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