THE RELIABILITY OF THE CIVIL AND ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS OF FARM STRUCTURES: A CASE STUDY OF NIGER DELTA REGION OF NIGERIA

This study was carried out to ascertain the acquiescence of structures used for agricultural activities in Nigeria, to International guidelines for residential and industrial buildings. In this research structures used for agricultural productions within the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, were appraised to determine their integrity status. Results obtained from the field survey revealed that most of the farm structures within the studied region were constructed with outright disregard to the basic civil and electrical engineering guidelines for buildings construction. It was observed that only 9% of the farm structures were constructed after adequate geotechnical evaluation of the building sites’ soil, 28% of the farm buildings had foundation designs, 89% of the concrete used for the buildings construction did not pass through integrity tests, and 92% of the wall materials (sandcrete blocks) did not undergo mechanical strength tests, to ascertain their suitability for load bearing walls construction. Furthermore, the field observations revealed that 90% of the farm buildings’ electrical wiring was done without any electrical design, 58% of the structures investigated were lacking electrical safety devices, 63% of the materials used for electrical installations were fake electrical materials; while 29% of the electrical terminals were not well secured. Also the findings from the questionnaires administered to the public, established that economic situation and quackery are the major reasons why people use substandard materials for construction of structures

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