Tazara flyover project nears completion
Dar es Salaam. Construction of a multibillion Tazara flyover has been completed by 80 per cent and is expected to be concluded by October 31, this year, the Engineers Registration Board (ERB) was told.
However, Oriental Consultants Global, works execution managing engineer Mr Kiyokazu Tsuji said while completion of the flyover will help the public to cross quickly, there is a need for a systematic plan for construction of other flyovers in the rest of intersections to be able to beat traffic.
“Completion of the flyover, will enable passengers rushing to the airport to cross the intersection quickly, but passengers heading in other directions where there are other intersections including Changombe, Kamata, Uhasibu, Mwenge, Morocco, Magomeni and Tabata, will be held in traffic,” he said.
He said this, when he was briefing the ERB that toured the construction site to determine whether the construction work was adhering to engineering specifications.
He assured the Board that the construction will be completed according to schedule as they were currently finalizing some of the works which is expected to be finalized October this year.
He noted that throughout the construction which commenced in 2016, they did not encounter any accidents despite there being a lot of traffic during working hours.
He said that the project has employed a majority of Tanzanians in high positions especially engineering and technician level reaching about 20 in order to transfer technology to the locals for future flyover projects to come.
However he noted that they have had to import some of the building materials because either they were not readily available or lacked quality required to sustain the flyover building.
“We have had to import Reinforcing bars from South Africa to meet the quality we required, though some of the products including Cement, aggregate was locally purchased,” he said.
In another development, ERB acting registrar Eng Patrick Barozi said the tour was made specifically to ensure it was going according to standards and schedule.
He noted that, they were satisfied with the construction work, though
a bit discouraging as Tanzanians have failed to grab opportunities afforded by the project especially in the supply sector and therefore some of the building materials were being imported from outside.
“However we are glad to see that a majority of the staff are locals including women engineers which is good because they will be able to learn the technology and use it in some of our other projects, “he said.
