Classical approaches to improving road maintenance organization in Africa have largely failed, mostly because they did not deal with the large number of constraints and pressures external to the organization itself. The following steps are proposed for designing rural road maintenance organizations under the conditions prevailing in a typical sub-Saharan African country: 1) make the external environment more favorable to the organization; 2) ensure better performance by the other organizations upon which rural road maintenance depends, or minimize such dependency; 3) improve motivation within the maintenance organization itself by using locally proved incentives, better relating training to the field reality, removing bureaucratic bottle-necks, or developing a local contracting industry to which certain activities will be entrusted; and 4) ensure that the lessons learned from road maintenance are taken into account in the design of new roads. The paper emphasized that there is no one solution for improving road maintenance organization, and recommends that designers and managers consider which among the many possible options best fit the prevailing circumstances.
Details
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Author
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Document Date
1982/06/30
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Document Type
PAS Research Paper
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Report Number
14482
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Volume No
1
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Total Volume(s)
1
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Country
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Region
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Disclosure Date
2021/05/03
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Disclosure Status
Disclosed
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Doc Name
A method for considering possible alternatives to the organization of rural road maintenance and its application to a sub-Saharan African context
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Keywords
road maintenance;efficient use of resource;civil service structure;rural road maintenance;road maintenance activity;concepts of management;continuity of policy;maintenance and repair;society in general;choice of technology;main road network;high failure rate;funds for road;channels of communication;road user charge;feeder road program;civil service regulations;local contractor;routine maintenance;organizational performance;work force;government procedure;alternative technology;limited resources;local representatives;organization design;cost control;bureaucratic bottlenecks;internal environment;external assistance;local committees;donor agencies;adaptive approach;daily activity;road sector;regional councils;donor financing;gravel road;commercial agency;financial constraint;local council;administrative level;bureaucratic procedure;local population;hypothetical country;job security;organizational problem;academic circles;mechanical engineer;provincial road;financial environment;external events;political environment;progressive training;political pressure;external factor;workshop equipment;management style;budget procedure;intended beneficiary;recurrent budgets;political interference;resource requirements;maintenance equipment;external environment;field staff;procurement procedure;internal management;cultural attitude;reward system;unit price;organizational strength;
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Citation
Mason,Melody K.
A method for considering possible alternatives to the organization of rural road maintenance and its application to a sub-Saharan African context (English). Projects advisory staff (PAS) technical note,no. 1 Washington, D.C. : World Bank Group. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/958381493331616471/A-method-for-considering-possible-alternatives-to-the-organization-of-rural-road-maintenance-and-its-application-to-a-sub-Saharan-African-context