The Civil Engineering Contractor April 2018 | Page 9

ON CONTRACTORS’ SITES
Model of the expanded JKIA, which shows the new Terminal 4 on the left. The airport is now set to undergo the construction of a second runway.
Tenders underway for second JKIA runway
The construction of the second runway at the Jomo
Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi is up for
tender. The project was first announced in 2013. The Kenya
Airports Authority (KAA) has invited firms to tender for
the project.
Funded in part by the African Development Bank (AfDB),
the plan entails the construction of a 4.8km-long and
75m-wide runway in line with the International Civil Aviation
Organisation (ICAO) Category Two standards. The project
includes connecting taxiways, additional parking stands for
aircraft, and an air rescue firefighting unit.
AfDB already approved a USD160-million loan for the project
in November last year, revised from an earlier estimate of
USD365.5-million. According to KAA, the procurement of civil
works will be carried out under open competitive bidding with
post qualification of contractors.
The project is designed to improve reliability of air transport
to and from JKIA by reducing delays at peak hours and costly
flight diversions arising from incidents on the existing runway.
It also involves reconfiguration of the existing single runway that
impedes the airport’s operational efficiency.
The existing single runway is operating at Category Flights
Conditions level one (CAT-1), with a width of 45m and a length
of 4.1km.
According to KAA, the planned upgrade will raise JKIA
to world-class standards and see it handle new-generation
extra-wide-bodied planes such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing
B747-800.
Source: construction review online.com
“The project will reduce mishaps on the path as it will
nearly double the aircraft movement from 25 to 45
planes per hour. Moreover, the technology will enable
operations in bad weather, thus avoiding diversion of
aircraft.”
KAA chief executive officer, Jonny Andersen
CEC April 2018 - 7