Due Diligence and Engineering Review for Kampala – Entebbe Expressway, Uganda

Key facts:
Value engineering audit, Review of the design, Risk and sensitivity analysis, Multi Criteria economic evaluation, Environmental and social consideration, advise on tolling strategy, structural design audit engineering

Project Background
The proposed Kampala – Entebbe Expressway project is a 4 – lane road of 51.4 kilometres comprising (i) an Expressway between Kampala
and Entebbe International Airport; and (ii) a spur to the Munyonyo Resort. Physical works on the project o started in 2012.

This project will provide an efficient mass transit route between the two most important cities in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area (GKMA) region (i.e. The Capital, Kampala and Entebbe International Airport) and will therefore form a crucial part of Government’s overall strategy for decongesting Kampala through construction of an inner beltway comprising the Kampala Northern and Southern Bypasses as well as an outer beltway along the edges of the GKMA. This project is therefore consistent with objectives of the Master Plan for the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area (GKMA) prepared in 2004

Detailed Narrative Description of the Project:

The route is categorized in two parts as Kampala – Entebbe Highway (36.94km) and Kajjansi Interchange – Munyonyo Highway (12.62km). The Kampala – Entebbe route consists of 18 overpass bridges, 16 underpass bridges, 4 major bridge and three interchanges located at Busega, Kajjansi and Abayita Ababari. The first 24.9km is along a new route (toll expressway) while the remaining 12.04km is along the existing Kampala – Entebbe route 7.4km to be widened and 4.64km to be upgraded with additional pavement.

The second part of the project, Kajjansi Interchange – Munyonyo Highway consists of one interchange at Lweza with one overpass bridge, one underpass bridge and one major swampy crossing bridge. It consists of 1.26km newly built section with access control and the remaining 11.36 without access control which will end at the spur to the Munyonyo Resort. The entire highway will be a four-lane, dual carriage expressway, with limited access to be established at Abayita Ababiri, Busega, Kajjansi and the intersection of the existing Entebbe Road with the Kajjansi Interchange – Munyonyo. It is planned to access the expressway at three Toll plazas.

Detailed Description of Actual Services Provided by ICS:

• A review of the design (geometric, pavement, drainage, structures, signage, lighting, works quantities, etc) proposed by the contractor and consistency with applicable Chinese highway standards;
• Determine the cost drivers of the proposed engineering design and carry out both a design review (including limited site investigations, traffic surveys, topographical surveys, etc) and value engineering audit to optimize project cost, highway performance, road safety, etc;
• Review the Employer’s Requirements to ensure sufficient clarity of project requirements, environmental safeguards and payment schedule provisions or triggers are provided therein to guide the contractor with the detailed design during project implementation. This included a review of the warranties/guarantees required for the project of this magnitude
• Based on the design review and value engineering audit, make proposals for overall project design improvement/ optimization, required works quantities, cost estimates, acceptable design departures, etc. for the project;
• Carry out a risk analysis and sensitivity analysis on the project cost drivers to determine the pessimistic and optimistic fair value for undertaking the project works to the standards specified in the employer’s requirements;
• Based on the overall project schematic arrangement, advise UNRA on the tolling strategy that can maximize revenue and minimize user inconvenience including schematic designs of toll plazas;