The Minister of Public Works , Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi wrote to various officials in his department on September 6th to “take into account the effects of climate change in the design of road infrastructure”.
Without having conducted an in-depth study on the issue, the minister notes that the effects of climate change observed over the past few decades are challenging the government’s objectives in terms of road infrastructure construction. This makes the road network vulnerable and alters the efforts made.
This vulnerability is manifested by an increase in the intensity of rainfall, which causes “an increase in the flow of watercourses, a decrease in the air draught at the level of engineering structures, hydraulic clogging of structures, an increase in scouring phenomena at the level of bridge piers and abutments, and recurrent flooding of the roadway in low-lying areas and on gentle slopes”, the Minister said.
In order to provide an immediate solution to this problem, Minister Nganou Djoumessi asked that four new guidelines be taken into account in the preparation of tender documents. These are: the upward revision of runoff coefficients, the integration of the carriage of plant debris by water when sizing bridges, the fight against bridge scouring by resizing engineering structures, and the raising of the red line in low-lying areas and on gentle slopes.
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