Factors Governing Urban Roads’ Maintenance Approaches And Their Influence On The Quality Of Maintenance Works. A Case Of Blantyre City

Abstract

Road infrastructure is the backbone of sustainable development of any country. Worldwide there is a direct relationship between road development and economic development. A well-maintained road network acts as a catalyst for growth in other sectors. Unfortunately, urban road maintenance has been a very critical problem in many African countries especially Sub-Saharan Africa. Malawi as a landlocked country has much dependency on road infrastructure, however, the poor condition of roads has been an obstacle from advancing it from its current economic status into an industrial economy. This study explored the factors governing urban roads’ maintenance and their influence on quality of maintenance works in Blantyre city which is the second largest city in Malawi as well as business and industrial city. It involved the administering of questionnaire and interview checklist to 3 consultant companies, 8 construction companies, Road Authority and Blantyre city council which altogether gave out the total number of 74 respondents. Also, there was observation of maintained roads. However, questionnaire was structured while interview checklists were semi-structured. Data collected were analyzed through STATA 15 for quantitative data and thematic analysis for qualitative data. The key findings revealed that investing in technological factors which were the top three ranked factors under the Relative Importance Index analysis can lead to the improved quality of maintenance works. This study will supplement the knowledge to the existing body of knowledge and unleash the importance of considering the root causes of road deterioration instead of dealing with consequences.