The construction of the spectacular Nairobi Express Highway has begun to take shape – By Faith Mutete.
The project is being executed by the China Road and Bridge Corporation(CRBC) under the supervision of the Kenya National Highways Authority (KENHA).
Already, works on the foundation of the elevated section of the expressway at Bellevue is in progress.
The contractor is also in the process of relocating a major water supply pipe located at the central reserve of Mombasa Road, on which the foundation will be laid.
According to the Project quality manager Quan Yi, the process to relocate the pipes is scheduled to take atleast 20 days.
The cost of building this project is Sh.59.9billion and will be implemented under the Public-Private Partnership as a Toll Road.
Elevation and structural upgrades.
The first 15.5 km will be constructed at ground level, while 11.2 km will be constructed as an elevated road. Elevation will be done to utilize the space that is available in the median section of the existing road.
To accommodate traffic being fed into different points along the highway, there will be different lane provisions at different sections of the Expressway.
From Mlolongo to the Eastern Bypass the Nairobi Expressway will have four lanes. The section between Eastern Bypass and Southern Bypass will be a six-lane dual carriageway due to the significantly high volume of traffic brought in from the Eastern Bypass and the Southern Bypass to James Gichuru will be a four-lane dual carriageway.
The road will have 10 interchanges at Mlolongo, SGR terminus, JKIA, Eastern Bypass, Southern Bypass, Capital Centre, Haile Selassie Avenue, Thika Road (Museum), The Mall Westlands and at James Gichuru Road.
The project, closely watched by investors worldwide, is geared to be the best-engineered road in Africa, enhancing Nairobi’s position as the economic hub of the region.
