Road construction firm, Base Seal partners FERMA, to establish production plant in Nigeria

By Akor Sylvester, Abuja

The leadership of Base Seal International, a road construction firm in the United States of America (USA) has announced it is partnering with the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), in road construction in Nigeria.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Base Seal USA, Danny Bowers, and the CEO of Stabilization Engineering Ltd., who represents Base Seal International (BSI) in Africa, Ike Onyiuke, were at the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency on a courtesy visit to appreciate the Agency for partnering with BSI.    

In an address, Bowers said he was pleased with the Agency for the trust it reposes on Base Seal which has precipitated the Agency’s use of the Base Seal (BS-100) Chemical for road maintenance projects in Nigeria. 

He said, “Base Seal has observed the successful adaptation of BS-100 chemical as an alternative to Stone Base for projects executed by FERMA. We are encouraged and pleased to partner with the Agency, Base Seal will be supplied to Nigeria at an affordable and economical cost and will also foster the establishment of Base Seal production in Nigeria”.

This, he said, will serve other African countries.

Speaking further, Bowers stated that Base Seal was introduced in Nigeria in 2001 and it is known for its long-lasting capability when used for road construction, which made the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency one of the leading users of Base Seal in Africa.

Earlier, a documentary of the progress report on the usage of Base Seal (BS-100) in soil stabilization during road rehabilitation and construction was viewed by all those that were present. 

Base Seal (BS-100) liquid chemical is developed to penetrate and create a hard resilient pavement layers and cement loose materials on the road, said an engineer, Atiku Abubakar.

He said the documentary was presented to attest to the benefits of the use of Base Seal in the construction of standard roads in Nigeria and why the Agency has continued in the use of BS-100.  

FERMA has applied Base Seal on road constructions in States like Katsina, Sokoto, Ekiti, Edo, Niger, and Borno, and indeed, these roads have stood the test of time compared to other roads where Base Seal is not applied.

The Managing Director of FERMA, Engr. Nuruddeen A. Rafindadi, expressed his happiness to receive Danny Bowers and Ike Onyiuke in Nigeria and particularly to FERMA.

He said partnering with Base Seal has been of great advantage to fulfilling the Agency’s mandate of maintaining roads and ensuring that Nigeria roads are in good condition at all times. 

According to him, the use of Base Seal has replaced the tedious use of stone base and lateral, thereby reducing the cost of transporting lateral or stone base to construction sites, and so the Agency is pleased to continue in this partnership in every possible way.

Rafindadi added that FERMA is not the major stakeholder in road construction in Nigeria and so will not be determinant of the establishment of a Base Seal production plant in the country, but as a significant player in the road sector, the Agency has pioneered the use of BS-100 in Africa and is committed to using the product. 

He said, the longevity of the roads constructed with Base Seal will speak for itself and seeing the result, major stakeholders and other stakeholders in the road industry would demand Base Seal and this will foster the establishment of a Base Seal production plant in Nigeria.

In a statement signed by Maryam M. Sanusi, Director and Head of Communication and Public Relations, he promised a continuous partnership which will convince other partners in the road sector of the use of Base Seal.