In a statement, KPA Managing Director Captain William Ruto noted that the project received the «green light» after a study by TradeMark Africa conducted in 2018, which identified the road at the rear of the port as a key «narrow» section requiring the creation of a transport interchange at different levels. «This project is not just a road. This is an infrastructure facility that includes leveling the hillside and building a retaining wall to prevent erosion. We held an international tender, where some participants offered to complete the project for 10 KSh billion. We preferred the participant with the lowest price», Ruto said. According to KPA, the project has already been completed by 50% and is part of a long-term infrastructure modernization program.
Once completed, it will improve communication between Gates 18 and 20, the Kipevu Road and the Northern Corridor, as well as cope with the growing cargo volumes at the port. Competitive tender process The Director of KPA reported that international contractors participated in the tender, whose price offers ranged from 8.3 KSh billion to 9.6 KSh billion.
In the end, the contract was awarded to a joint venture between Stecol Corporation and Miliki Development Company with the most advantageous offer of 8.3 KSh billion. According to him, the cost of the project corresponds to the market, and in some places even lower, which ensures efficient use of funds. «It corresponds to the market price, and I can even say that it is cheaper. According to our consultant, this is a good offer. As a KPA, we get a return on our invested funds. The only problem is that we called it a road, not a major infrastructure project that we are building at the port», said Captain Ruto.
The facility is a 1.8 km long two-lane carriageway with a 704-meter-long overpass supported by drilling piles and reinforced concrete box girders. The flyover will rise 15 meters above ground level to ensure a continuous flow of heavy port traffic around the existing critical infrastructure.
Stephen Vasicke, the project's consulting engineer, explained that the flyover structure was required due to the presence of existing facilities in the port, such as oil pipelines and a Single Service Center (One-Stop Center), which could not be moved or demolished. An overpass is a bridge structure built above the ground, under which other objects are located, Vasike explained. Safety considerations related to the oil pipeline and the importance of maintaining the basic functions of the port have led to the fact that the flyover structure has become the best engineering solution, he added.
The project also includes two large roundabouts, exits, side roads and other traffic management infrastructure, which ensures better cargo transportation and minimizes traffic conflicts inside the port. The engineers carried out a huge amount of excavation work, such as the development of Kipevu Hill (about 450,000 cubic meters of rock and 150,000 cubic meters of engineering embankment). The project also includes the construction of a 265-meter-long geosynthetic retaining wall (GMSE) to stabilize the excavation of the slope next to the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) oil storage facilities to protect them.
The work also includes the transfer of vital communications such as the high-voltage network of the port, a specially built technical tunnel under Kipevu Hill, water mains, fiber-optic communication lines, power grids and an integrated security system. In addition, the contractors are building a large tunnel for stormwater drainage, which will run underground from the gantry crane workshop to the water outlet for safe drainage of rainwater, thereby preserving the new transport facility and other port facilities.
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