ROUTE SURVEY OF THE ACCESS ROAD TO IKOT EBAK VILLAGE, ESSIEN UDIM LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA AKWA IBOM STATE

ROUTE SURVEY OF THE ACCESS ROAD TO IKOT EBAK VILLAGE, ESSIEN UDIM LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA AKWA IBOM STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background of Study

Infrastructral development is vital for economic and physical development of a community. Acquired property such as land tend to increase in the urban areas with fast route development and decrease rapidly in areas without development of route. Prices of houses and landed property are expected in communities, cities, towns with route improvements and increased economic and migration to such community. People who live in a community would be limited to development without proper route network, which is a bedrock for economic and physical growth of the community. Route development in

transportation will result in changed levels of accessibility in every community.

Road development is observed in terms of its accessibility,connectivity, traffic decongestion of a partiicular road. In order to have access to majar roads, some minor roads have to be constructed. Modern businesses, industries, trades and general activities depend on good road network,with movement of people and their goods from place to place is an indispensible aspect of global survival. Development of various route network have become necessary to economic and physical development, such network include railways, rope ways, pipeline, inland water ways and roads.

Route surveying includes the field work to plan, design and lay out any “long and narrow”

transportation facility. Most of the basic surveying concepts and methods are normally used. Route surveying operations, however, typically a reconnaissance, a preliminary, and allocation survey. The reconnaissance survey involves an examination of a wide area, from one end of the proposedroute to the other. It is the first step in selecting alternative routes. For most project this would be done using existing small-scale maps and aerial photographs, although ground reconnaissance surveys may be used for the relocation of short sections of existing routes.

The preliminary survey may be conductedon the ground with surveying instruments, or in the office, using aerial photogrammetric maps. The basic product of the preliminary survey is the location of the baselineor connecting

traverse. This is a series of straight lines that run along or near what will be the center line of the final route. During construction, surveys are carried out to realize the paper plan, sewer, man hole, gradients, bridges, boundaries have been ascertained as the work proceeds. The project was designed to conduct a route survey which will produce data for the production of a plan which will be used to construct a proposed road access to Ikot Ebak, Essien Udim Local Government Area.

1.2  Statement of Problem

The inaccesibility of road in Ikot Ebak during rainy season due to poor drainage system hinders migration of good and services. Therefore construction of the access road was necessary and a route survey was required to

produce a design for the construction of the road.

• Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study was to produce a plan and profile of the area under study. Its objectives were:

• To produce a plan and profile that could be used for the design and construction of the proposed road.
• To gerenate the longitudinal profile that will aid in staking out the extremities for cut and fill.
• To determine the drainage areas in order to aid in the design of ditches and culverts.
• To fill details at both sides of the road.
  • Scope of Study

The study covered a distance of 3.1 kilometers and a road width of 7meters. The exercise

covered the horizontal alignment in form of traversing to give the line of the proposed road. Longitudinal information was obtained to know the height differences at 25m interval. Prolink version 1.15 was used for downloading the field data and lastly Autodesk 2006 was used for running the point and plotting the plan and profile of the area under study.

•  Limitations of the Study

• The effect of the sun made sighting of the reflector difficult thereby making the bubble of the instrument to increase.
• The undulating nature of the road affected the reflector not to be truly vertical at some point.
• The lack of finance also delayed the project to be executed on time.
• The villagers complained that the road would be abandoned after the survey.

1.6  Organization of the Report

This report is arranged in five chapters, which include