[kictanet] RESPONSES FROM ENGINEER KIDENDA ON THE STATE OF KENYAN ROADS

Thu May 31 11:53:12 EAT 2012

wait, is that kph or mph?

On Thu, May 31, 2012 at 11:52 AM, Collins Areba <arebacollins at gmail.com>wrote:

> haiya! @andrea the autobahn has a max of 120?
>
> On Thu, May 31, 2012 at 10:09 AM, John Gitau <jgitau at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I should have probably brought this one up earlier. I am an avid cyclist.
>> One of the biggest issues cyclists face is a lack of proper dedicated
>> cycling lanes.
>>
>> City council guys once harrassed me for riding on what they called a
>> 'pedestrian only' walk way. Is this the case or can I ride on this walkways
>> (with full respect for the other users of course) without fear of expensive
>> bike confiscation?
>>
>> Obviously cycling on the road is a bit insane on some highways. Is there
>> a chance at least on the new roads this can be taken to consideration?
>>
>> gitau
>>
>> On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 11:49 AM, James Mbugua <jgmbugua at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> Listers
>>>
>>> I have removed them from the attachment and copied into the body of
>>> the mail for easier reading.
>>>
>>>
>>> 1. Where does Kenya stand when it comes to local road standards vis a
>>> vis international
>>> standards?
>>>
>>> Kenyan road standards are prepared to international standards. Our Road
>>> Design
>>> Manuals were developed from international standards and customized to
>>> suit local
>>> conditions. Furthermore, in Kenya, standards make reference to
>>> international
>>> standards like Road Notes, TRRL, AASHTO, FIDIC among others.
>>>
>>> 2. What are the “smart transport solutions” (ICTs integration) Kenya
>>> is considering to
>>> use in order to enhance road safety especially along the entire Thika
>>> road?
>>>
>>> We are considering installation of traffic lights, road signage and
>>> road marking to
>>> enhance road safety along the entire Thika road. Further,
>>> incorporation of ICT as part
>>> of PPP contract for maintenance of Nairobi-Thika Road is being
>>> considered.
>>>
>>> 3. What does KeNHA have to say about the quality of work being done on
>>> the road
>>> between Rimpa and Magadi (so far upto Kiserian town)?
>>>
>>> KeNHA has put in place the right quality control measures to ensure
>>> that the works
>>> done meet the specifications. However, National Water Conservation and
>>> Pipeline
>>> Corporation are laying water pipes along the same road between
>>> Kiserian and Ongata
>>> Rongai. The material being excavated has been dumped on the side drains
>>> and road
>>> shoulders. This situation is temporary. Once backfilling is complete,
>>> drains will be
>>> cleaned and shoulders reinstated.
>>>
>>> 4. How are roads categorized, in terms of those managed by the local
>>> authorities,
>>> central government and, if possible, those ones that are
>>> internationally managed?
>>>
>>> Roads are categorized into Class A, B, C, D, E, urban roads, park roads
>>> and
>>> unclassified roads. KeNHA manages Class A (International trunk roads),
>>> B (national
>>> trunk roads) and C. KeRRA manages Class D, E and rural unclassified
>>> roads while
>>> KURA manages urban roads. KWS manages park roads.
>>>
>>> 5. Why does the government award contracts to companies that do not do
>>> their job
>>> professionally?
>>>
>>> Government contracts are awarded in accordance with the provisions of the
>>> Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2005 and Regulations, 2006. This
>>> includes
>>> competitive bidding process through tendering and award to the lowest
>>> evaluated bid.
>>>
>>> 6. There is a contractor who was awarded a contract to rehabilitate
>>> Nairobi-Naivasha
>>> Road (between the former Museum Hill roundabout and Rironi) and they’ve
>>> dug
>>> a whole stretch of the road, about a kilometre and a half. They dug up
>>> patches
>>> everywhere that drivers have to be extra cautious. Is there anything
>>> the Authority
>>> (assuming the said section is under Eng. Kidenda’s Authority) can do
>>> to make sure
>>>
>>> there are mechanisms in place for the Contractor to ensure he does not
>>> put the lives
>>> of road users at risk?
>>>
>>> The Contractor milled the road with an intention to immediately cover
>>> it with Asphalt
>>> Concrete (AC). However, the rains started and AC could not be laid under
>>> the wet
>>> weather conditions which lasted for two weeks resulting in further
>>> deterioration of the
>>> milled section.
>>>
>>> Nevertheless, the section was covered with AC after the rains subsided.
>>> The
>>> Contractor is under instructions not to open up large sections of road
>>> and leave them
>>> exposed for longer periods.
>>>
>>> 7. How ‘safe’ are our new roads? Would they pass muster if road safety
>>> audits were
>>> conducted?
>>>
>>> All new roads are designed and constructed to achieve the highest
>>> possible safety
>>> standards. Where the highest possible safety standard cannot be
>>> attained due to the
>>> nature of terrain, appropriate speed reduction measures are
>>> implemented. It is worth
>>> noting that safety on our roads is highly dependent on disciplined use
>>> of the roads by
>>> all the users i.e. motorists, cyclists, pedestrians, hand cart
>>> pullers, amongst others.
>>>
>>> 8. There is a fundamental design flaw on our roads. Are concerned
>>> parties now ready
>>> to listen or are we going to export these problems to Langata Rd, Ngong
>>> Rd, New
>>> airport terminals, Lamu Port etc?
>>>
>>> We are not aware of any fundamental design flaw on our roads. We will
>>> appreciate if
>>> you can highlight those fundamental design flaws for our further
>>> necessary action.
>>>
>>> 9. There is a role played by auditors at various stages. Do we have
>>> evidence that
>>> KeNHA engages these or in other words do we have people in
>>> Government/Private
>>> sector playing that role currently?
>>>
>>> KeNHA has an Internal Audit section which audits all the works and
>>> services
>>> undertaken by the organisation on a daily basis. In addition, KeNHA
>>> has a Quality
>>> Assurance department which is in charge of ensuring quality in all its
>>> endeavours.
>>> The Quality Assurance department usually engages the services of the
>>> Private sector
>>> to execute their function independently. Furthermore, Kenya Roads Board
>>> engages
>>> the Private sector to conduct audit checks on roads financed under
>>> Road Maintenance
>>> Levy Fund. Lastly, the Kenya National Audit Office conducts regular
>>> audits on all
>>> roads contracts countrywide.
>>>
>>> 10. There is data collection and its role. But as we know data is
>>> useless unless turned to
>>> information. Does the relevant authority use this data?
>>>
>>> All required data is collected and utilised. These include data on
>>> traffic surveys, axle
>>> load surveys, materials investigations, environmental impact
>>> assessment, topographic
>>> survey, accidents, weather patterns, among other data are all utilized
>>> for design and
>>>
>>> eventually construct roads.
>>>
>>> 11.There is the common user and there very annoying problems-turn-offs
>>> which are
>>> suddenly blocked with no notice, oncoming vehicle channelled to your
>>> lane, taking
>>> one hour to get to your gate while all the time you can see it a few
>>> metres from where
>>> you are stuck! Who is listening and helping?
>>>
>>> As explained earlier, road safety is a function of disciplined use by
>>> all the road users.
>>> Traffic rules are to be enforced by the Traffic Police. Our mandate
>>> does not include
>>> enforcement of traffic rules. There are traffic signs to notify
>>> deviations and speed
>>> limits to make motorists aware of the situations ahead. This calls for
>>> motorists to be
>>> vigilant and observant when driving.
>>>
>>> 12. There is the role that ICT can play to enable smart infrastructure
>>> – my take is that
>>> unless we embed it in at step 1 (design) above, it will be most likely
>>> be cosmetic.
>>>
>>> Currently we have employed use of ICT in monitoring our weighbridges and
>>> have
>>> also installed automatic counters on our roads to count vehicular
>>> traffic plying the
>>> roads. However, due to constrained funding from the exchequer, and the
>>> need to
>>> increase connectivity countrywide through construction of all weather
>>> roads, the
>>> authority has prioritized building of more new roads and maintenance of
>>> existing
>>> ones. With the advent of PPP and having its legal framework in place,
>>> the use of ICT
>>> and its utilisation in Smart Highways will easily be accommodated.
>>>
>>> 13. Are there any efforts to integrate intelligent transportation
>>> systems in these new super
>>> highways? (Making the infrastructure Smart) Should there be an
>>> accident on the one
>>> way lane (how do we alert speeding drivers coming from behind).
>>> Secondly is there a
>>> provision for transmitters that can allow smart driving and speed
>>> cameras?
>>>
>>> This question has been addressed above.
>>>
>>> 14. What strategy does KeNHA have for creating ducts for fibre optic
>>> and power cables,
>>> are we likely to see the new roads being dug up?
>>>
>>> We incorporate ducts in our road projects for passing of services
>>> across the road.
>>> Where the ducts are not in place we only allow micro-tunnelling.
>>> Digging up of roads
>>> for purposes of utilities is no longer accepted.
>>>
>>> 15. Are there frameworks for evaluating infrastructure alternatives
>>> and clear processes
>>> for evaluating infrastructure system designs?
>>>
>>> All these are taken care of at Feasibility, Preliminary and Detailed
>>> Engineering
>>> studies.
>>>
>>> On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 11:32 AM, Grace Githaiga <ggithaiga at hotmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> > Listers
>>> >
>>> > Greetings.
>>> >
>>> > Kindly find attached a response from Engineer Kidenda on the state of
>>> Kenyan
>>> > Roads.
>>> >
>>> > Rgds
>>> > Grace
>>> >
>>> > ________________________________
>>> > Date: Wed, 30 May 2012 09:23:03 +0100
>>> > From: ekebaya at yahoo.co.uk
>>> > Subject: RE: KENYA ICT ACTION NETWORK QUESTIONS TO ENGINEER KIDENDA ON
>>> THE
>>> > STATE OF KENYAN ROADS
>>> > To: ggithaiga at hotmail.com; dg at kenha.co.ke; otieno.barrack at gmail.com
>>> >
>>> > Dear Grace,
>>> >
>>> > I sent this response to you yesterday from our official mail but it
>>> seems it
>>> > did not get through.
>>> >
>>> > Kindly acknowledge receipt
>>> >
>>> > Regards
>>> >
>>> > Esther Kebaya
>>> > for: Director General, KeNHA
>>> >
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>>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> **Gitau
>>
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>>
>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>
>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>
>
>
>
> --
> *“The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments of
> great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of
> corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of
> protecting corporate power against democracy”*
>
>

-- 
*“The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments of
great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of
corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of
protecting corporate power against democracy”*
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