While road construction work commonly uses various construction machines, the cost of these machines account for more than 50% of the total construction cost in developing countries. The reliance of these countries on overseas procurement for such machines means that more than half of the investment goes abroad. In view of such a situation, there is growing focus on LBT (labour-based technology) which mainly relies on manpower for road construction. With the use of LBT, much funding is spent domestically except for the procurement of a limited number of essential machines, such as rollers and sprinklers, and a high economic effect can be expected domestically.
The project involved simple bituminous paving work using LBT method for Mbozi district road in Mbeya Region, Tanzania as part of a pilot project of JICA. The purpose was to educate local administrative officials and to facilitate the dissemination of LBT. The road length was 1.0 km (of which 0.5 km was simple bituminous paving and 0.5 km was sub-base paving) and the road width was 10 m. The work was completed in two months and some 120 workers were employed during the peak period. After the completion of the work, the regional government expressed its gratitude.