Kenya’s first and longest tunnel is set to be completed in August. This has been announced by the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) who are constructing the tunnel in Em-Bulbul in Kajiado County.
The tunnel is on the 120-kilometre Nairobi-Naivasha route of the standard gauge railway (SGR).
“So far 1.2km is complete from the exit end, 0.8km from the entry side of the tunnel and 0.5km from the mid-section. The construction is taking place simultaneously to ensure that we complete all the work within the stipulated time,” said Mr Zhao in a statement Wednesday.
The Em-Bulbul SGR tunnel in Kajiado County covers 4.5km and is the first of the three sections of the 7.14km SGR tunnel, the contractor says is the second longest railway tunnel in Africa.
After the completion of the Nairobi-Naivasha line, it is expected that the line to Kisumu will be built at a cost of Sh350 billion. The Mombasa-Nairobi SGR line was built at a cost of Sh327 billion.
The tunnel, which is billed as kenya’s first and longest tunnel is part of a multi-billion infrastructure development that the government has been undertaking.