roads at an average cost of $700/km/year. In the Central African Republic, the low cost of reconstruction of roads and timber-deck bridges was essential to the provision of affordable accessibility.