Collapse Of Mai-Mahiu Road Caused By Use Of Poor Building Material, Not Tremor – Engineers

On Sunday, a 4.8 magnitude quake experienced in various parts of the country was blamed for a cracked Mai-Mahiu-Naivasha Road near Fai Amarillo factory.

Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) blamed the fault line on the tremor and cautioned motorists against using the road.

Private vehicle operators were advised to use the main Kamandura – Limuru – Kinungi – Naivasha Highway.

But according to engineers who visited the area on Monday, the 30 second quake was not entirely to blame for the collapsed bridge.

In fact, they said, poor workmanship destroyed the bridge. They also noted that the bridge started caving in months before the tremors experienced in Nairobi, Kiambu, Machakos, Mombasa, Nyeri, Makueni and parts of Naivasha.

Another engineer who spoke to the Standard on condition of anonymity, stated that material used to build the bridge was of low quality hence the outcome.

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“The collapse of this bridge has nothing to do with an earthquake as claimed and this is purely poor workmanship,” he is quoted by the daily.

KeNHA urged heavy commercial vehicle operators to exercise caution and restraint and “all motorists to observe lane discipline and avoid overlapping, which can result in traffic flow disruptions.”

There were also reports of a tsunami in the coastal region, claims the Meteorological department has since dismissed.

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