Sh100 million technology to seal potholes on Nairobi roads

A pothole repair machine being tested on Kenyatta Avenue yesterday. [David Njaaga, Standard]

According to the county executive for Transport, the new equipment will be acquired at a cost of Sh50 million each

Bad roads in the city could soon become a thing of the past after the county government announced plans to buy pothole patching machines.

According to Transport Executive Mohamed Dagane, they are in the process of acquiring three pothole patching machines at a cost of Sh50 million each.

Dagane revealed that the equipment would be able to fix potholes within five minutes. This, he said, was much faster and economical compared to hiring a group of youths to do the job.

“We are set on purchasing two or three of the machines in order to carry out routine maintenance of our roads in a bid to make them passable,” stated Dagane.

The new machines will reduce road maintenance costs by 50 per cent.

He was speaking yesterday during a demonstration exercise carried out on Kenyatta Avenue by Avery East Africa (AEA) Company, which is a subsidiary of Transcentury group.

Key account manager for AEA Limited Michael Karigithu reiterated that they are still in talks with the county government to deploy the machines in the city roads.

Cheaper option

If the plan succeeds, Nairobi will be among the first counties to employ such technology, which was imported from Europe. Other counties that have employed the technology are Kisumu, Trans-Nzoia and Mombasa.

“The technology is designed not to interfere with the free flow of traffic to a minimum and it also ensures durability of the repairs. Compared to the conventional way of repairing roads, our technology costs 48 per cent cheaper,” he added.

Acting County Secretary Leboo Morintat explained that the project could have been undertaken earlier, but delays in constituting the county government slowed it down.

“We are looking to ensure that we take care of roads in estates, main highways as well as the Central Business District. The new equipment will be used to fill potholes for better roads,” observed Leboo.

In estates across the county, residents have had to bear the brunt of poorly constructed roads and drainages, especially when it rains. The most affected estates include Umoja and Buru Buru, and some sections of the Central Business District.

In some cases, residents have been forced to use carts for transport.

Leboo said they were aware of the garbage problem in the city and had ventured into new methods of ensuring the streets and estates were kept clean.

Garbage collection

“There is significant progress in ensuring that we extend garbage collection to our youths and community based organisations within the 17 sub-counties,” he added

Just recently, the county unveiled 40 garbage trucks and contracted the Sonko Rescue Team in a move to clean the city.

The county produces approximately three tonnes of waste daily.