Infrastructure

Major Works Underway on Sh4.5bn Makupa Bridge

The new bridge is expected to be ready in June.

Updated on

February 11, 2022

Major works are underway at Makupa Causeway in Mombasa to create a new bridge that links Mombasa Island to the Kenyan mainland – replacing a causeway built in 1929.

Makupa Bridge contractor China Communications and Construction Co. Ltd., which was awarded the Sh4.5 billion tender in November 2020, is accelerating works on site as it seeks to complete the slightly delayed project by June.

The project that has been under construction since April 2021 was scheduled for completion this April, a finish time that will now be exceeded by two months.

The 457-metre Makupa Bridge will connect the Tudor and Port Reitz creeks.

It will pave the way for the demolition of Makupa Causeway, which will see Mombasa reverting to its natural status as an island.

Ecologists believe that the construction of the Makupa Causeway stopped the Tudor Creek waters from flowing freely to the island thus interfering with marine life.

According to the President’s Delivery Unit (PDU), which oversees the execution of State projects, the new bridge will provide a safe and environmentally friendly vehicular and railway crossing to replace the existing Makupa Causeway.

“Additionally, the project will improve infrastructure along the Mombasa-Nairobi trunk road, allowing free flow of traffic,” PDU says.

The New Makupa Bridge design comprises two four-lane parallel bridges with a width of 20 metres each, and an extra two-metre rail for non-motorised traffic, and a pedestrian footpath.

The bridge will be made of reinforced concrete with up to 40-metre-deep foundation piles.

Stephen Gichuru, the project’s resident engineer, earlier said that: “the bridge will pave the way for the demolition of Makupa Causeway and restoration of the ecosystem in the area, including the free flow of water and marine life”.

Traffic disruption

At the start of the project, the engineer warned Mombasa residents to brace themselves for traffic disruption as vehicles would be re-routed to create space for construction activities.

“We will close the island-bound road for at least one year. We are going to close the lower inbound road to Mombasa. The disruption will (continue) throughout the entire construction period,” Gichuru warned.

The Kenya Transporters Association (KTA) also asked truckers to keep off the causeway and use other routes that had been gazetted by the Kenya National Highways Authority.

“Kindly note that Makupa (Kibarani) Causeway shall be closed from access by trucks for 18 months,” KTA chief operations officer Mercy Ireri said in a memo.

The Nairobi-bound lane at the causeway is only used by small vehicles while trucks use other routes such as Mombasa-Mavueni-Mariakani road via the port.

Truck owners with yards along Kibarani only access the causeway at night.