Rehabilitation Work on Nelson Mandela Expressway in Dar es Salaam kicks off

THE upgrading of a dual carriage way of a famous “Nelson Mandela Expressway Road” in Dar es Salaam city whose contractual work was signed about three years ago has started. Tanzania Roads Agency (TANROADS) which has been charged with the responsibility for its upgrading on behalf of the Ministry of Infrastructure Development in the country, is very close doing everything possible to ensure that the project is finished quickly. This is the third project to be done in Dar es Salaam’s 30 km stretch rehabilitation program targeting three major roads earlier announced by the government. Other two projects are Sam-Nujoma and Kilwa Roads whose rehabilitation works nears completion. Nelson Mandela Expressway is being undertaken by help of European Union.

A dilapidated section of the Nelson Mandela expressway which is currently under rehabilitation in Dar es Salaam.

A sign board standing besides Nelson Mandela expressway that shows work in progress ahead.

The expansion of Kilwa and Sam-Nujoma Roads into a dual carriage way were the government’s plan that aimed at providing a solution to the unbearable traffic congestion problem in the city of Dar es Salaam. The proposed rig road, 16 km stretch of Nelson Mandela is expected to last after eight months’ time from the start of the project two months ago. The road which is being upgraded by Maltauro Spencon Stirling construction company is part of the main urban ring roads in the city of Dar es Salaam that links the port of Dar es Salaam and upcountry regions. The construction of Nelson Mandela Road was done in late 1970s mainly as a bypass for heavy duty vehicles transporting goods from the Port of Dar es Salaam to up-country destinations including the neighboring countries mostly the landlocked like, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, and Malawi.

Workers busy digging a ditch alongside the road

The design life of the road was 20 years. Accordingly towards the end of 1990s the road became due for strengthening having reached the end of its design life. It was for this reason that in 1999 a consultant, M/S May Associates was engaged with financial assistance from the European Union (EU) to carry out an evaluation of the pavement and propose the necessary strengthening measure to be taken on the road. The study also involved the Morogoro-Dodoma and Isaka-Lusahunga roads which were constructed in the 1980s

A worker standing behind a dynapac machine that is used by contractors along the road.

After the study, the EU was requested to finance the rehabilitation/strengthening of the roads. An amount of EURO 42 million pledged by the EU was estimated to be sufficient for only the Morogoro-Dodoma and Nelson Mandela roads. However, it took some time before the financing was secured. Tenders for works could therefore not be invited until 2003. At the time the tenders were invited, some more deterioration had occurred on the roads. As a result the available budget was not sufficient to cover both Nelson Mandela and Morogoro-Dodoma Roads as had initially been planned.

This is how the situation can be seen during rushing hours along Nelson Mandela Road in Dar es Salaam. Traffic jam is mainly caused by great number of vehicles including semi-trailers which tend to line up from the port on their way to upcountry regions.

It was therefore decided that the rehabilitation of the Morogoro-Dodoma Road be undertaken while additional funds to finance Nelson Mendela Expressway were sought. The additional fund for Nelson Mandela Road were secured in March 2006. Due to the time that had elapsed since the design was carried out, it was necessary to upgrade the Tender documents for the project before inviting tenders, and after that its construction started in the first quarter of third year 2008.