The longest tunnel on the railway route to Naivasha will be slightly shorter than 6 kilometers. That is roughly equal to the distance from Uhuru Highway to Utalii College on Thika Highway. It will take the train traveling at 120km/h about 3 minutes to emerge on the other side of the tunnel! It will definitely, and of course, be lit with powerful light bulbs from end to end. But can you imagine yourself working in the middle of the tunnel, a distance that will take you about 25 minutes running at the possible speed of an average man?
Then, right at the mouth of the other end of the tunnel towards Naivasha, is perhaps what will make the railway a spectacle to behold! A bridge like no other on the continent!
At 45m, Mazeras bridge is the highest bridge on the Mombasa to Nairobi section of the SGR! 45m is the height of a 11 to 13 storey building!
Mazeras bridge photo from Skyscrapercity
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That already is some height, very high, for most of us! It means that the train will ‘literally be flying’ from Mombasa to Nairobi at over 187km/h when the railway will be finally electrified!
But here is the shocker. The bridge at the mouth of the tunnel will be 120 meters high! The Teleposta Towers is 120 meters with 27 floors!
So if traveling over Mazeras bridge is literally flying, what will traveling over this bridge be called? Can you imagine yourself having to work on this bridge? And what will be the effects of the trade winds at the middle of the bridge?
France – 343 metres (1,125 ft) tall. Opened in 2004, this 4 lanes bridge is a cable-stayed bridge that spans the valley of the River Tarn near Millau in southern France. The bridge has 7 piers of different heights. The second one is the tallest with a height of 244.96 m (803 ft 8 in) – making it the tallest structure in France, taller than the Eiffel Tower!
These are the most likely locomotives that will be hauling cargo and passengers on the SGR(df 110. Inspired by Skyscrapercity)
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[ATTACH=full]51384[/ATTACH] Before Lumbwa was a long steep curved bridge which had been built for the British government by an American bridge builder in about 1897. It had no side rails in those days, and if you looked out the window there was nothing to see but the ground far below. I was rather terrified of this bridge because it seemed very high.
The engineer told us during the derailment event that a train once came down this bridge out of control. They had gotten going too fast, and the brakes would not stop the engine. They put the engine in reverse and went through Fort Turnin at high speed with the drive wheels screaming in reverse at full throttle, smoking and throwing sparks. The train had jumped the tracks right where our train had derailed. I always held my breath going along there from then on. http://www.blessedquietness.com/yarn/Missionary_kids_traveling_to_school_and_back_home_PART_TWO_East_African_railways_and_harbors.htm
You have already mentioned it. The civil works for the tunnel and the bridge has started. They are keeping the route map under lock until NLC-KR have already acquired the land. This are the lessons from the 1st phase when a cartel of speculators bought land on the route or become overnight brokers to the land owners on the route.
saw this piece in a documentary and it’s jst wow! I mean the whole bridge is a “meet-up” of two precast members with everything ie wind, temps and every other variable kept at minimal/zero. the reduced levels and alignment all through some markings on a projected beam of light from a satellite and not the usually hand held staff. took days to propel the members amid hiccups bt results to a 99.95 efficiency rate. Napenda sana.
This is the biggest infrastructure project Kenya has ever done but let me tell you this is just the start of many. Even the Ethiopian SGR which has now almost taken 10 years is not known. Our open society allows us to discuss and debate continuously. Ethiopia is a closed society where the media is tightly controlled. Even foreign journalists must explain clearly their remote and the secret police will accompany them wherever ever they go, chose whom they will talk to and listen to the interview. Their SGR project info follows closely the official line alone. It 2nd electric class electric train, dual track half way to their industrial zone and single track the other half its single truck to Djibouti port. Both will improve on there country growth and spur investments along the route.
I am only waiting for it to open for passengers. Then take my son for another men only trip. First use the snail railway and the SGR… To give him the chance to experience how it was then and how it will be. INSHALLAH
And now for some politics… Na mtu anangoja nibadilishe kura yangu nishague mtu sijaona matendo yake… How do you xpect me to explain to my son the intricacies of Kibaki tosha and aibisi must go while seated in a speeding train to Nairobi built in his lifetime? And ofcourse not forgetting that social studies sylabus of his class conviniently blanks out some Kenyans who have had contributions to development of Kenya
Horrible place to live in. Hopeless overpopulated. No rivers. All wildlife wiped out. Scramble for food , water . Homelessness. Tight border controls. No enough food. Global warming. No HIV cure.Religious violence and wars will dominate the globe. Fighting over diminishing resources.