A section of the Arusha-Namanga-Athi River road, a joint infrastructure
project undertaken by the governments of Kenya and Tanzania under the
auspices of the EAC. Parts of the Tanzanian section of the road are set
to be redone. PHOTO | AGENCIES.
In Summary
- New civil works have zeroed on culverts, many of which are being replaced because the original ones could not withstand floods
Arusha. Major defects on
designs have been found on the recently-completed Arusha-Namanga road,
prompting some portions of the 110 kilometre highway to be constructed
afresh, it was revealed here at the weekend.
New civil works have zeroed on culverts, many of which are being replaced because the original ones could not withstand floods, especially in the lowland areas which are often flooded during heavy rains.
“The person who carried out hydrological designs miscalculated some parameters,” said the principal civil engineer of the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat, Eng. Hosea Nyangweso, when reached to comment on traffic diversions on the road which was completed only a year ago.
He said major defects were found on the stretch between Longido - which is about 24 km from the Namanga border town - and Oldonyo Sambu, some 30 km north of Arusha.
“Some sections of the road had to be redesigned due to the floods. As a result we had to propose bigger box culverts”, he told The Citizen, noting that although the Arusha-Namanga road stretched through a semi-arid area, floods experienced during heavy rains were devastating.
The road was constructed under the East African Road Project through a $60m loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and is part of the Arusha-Namanga-Athi River whose rehabilitation totalled nearly $200m. No defects have been reported on the Kenyan side of the 243km highway.
Eng Nyangweso said the same Chinese firm which rehabilitated the Arusha-Namanga road, China Geo Engineering, is putting up new culverts and that this is expected to be completed between January and April, next year.
Rehabilitation of the Arusha-Namanga-Athi River road started in August 2008 and took four years to be completed.
The highway was one of the infrastructure projects which were officially opened by the EAC Heads of State on 28 November last year.
The EAC official said the costs for the new culverts on the road were borne by savings accrued from the contract price.
New civil works have zeroed on culverts, many of which are being replaced because the original ones could not withstand floods, especially in the lowland areas which are often flooded during heavy rains.
“The person who carried out hydrological designs miscalculated some parameters,” said the principal civil engineer of the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat, Eng. Hosea Nyangweso, when reached to comment on traffic diversions on the road which was completed only a year ago.
He said major defects were found on the stretch between Longido - which is about 24 km from the Namanga border town - and Oldonyo Sambu, some 30 km north of Arusha.
“Some sections of the road had to be redesigned due to the floods. As a result we had to propose bigger box culverts”, he told The Citizen, noting that although the Arusha-Namanga road stretched through a semi-arid area, floods experienced during heavy rains were devastating.
The road was constructed under the East African Road Project through a $60m loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and is part of the Arusha-Namanga-Athi River whose rehabilitation totalled nearly $200m. No defects have been reported on the Kenyan side of the 243km highway.
Eng Nyangweso said the same Chinese firm which rehabilitated the Arusha-Namanga road, China Geo Engineering, is putting up new culverts and that this is expected to be completed between January and April, next year.
Rehabilitation of the Arusha-Namanga-Athi River road started in August 2008 and took four years to be completed.
The highway was one of the infrastructure projects which were officially opened by the EAC Heads of State on 28 November last year.
The EAC official said the costs for the new culverts on the road were borne by savings accrued from the contract price.
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