Railway sites hum with activity as contractors begin SGR work

Workers and a security officer at a construction site in Taru, Coast where some of the materials used to build the standard gauge railway will be excavated. Residents in the area have been compensated. FILE PHOTO |  NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

• It is the biggest infrastructure project for the Jubilee government.
• Factories start producing materials for the Sh327b project as firm says it will meet the deadline.

By PAULINE KAIRU
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Contractors are laying the infrastructure needed to build the standard gauge railway as financiers prepare to release cash for the biggest infrastructure project of the Jubilee government.

An aerial view of the standard gauge railway construction site from the skies provides an ideal impression of where the new track is going to snake through.

From Mairakani to Athi River through hinterland of the eight counties of Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale, Makueni, Taita Taveta, Kajiado, Machakos and Nairobi, the areas where the railway will pass through are teeming with activity.

In some areas, the new rail line is just 70 metres from the old one.

On this stretch, about 250 kilometres — of the 472 kilometre stretch from Nairobi to Mombasa — of freshly excavated earth outlines the skeletal frame of the track.

Alongside the track, the contractor is also lying ground for other services like fibre optic cables and power lines.

Even though the initial trains for this line will be diesel-powered, the contractors are leaving room for future installation of electricity.

LABORATORY

Dotting the path of the first phase of the railway are eight construction sites.

Sections of the track will be fabricated and assembled at section six unit in Kathekani and taken to the construction site in panels to be conjoined into a seamless whole.

Laboratories to carry out tests on materials to be used for the construction are also up and running.

The labs will test sand, ballast and soil density and dynamic penetration, as well as cement superiority and steel yield stress among other supplies.

At the Kathekani slipper and pre-cast beams manufacturing site, which will supply the entire project, the factory is now awaiting orders.

Staff at the 21 administrative camps, which also comprise boarding houses, mixing and crashing plants, laboratories among other facilities are on stand-by.

The bulk of the work will be done by the main contractor, China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) who recently begun recruitment for local staff.

The firm started preparing in November but the contract will take effect in January 2015.

However, on the stretch between Kibwezi East and Kibwezi West, not much activity can be seen.

This is presumably due to the ongoing court case in which Kibwezi residents sued the government for what they termed as inadequate compensation.

Through a case filed by Kibwezi West MP Patrick Musimba, the residents accused the government of measly payments for their land.

Mr Musimba sought to stop construction of the railway through his constituency arguing that the National Land Commission and the Kenya Railways Corporation did not consult locals.

Nevertheless, Kenya Railways Project Manager in charge of the SGR project, Eng Maxwell Mengich says 85 per cent of the land required for the project has already been acquired.

“We have acquired most of the land from Mariakani to Athi River that is why you see work along the corridor has taken off,” he said.

China Exim Bank, which is funding 90 percent of the project (while the Kenyan government funds the remaining 10 percent) had released 30 per cent of the Sh327 billion for the project last week, according to Mr Mengich.

“The rest will be released once the project takes off next year,” he added.

The contractor has already mobilised all the equipment needed to facilitate construction.

“We expect that by end of January, a three kilometre track will have been completed,” said Engineer Mengich.

“In spite of the many distractions, the project is scheduled for completion in May 2018. However, our target is to finish on June 2017.”

Of the ballast, the slippers, steel rails and fittings required for this project, only the last two will be imported from China.

CEMENT DELIVERY

“Because the manufacturers of steel in Kenya cannot make the kind of quality required in railway construction, then we are forced to import it. However the cement will come from the local market.

The contractor has given local manufacturers the quality required,” said SGR business manager for external relations and cooperation James Chen.

Unlike the old one, the new line will have two passenger and freight handling stations in Mombasa and Nairobi. It will also have eight animal crossing corridors.

Most of the area along the railway is inhabited by wild animals.

“The trains will thus be able to make non-stop trips ,” noted Engineer Mengich