EAC states make headway to harmonise bitumen standards

Dar es Salaam. East African Community (EAC) member states will start harmonising bitumen standards.

This is in line with EAC’s efforts of constructing quality roads to speed up regional integration.

Currently, each member state has its own standards for penetration bitumen materials.

The quality assurance officer at the Head Building and Construction Laboratory at the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS), Mr Stephen Minja, told The Citizen that the project was financed by TradeMark East Africa.

“Currently, each country has its own civil engineering specifications for penetration grade bitumen, but they need to have similar standards.”

According to him, EAC member states also have different maximum cargo weight for vehicles on roads. As a result, it is difficult for trucks in one EAC state to enter another country.

Tanzania uses TZS1939:2017 as standards for penetration bitumen.

Before the adoption of the standards currently in use in January 2017, an ISO was used for penetration bitumen.

But, the harmonisation of the regional standards will consider international standards for road construction based on climatic conditions.

“It is proper to follow international standards, but we have different weather conditions. We can’t build roads that have the same standards with developed countries such as the European Union because their climate is cold while ours is hot.”

When asked if TBS inspects roads when they are completed, he said that was the role of consulting engineers.

“A consulting engineer of any road construction project is the one who if responsible for ensuring standards of materials are observed.”

He said when bitumen arrives at the Dar es Salaam Port, it is tested at the TBS laboratory to approve or disapprove its quality.

“The government and the Tanzania National Road Agency should realise that TBS does auditing. If a road is damaged or vandalised or its quality is poor TBS can provide assistance.”

He gave an example of a road having potholes within few time after the construction is completed, saying the problem might have been technical as well as having been caused by the standard of building materials.

He mentioned challenges of importing low quality bitumen and of disposing of unwanted materials.

“In case we find that the quality of imported materials is low we usually order an importer to return them.”

However, he said, sometimes, instead of returning them, the materials are used for other purposes such as in early stages of road construction.

“In case the importer wants to change the use of rejected materials, TBS ensures that they are used in intended purposes.”