A Chinese firm has been awarded a Sh7.5 billion contract to realign the accident-prone Nithi Bridge.
This marks a major milestone for President William Ruto’s administration, which has repeatedly promised residents that work on the project would begin soon.
China Wu Yi Company Limited is expected to start work on the project, whose cost is half that of the 84-kilometre Kenol-Marua dual carriageway, according to disclosures by the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA).
Construction is supposed to have started on April 21, following the signing of the project contract some two weeks earlier.
China Wu Yi is one of the leading Chinese construction firms in Kenya, having been involved in major infrastructure projects, including the Thika Superhighway.
Disclosures published by the procurement regulatory authority show that the company—an overseas construction arm of Fujian Construction Engineering Group—won the contract competitively and is expected to build the bridge over three years, with completion by August 7, 2029.
Design of the new Nithi bridge released by Kenha.
Photo credit: Pool
The project entails realignment of the road along a 2.7-kilometre stretch from Marima to Mitheru shopping centres, with the bridge itself spanning 880 metres.
KeNHA recently released designs of the new bridge, billing it as one of the most spectacular and expensive road crossings in the country once completed.
With a steep descent and several sharp corners, the current three-kilometre stretch of the bridge is a death trap, earning it the infamous label of a black spot.
As you approach the bridge from both sides, there are prominent road signs warning motorists of the danger ahead. Rumble strips were also installed to separate the lanes, but these measures have failed to stop the carnage.
The planned realignment of Nithi Bridge involve a redesign of the steep and curved approach road that has made the section one of Kenya’s deadliest accident black spots, with dozens of crashes and over 100 lives lost in recent years.
Soon after his election, President Ruto designated the infamous Nithi Bridge as one of his top priorities, repeatedly promising the people of Tharaka-Nithi that he would soon embark on the reconstruction of the notoriously risky stretch.
The current state of Nithi bridge, a blackspot along the Meru-Embu-Makutano highway in Tharaka Nithi County taken on February 20, 2024.
Photo credit: Alex Njeru | Nation Media Group
“[On] the Nithi Bridge issue ... we agreed with you ... that this bridge will stop killing the people of Tharaka-Nithi and here in Meru. We are already planning to prepare this year’s budget. The money to replace the bridge and even the road should not be as problematic as that ...” Ruto told congregants at a church in Tharaka-Nithi in 2023.
Slightly over one year to the 2027 General Election, President Ruto appears keen to deliver on his promise to realign the killer bridge.
Addressing residents of Meru recently, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki said the government was committed to completing the project on time.
“We now have the funds, and the public has already been engaged for their input. Soon, I will bring the contractor to start construction,” he said in Tigania East on February 25.
According to the KeNHA project brief, the bridge will have an eight-metre dual carriageway, two-metre shoulders or walkways on either side, and a maximum gradient of 8 per cent to enhance safety.
The Nithi Bridge, a blackspot, has visited agony on many families in the country.
Photo credit: File
The structure, literally over the Nithi River, will be supported by massive pillars, some of them rising as high as 100 metres from the deepest point of the Nithi valley.
Engineers explained that since the bridge takes a different route from the current road, there will be minimal traffic disruption during construction.
