The Kenya Ports Authority has moved to explain the Sh8.3 billion project under construction at the Port of Mombasa, saying the development has wrongly been described as an expensive road when it is a large transport interchange built to improve cargo movement, reduce traffic congestion and support port operations.
The authority said the project is one of the key investments under its long-term plan to expand and modernise the port as cargo volumes continue to rise. It added that the works will improve access between the port, Gates 18 and 20, Kipevu Road and the Northern Corridor while making the movement of trucks safer and more efficient.
Construction has reached the halfway mark, with completion expected in March next year.
Speaking on Wednesday, KPA Managing Director Captain William Ruto said the project was developed after the 2018 TradeMark Africa Traffic Management Study identified the Back of Port Road corridor as one of the biggest traffic bottlenecks at the port and recommended the construction of a grade-separated transport system.
He said the project should not be judged as an ordinary road because it combines several specialised engineering works required to support operations within a busy seaport.
Captain Ruto also dismissed claims that the cost of the project is inflated, saying the contract was awarded through an international competitive bidding process in which contractors submitted bids ranging between Sh8.3 billion and Sh9.6 billion.
The contract was awarded to M/s Stecol Corporation and Miliki Development Company Joint Venture after emerging as the lowest evaluated responsive bidder.
"It is within the market price and I can even say it is cheaper. In terms of our consultant, it is even cheaper. We are getting value for money as KPA. The problem is only that we called it a road, instead of calling it a major infrastructure project that we are building in the port," Captain Ruto said.
At the centre of the project is a 1.8-kilometre dual carriageway that features a 704-metre elevated viaduct built on bored pile foundations and reinforced concrete box girders. The structure rises up to 15 metres above the ground, allowing heavy cargo traffic to move without interfering with existing facilities inside the port.
Project consultant engineer Stephen Wasike said the design of the viaduct was influenced by the need to protect important infrastructure already operating within the port.
"A viaduct is different from a bridge in the sense that, for a viaduct, you are putting up a bridge-like structure that spans a vast tract of land that may have developments below," he said.
"There's a limit to how high or how close you should come to the pipeline because it's a live line carrying petroleum products, and that forced the project to go higher."
"We also had to pass over an existing KPA facility known as the One-Stop Centre, which houses numerous critical operations and could not be demolished. We therefore had to construct the viaduct above it."
Besides the elevated section, the project also includes two large roundabouts, ramps, slip roads and other traffic management facilities that will separate traffic flows and allow faster evacuation of cargo from the port.
The construction has also involved extensive earthworks at Kipevu Hill, where engineers have excavated about 450,000 cubic metres of rock and placed another 150,000 cubic metres of engineered fill to support the new infrastructure.
To protect nearby strategic installations, engineers are constructing a 265-metre Geosynthetic Mechanically Stabilised Earth retaining wall to strengthen the excavated slope near the Kenya Pipeline Company petroleum storage tank farms.
The project has also required the relocation and protection of key utilities serving the port, including the main high-voltage electricity network, which is being rerouted through a specially constructed utility tunnel excavated within Kipevu Hill from the Gate 18 substation.