Cost and benefit analysis of rigid and flexible pavement: case study in chancho –derba-becho road project

Abstract

Road construction projects have been implemented all over Ethiopia as part of the national development plans. Roads are one of the country’s basic infrastructural facilities where high amount of budget allocated during every fiscal year planning period. To execute such a very crucial project large amount of money will be allocated to the pavement surfacing component of a road section. It is known that pavements are an important part of road projects. Since they cost large portion of investment, a careful evaluation of the alternatives is necessary to make the right choice for a particular project on a cost effective basis, which may be comparatively more economical to our country, Ethiopia. In history of Ethiopia road development program, almost all of road pavements are flexible type and they demand high foreign currency for asphalt material importing from abroad. In addition flexible pavement needs to be maintained and rehabilitated within few years after initial construction. In view of the emerging cement factories and the availability of cement in within Ethiopia it becomes practical to consider rigid pavement a far better alternative. In this regard, this research was conducted with the main objective of identifying the cost and benefit of rigid and flexible pavement at Chancho-Derba-Becho road project, in Oromia North showa Zone. In addition, the research work was conducted with specific objectives to determine and compare life cycle cost of rigid and flexible pavement and to investigate all other qualitative merit of rigid pavement over flexible pavement. To achieve these objectives, review of related literatures, design and specification, observation and investigation of actual pavement construction project, evaluation of life cycle costs and present worth calculation was made for an analysis period of 40 years. The data for this study was gathered through investigation on actual rigid and flexible pavement project, examination of specifications, drawings and pavement design, Ethiopian Road Authority manuals, rehabilitation and maintenance documents. This research limited to cost and benefit analysis of rigid pavement by comparing with flexible pavement in Ethiopian context specific to study area. Here, the cost parameters investigated were initial, maintenance, rehabilitation, user and salvages value in addition to other qualitative and quantitative data. In the main outcome of the research indicates that the initial cost of rigid pavement is almost twice of that of flexible however the cost of flexible pavement is 7.9 million more than rigid due to the incurring cost of maintenance through its design lif