ECE 3101 TRANSPORTATION PLANNING I DeKUT 2021

EVOLUTION OF TRANSPORTATION

Source: adapted from Williams, A. (1992)

The first form of transport was, of course the human foot! However people eventually learned to use
animals for transport. Donkeys and horses were probably domesticated between 4,000 and 3,000 BC
Camels were domesticated slightly later between 3,000 and 2,000 BC. Meanwhile about 3,500 BC the
wheel was invented in what is now Iraq. The wheel and axle are one of the six simple machines (lever,
wheel and axle, inclined plane, wedge, pulley and screw) At first wheels were made of solid pieces of
wood lashed together to form a circle but after 2,000 BC they were made with spokes. The earliest boats
were dug out canoes. People lit a fire on a log then put it out and dug out the burned wood. About 3,100
BC the Egyptians invented the sailing boat. They were made of bundles of papyrus reeds tied together.
They had simple square sails made of sheets of papyrus or later of linen. However the sail could only
be used when sailing in one direction. When travelling against the wind the boat had to be rowed. About
2,700 BC the Egyptians began using wooden ships for trade by sea. Early ships were steered by a long
oar

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The history of transport is largely one of technological innovation. Advances in technology have allowed
people to travel farther, explore more territory, and expand their influence over larger and larger areas.
Even in ancient times,new tools such as foot coverings, skis, and snowshoes lengthened the distances
that could be travelled. As new inventions and discoveries were applied to transport problems, travel
time decreased while the ability to move more and larger loads increased. Innovation continues by
transport researchers are working to find new ways to reduce costs and increase transport efficiency.

2.1 History of Road Transport

The origins of roads can be traced back 9,000 years ago when man settled permanently and domesticated
some animals. Man and his animals used specific routes to access pastures, watering points and primitive
business centres. In the Stone Age humans did not need constructed tracks in open country. The first
improved trails would have been over valleys, mountain passes and through swamps. The first
improvements would have consisted largely of clearing trees and big stones from the path. These trails
or tracks developed into footpaths which are the forerunners of the modern streets and highways.The
resting points, mostly at stream crossing points or where roads crossed developed into small villages
and eventually towns. These centres were usually 15-40 Km apart, consistent with the distance man and
his animals could travel in a day.

A road built in Egypt by Pharaoh Cheops around 2,500 BC is believed to be the earliest paved road on
record-a construction road 1,000 yards long and 60 feet wide that led to the site of the Great Pyramid.
Various pan-continental trading routes developed where goods were being transported from their source
to a market outlet and were often named after the goods transported upon them. For example, the Amber
Route, developed over the period 4000 BC to 1500BC, started from Afghanistan traversing Persia,
Arabia ending at Egypt, and the Silk Route stretched 8,000 miles from China, across Asia, through Spain
to the Atlantic Ocean. However, carrying bulky goods with slow animals over rough, unpaved roads
was a time consuming and expensive proposition. As a general rule, the price of the goods doubled for
every 100 miles they had to travel.

Some other ancient roads were established by rulers and their armies. The Old Testament of the Christian
bible contains references to ancient roads like the King's Highway, dating back to 2,000 BC. This was
a major route from Damascus in Palestine, and ran south to the Gulf of Aqaba, through Syria to
Mesopotamia, and finally on to Egypt. It was renamed Trajan's Road by the Romans, and was used in
the eleventh and twelfth centuries by the Crusaders when they attempted to "reclaim" the Holy Land.
Around 1,115 BC, the Assyrian Empire in western Asia began what is believed to be the first organized
road-building, and continued it for 500 to 600 years. Since they were trying to dominate that part of the
world, they had to be able to move their armies effectively-along with supplies and equipment.

As the Assyrians gradually faded, another imperial road, the Royal Road, was being built by the Persians
from the Persian Gulf to the Aegean Sea, a distance of 1,775 miles. Around 800 BC, Carthage, on the
northern coast of Africa, began to use stones for paving roads. Although they may not have been the
first to pave their roads with stones, they were among the earliest, and some historians assert that the
Romans imitated Carthaginian techniques.

3.1.1 Wheeled Transport

Wheels appear to have been developed in ancient Sumer in Mesopotamia around 5000 BC, perhaps
originally for the making of pottery. Their original transport use may have been as attachments to travois
or sleds to reduce resistance. It has been argued that logs were used as rollers under sleds prior to the
development of wheels, but there is no archeological evidence for this.[6] Most early wheels appear to

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have been attached to fixed axles, which would have required regular lubrication by animal fats or
vegetable oils or separation by leather to be effective.

Wheeled-transport created the need for better roads. Generally natural materials cannot be both soft
enough to form well-graded surfaces and strong enough to bear wheeled vehicles, especially when wet,
and stay intact. In urban areas it began to be worthwhile to build stone-paved streets and, in fact, the
first paved streets appear to have been built in Ur in 4000 BC. Corduroy roads were built in Glastonbury,
England in 3300 BC[8] and brick-paved roads were built in the Indus Valley Civilization on the Indian
subcontinent from around the same time.

3.1.2 Roman Roads

Without doubt, the champion road builders of them all were the ancient Romans who, until modern
times, built the world's most straight, best engineered, and most complex network of roads in the world.
At their height, the Roman Empire (27 BC- 476 AD) maintained 78,000 Km of roads, which covered
all of England to the north, most of Western Europe, radiated throughout the Iberian Peninsula, and
encircled and crisscrossed the entire Mediterranean area. The system constituted of 29 major roads that
radiated from Rome to the outer fringes of the empire. Famous for their straightness, Roman roads were
composed of a graded soil foundation topped by four courses: a bedding of sand or mortar, rows of large,
flat stones, a thin layer of gravel mixed with lime; and a thin surface of flint-like lava. Typically they
were 0.9m to 1.5m thick and varied in width from 2.4m to 10.5m, although the average width for the
main roads was 4.25m to enable two chariots to pass with ease and legions to march 6 abreast.

(A). Native earth, leveled and, if necessary, rammed tight.

(B). Statumen: stones of a size to fill the hand.

(C). Audits: rubble or concrete of broken stones and lime.

(D). Nucleus: kernel or bedding of fine cement made of pounded potshards and lime.

(E). Dorsum or agger viae: the elliptical surface or crown of the road (media stratae eminentia) made of
polygonal blocks of silex (basaltic lava) or rectangular blocks of saxum qitadratum (travertine, peperino,
or other stone of the country). The upper surface was designed to cast off rain or water like the shell of
a tortoise. The lower surfaces of the separate stones, here shown as flat, were sometimes cut to a point
or edge in order to grasp the nucleus, or next layer, more firmly.

(F). Crepido, margo or semita: raised footway, or sidewalk, on each side of the via.

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(G). Umbones or edge-stones.

The Roman roads were constructed by roman soldiers using slave labour and had the sole purpose of
enabling them move swiftly to secure newly conquered territories. Their design remained the most
sophisticated until the advent of modern road-building technology in the very late 18th and 19th
centuries. Many of their original roads are still in use today, although they have been resurfaced
numerous times. Under Roman law, the public had the right to use the roads, but the district through
which a road passed was responsible for the maintenance of the roadway. The Romans invaded Britain
around 55 BC and constructed some 5,000Km of roads in a span of 150 years. The roads radiated from
London, the capital located at the first upstream crossing of river Thames. This system was effective so
long as a strong central authority existed to enforce it. Unfortunately, as the Roman Empire declined
around the 5th century so did their roads and their work fell into disrepair all across Europe and Great
Britain.

3.1.3 The Inca Empire (12__-1752)

On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, several centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire, the Inca
Empire began to rise in South America during a period that corresponded with the middle Ages in
Europe. Centered in what is now Peru, the Incas branched out into Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia,
Argentine and Chile. Like the Romans, they recognized the need for a system of roads that would enable
them extend their conquests and to govern their empire. Interestingly enough, the Incas built their empire
without inventing the wheel, without the use of draft animals and without a written language. Because
they had no wheeled vehicles to worry about, their roads could ascend steep inclines via terraces or
steps. In one place, a road going up a steep mountainside was built of 3,000 consecutive stone steps.
They also built over swamps, and constructed a causeway 7.2m wide and 11.7 Km long, which had a
paved surface and stone walls. Unfortunately, their well-constructed system of roads ultimately assisted
in their downfall as the invading Spaniards used the Incas' own roads to move Spanish armies, weapons,
and supplies.

3.1.4 Industrial Road Construction

Back across the Atlantic, but later in 18th century England, the technology of highway construction was
getting a long overdue boost from two British engineers, Thomas Telford and John Loudon McAdam.
and by the French road engineer Pierre-Marie-Jérôme Trésaguet. The other important figure was the
English John Metcalf

3.1.4.1 John Metcalf (1717-1810)

The first professional road builder to emerge during the Industrial Revolution was John Metcalf, who
constructed about 180 miles (290 km) of turnpike road, mainly in the north of England, from 1765, when
Parliament passed an act authorising the creation of turnpike trusts to build new toll funded roads in the
Knaresborough area. Metcalf won a contract to build a three-mile (5 km) section of road between
Minskip and Ferrensby on a new road from Harrogate to Boroughbridge. He explored the section of
countryside alone and worked out the most practical route.

He believed a good road should have good foundations, be well drained and have a smooth convex
surface to allow rainwater to drain quickly into ditches at the side. He understood the importance of
good drainage, knowing it was rain that caused most problems on the roads. He worked out a way to
build a road across a bog using a series of rafts made from ling (a type of heather) and furze (gorse) tied
in bundles as foundations. This established his reputation as a road builder since other engineers had

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believed it could not be done. He acquired a mastery of his trade with his own method of calculating
costs and materials, which he could never successfully explain to others.

3.1.4.2 Jérôme Trésaguet (1716-1796)

Pierre-Marie-Jérôme Trésaguet was a French engineer who lived during the reign of Napoleon. He
began his career as a sub inspector in the Corps des Ponts et Chaussées (Bridges and Highways Corps),
in Paris. He later moved to Limoges, Haute-Vienne as chief engineer in 1764. In 1775 he was appointed
inspector general of roads and bridges for all of France. He published a paper describing his road
building methods. He is widely credited with establishing the first scientific approach to road building
in about the year 1764. Among his innovations was the use of a base layer of large stones covered with
a thin layer of smaller stones. The advantage of this two-layer configuration was that, when rammed or
rolled by traffic, the stones jammed into one another forming a strong wear resistant surface which
offered less obstruction to traffic.

Trésaguet had recommended a roadway consisting of three layers of stones laid on a crowned sub-grade
with side ditches for drainage. The first two layers consisted of angular hand-broken aggregate,
maximum size 75 mm, to a depth of about 200 mm. The third layer was about 50 mm thick with a
maximum aggregate size of 25 mm. This top level surface permitted a smoother shape and protected the
larger stones in the road structure from iron wheels and horse hooves.

Trésaguet understood the importance of drainage by providing deep side ditches, but he insisted on
building his roads in trenches, so that they could be accessed from the sides, which undermined this
principle. Well-maintained surfaces and drains protect the integrity of the sub-base and Trésaguet
introduced a system of continuous maintenance, where a roadman was allocated a section of road to be
kept up to a standard.

3.1.4.3 Thomas Telford. (1757-1834)

Thomas Telford, was a surveyor and engineer who applied Tresaguet’s road building theories. In 1801
Telford worked for the British Commission of Highlands Roads and Bridges. Telford extended
Tresaguet’s theories by developing a method of broken stone construction. He used level foundations
but raised the pavement above ground level to reduce drainage problems, shaped the foundation stones
so that they fitted more closely together, and made the pavement as dense as possible to minimize
moisture penetration.He also designed his roads so that they sloped downwards from the centre, allowing
drainage to take place, a major improvement on the work of Trésaguet. Telford used 300 x 250 x 150
mm partially shaped pitchers, with a slight flat face on the bottom surface. However, he turned the other
faces more vertically than Tresaguet’s method. Broken stone was wedged into the spaces between the
tapered perpendicular faces to provide the layer with good lateral control.

Telford kept the natural formation level and used masons to camber the upper surface of the blocks. He
placed a 150 mm layer of stone no bigger than 60 mm in size on top of the rock foundation. To finish
the road surface he covered the stones with a mixture of gravel and broken stone. Telford raised the
pavement structure above ground level whenever possible. Where the structure could not be raised,
Telford drained the area surrounding the roadside. Previous road builders in Britain ignored drainage
problems and Telford’s rediscovery of these principles was a major contribution to road construction.
Telford served as the first President of the Institution of Civil Engineers of the United Kingdom from
1820 to 1834.

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3.1.4.4 John Loudon McAdam (1756-1836)

It was another Scottish engineer, John Loudon McAdam, who designed the first modern roads. He
developed a process (later known as macadam) where hard and waterproof road surfaces were made by
cemented crushed stone, bound together either with water or with bitumen. His road building method
was simpler than Telford's, yet more effective at protecting roadways: he discovered that massive
foundations of rock upon rock were unnecessary, and asserted that native soil alone would support the
road and traffic upon it, as long as it was covered by a road crust that would protect the soil underneath
from water and wear.

Unlike Telford and other road builders of the time, McAdam laid his roads as level as possible. His 9.1m
road required only a rise of three inches from the edges to the center. Cambering and elevation of the
road above the water table enabled rain water to run off into ditches on either side. Size of stones was
central to the McAdam’s road building theory. The lower 200 mm road thickness was restricted to stones
no larger than 75 mm. The upper 50 mm thick layer of stones was limited to 20 mm size and stones were
checked by supervisors who carried scales. A workman could check the stone size himself by seeing if
the stone would fit into his mouth. The importance of the 20 mm stone size was that the stones needed
to be much smaller than the 100 mm width of the iron carriage tires which traveled on the road

Neither was anything to be laid on the clean stone to bind the road. The action of the road traffic would
cause the broken stone to combine with its own angles, merging into a level, solid surface which would
withstand weather or traffic.

Although McAdam had been adamantly opposed to the filling of the voids between his small cut stones
with smaller material, in practice road builders began to introduce filler materials such as smaller stones,
sand and clay, and it was observed that these roads were stronger as a result. Macadam roads were being
built widely in the United States and Australia in the 1820s and in Europe in the 1830s and 1840s.

Whilst McAdam is renowned for his construction method, his roads were often inferior to Telford’s.
Nonetheless, the greatness of his construction was that, for efficiency and cheapness, it was a
considerable improvement over the methods used by his contemporaries.

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Figure 2.1 Pioneer Road cross-sections

3.1.4.4 Further Developments

During this same time period, the growth of turnpikes was resulting in much improved road conditions
across England. Private individuals built roads and then charged for their use, usually blocking passage
by setting a long pole (pike) across the road. Once the toll had been paid, the pole would be swung
(turned) out of the way, allowing the travelers access to the road (turnpike). By 1829, 3,783 different
turnpike companies operated 20,000 miles of highway throughout England. However, during the latter
half of the 19th century, canal building and the growth of railroads outstripped the turnpikes, and roads
in general became less important until the turn of the century.

As European settlers migrated across the Atlantic to the U.S., they found themselves faced with an
almost total lack of roads. In Europe, they had, at least, had the Roman roads to use as a foundation for
rebuilding. In America, there were only Indian trails and while they were long and quite extensive, they
were also very narrow, allowing only for single file passage of foot traffic. Like their Inca counterparts,
the natives of North America did not invent a wheel, and so did not develop roads that would
accommodate wheeled vehicles. Initially, America's early roads were no more than widened Indian trails
which had been leveled and filled, most of them full of tree stumps that tripped horses and halted
wagons. America, like England, went through a period of turnpike development and for many years,
turnpikes were the best roads in the U.S.

The Germans were however the first to build the modern highway (autobahn) in 1932 with specifications
such as restricted access, overpasses and road separation that would eventually become common
characteristics of highway systems. By the 1970s, every modern nation had constructed a national
highway system, which in the case of Western Europe resulted in a pan-European system. This trend
now takes place in many industrializing countries. For instance, by the end of 2016, the total length of
China's expressway network reached 131,000 kilometers, the world's largest expressway system by
length, having surpassed the overall length of the American Interstate Highway System in 2011.

Internationally, the demand for surfaced roads that arose before and after World War 1 was fuelled by
a ready supply of cheap bitumen which, for a long time, was a waste product of the burgeoning oil-
refining industry that was supplying petrol to ever-growing numbers of motor vehicles, especially in the
USA.

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With the onset of World War II scientific investigation began to be focused on pavement design because
of the urgent need to quickly construct great lengths of road and airport runways for the heavy traffic
loads demanded by the war effort.

3.1.4.4 History of Kenyan Roads

Early transport in Kenya : The first form of transport in Kenya was horse drawn rickshaws, especially
in Nairobi. The man behind this innovative mode of transport was Aly Khan, whose Livery Stables were
in Market Street (now Muindi Mbingu). He held the monopoly of Nairobi passenger transport with the
horse drawn vehicles.

The first person to drive a vehicle from Mombasa to Nairobi was Douglas Galton-Fenzi in 1919. Galton-
Fenzi helped to map most of the major roads in Kenya as more settlers imported cars, tractors and lorries.

Road building in Kenya followed shortly after establishment of the first railway lines. A number of roads
were constructed in the year 1910. Among them are Kisumu-Kaimosi, Homa bay- Karungu and Kendu
bay-Kisii roads. Two roads went into Uganda through Busia and Mbale in 1914. There was a
proliferation of roads in the period between 1920 and 1940 and considerable lengths of roads to serve
the newly settled European districts of Trans-Nzoia, Nanyuki and Laikipia were constructed. By 1946,
the country’s road network system consisted of approximately 27,162 Km of road and remarkable
progress had been made to bituminize some sections of trunk roads with heavier traffic. The first roads
to receive bitumen in Kenya were Nairobi-Thika (1946), Nairobi-Nakuru(1946) and the Kipkelion-
Kericho (1946).

Historically, the road network in Kenya was developed as a subsidiary of the railway system up to the
time of Kenya’s independence in 1963. Railways were developed for the transportation of bulk
commodities and passengers over long distances. Roads were used as a link between the railways and
the European-owned large scale farming areas. Little or no interest was accorded to rural areas where
subsistence farming was practiced by Africans. Since independence, measures taken by the government
todevelop and maintain roads include:

1 Selective bituminization of heavily trafficked trunk and primary roads and upgrading of priority
earth roads to gravel standards in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s;
2 Development of Special Purpose Roads to serve specific areas of economicactivities e.g. roads
serving areas where main cash crops such as tea, coffee, or sugar were grown or roads serving the
tourist industry.
3 Construction of farm-to-market rural roads under the Rural Access Roads Programme (RARP) from
1974 to 1986. The purpose of the RARP was toprovide access to social and administrative facilities,
promote agricultural development and create employment opportunities;
4 Improvement of low-trafficked secondary and minor roads under the MinorRoads Programme
(MRP) from 1986 to link rural access roads to roads ofhigher classes;
5 Improvement of heavily trafficked secondary and minor roads under the Gravelling, Bridging and
Culverting Programme (GBCP) in the 1970’s and1980’s.
6 Introduction of public road tolls for road maintenance in 1984/85.
7 Introduction of axle load controls in 1986;
8 Introduction of the fuel levy and transit tolls for road maintenance in 1994 and spot improvement
of non-maintainable road sections using a combination of labour and equipment under the Roads
2000 strategy. This was adopted on realization that available financial resources were inadequate to
provide full link improvements in the network.

8.1 History of Maritime Transport

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Throughout history sailing has been instrumental in the development of civilization, affording humanity
greater mobility than travel over land, whether for trade, transport or warfare, and the capacity for
fishing. In the time before ancient maritime history, the first boats are presumed to have been dugout
canoes, developed independently by various stone age populations, and used for coastal fishing and
travel. The Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest are very skilled at crafting wood. Best known
for totem poles up to 80 feet (24 m) tall, they also construct dugout canoes over 60 feet (18 m) long for
everyday use and ceremonial purposes.

It has been argued that boats suitable for a significant sea crossing were necessary for people to reach
Australia an estimated 40,000-45,000 years ago. With the development of civilization, vessels evolved
for expansion and generally grew in size for trade and war. In the Mediterranean, galleys were developed
about 3000 BC. Polynesian double-hulled sailing vessels with advanced rigging were used between
1,300 BC and 900 BC by the Polynesian progeny of the Lapita culture to expand 6,000 km across open
ocean from the Bismarck Archipelago east to Micronesia and, eventually Hawaii. Galleys were
eventually rendered obsolete by ocean-going sailing ships, such as the Arabic caravel in the 13th
century, the Chinese treasure ship in the early 15th century, and the Mediterranean man-of-war in the
late 15th century. In the Industrial Revolution, the first steamboats and later diesel-powered ships were
developed. Eventually submarines were developed mainly for military purposes for people's general
benefit.

Meanwhile, specialised craft were developed for river and canal transport.. The Indus Valley
Civilization in Pakistan and North India (from c. 2600 BC) had the first canal irrigation system in the
world.[2] The longest canal of ancient times was the Grand Canal of China.Iss 1,794 kilometers (1,115
mi) long and was built to carry the Emperor Yang Guang between Beijing and Hangzhou. The project
began in 605, although the oldest sections of the canal may have existed since c. 486 BC. Canals were
developed in the Middle Ages in Europe in Venice and the Netherlands. Pierre-Paul Riquet began to
organise the construction of the 240 km-long Canal du Midi in France in 1665 and it was opened in
1681. In the Industrial Revolution, inland canals were built in England and later the United States before
the development of railways. Specialised craft were also developed for fishing and later whaling.Ramps
for water were made in 1937. Maritime history also deals with the development of navigation,
oceanography, cartography and hydrography.

During the Age of the Ajuran, the Somali sultanates and republics of Merca, Mogadishu, Barawa, Hobyo
and their respective ports flourished. They had a lucrative foreign commerce with ships sailing to and
coming from Arabia, India, Venetia,[14] Persia, Egypt, Portugal and as far away as China.

Although Europe is the world's second-smallest continent in terms of area, it has a very long coastline,
and has arguably been influenced more by its maritime history than any other continent. Europe is
uniquely situated between several navigable seas and intersected by navigable rivers running into them
in a way which greatly facilitated the influence of maritime traffic and commerce.

Steam was first applied to boats in the 1770s. With the advent of economical steam engines, efficient
external combustion heat engines that makes use of the heat energy that exists in steam and converting
it to mechanical work, the prime mover was steam for ships. The technology only became relevant to
trans-oceanic travel after 1815, the year Pierre Andriel crossed the English Channel aboard the
steamship Élise. After 1850, most warships used steam propulsion until the advent of the gas turbine.
Steamships were superseded by diesel-driven ships in the second half of the 20th century.

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3.2.2 History of Water Transport in Kenya

The maritime transport system in Kenya consists of one major seaport, Mombasa and other smaller
scheduled ports along the Kenyan coastline (namely, Funzi, Vanga, Shimoni, Kilifi, Malindi, Lamu,
Kiunga and Mtwapa). The port of Mombasa which is managed by Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) is one
of the modern ports in Africa. It handles all types of ships and cargo services not only for Kenya but
also for the land-locked countries of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, DemocraticRepublic of Congo,
Ethiopia, Somalia, Southern Sudan and North-Eastern Tanzania.The port has 16 deep-water berths of
which three handle containers and 13 deal withconventional cargo. There are two oil jetties for refined
and crude oil with a capacity ofhandling tankers of up to 80,000 DWT. The challenge for the Port of
Mombasa is that of attracting and handling increasing traffic within Kenya and from the
neighbouringcountries as well as international traffic from outside the region. Although KPA has
rendered acceptable services over the years, like other parastatals, its efficiency has been hampered by
bureaucracy for many years. KPA owns and operates Inland Container Depots (ICDs) or “dry ports” at
Nairobi, Kisumu and Eldoret, all of which are connected to the port of Mombasa by a special rail service
(railtainer) for the transportation of containerized imports and exports. At the moment only Kisumu and
Nairobi ICDs are operational.

The Kenya National Shipping Line Ltd. is owned by the GoK and some private international
shareholders. The Line was established under the Companies Act in 1987 to take advantage of the
business opportunities offered by the growing Kenyan international sea-borne trade under the provisions
of the UNCTAD Code of Conduct for Line Conferences. The Line, which has operated on slot charter
basis, has been unable to exploit the business opportunities available due to structural corporate
governance and management problems. It is currently dormant.

3.3 History of Rail Transport

The history of rail transportation dates back nearly 500 years, and includes systems with man or horse
power and rails of wood (or occasionally stone). This was usually for moving coal from the mine down
to a river, from where it could continue by boat, with a flanged wheel running on a rail. The use of cast
iron plates as rails began in the 1760s, and was followed by systems (plateways) where the flange was
part of the rail. Cast iron proved unsatisfactory because it was brittle and broke under heavy loads. With
the introduction of rolled wrought iron rails, these became obsolete.

The introduction of the Bessemer process, enabling steel to be made inexpensively, led to the era of
great expansion of railways that began in the late 1860s. Steel rails lasted several times longer than iron.
Steel rails made heavier locomotives possible, allowing for longer trains and improving the productivity
of railroads. The open hearth furnace began to replace the Bessemer process near the end of 19th century,
improving the quality of steel and further reducing costs

Modern rail transport systems first appeared in England in the 1820s. These systems, which made use
of the steam locomotive, were the first practical form of mechanized land transport, and they remained
the primary form of mechanized land transport for the next 100 years.

The world's first electric tram line opened in Lichterfelde near Berlin, Germany, in 1881. It was built by
Werner von Siemens (see Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway). Seven years later, in January 1888, Richmond,
Virginia served as American proving grounds for electric railways as Frank Sprague built an electric
streetcar system there. By the 1890s, electric power became practical and more widespread, allowing
extensive underground railways. Large cities such as London, New York, and Paris built subway
systems. When electric propulsion became practical, most street railways were electrified.

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Starting with the opening of the first Shinkansen line between Tokyo and Osaka in Japan in 1964, high-
speed rail transport, functioning at speeds up and above 300 km/h, has been built in Spain, France,
Germany, Italy, the People's Republic of China, Taiwan (Republic of China), the United Kingdom,
South Korea, Scandinavia, Belgium and the Netherlands. The construction of many of these lines has
resulted in the dramatic decline of short haul flights and automotive traffic between connected cities,
such as the London–Paris–Brussels corridor, Madrid-Barcelona, as well as many other major lines.

Maglev trains have been undertaking test runs on the Yamanashi test track since 1997, running at speeds
of over 500 km/h (310 mph). As a result of this extensive testing, maglev technology is almost ready for
public usage. An extension of this test track from 18.4 km to 42.8 km was completed in June 2013,
enabling extended high-speed running trials to commence in August 2013. This section will be
incorporated into the Chūō Shinkansen which will eventually link Tokyo to Osaka. Construction of the
Shinagawa to Nagoya section began in 2014, with 86% of the 286 km route to be in tunnels.

3.3.1 History of Rail Transport in Kenya

The Kenya-Uganda Railway was built by the British government under the Foreign Office at the start
of the period when Britain maintained colonial control of the region as British East Africa. Construction
of the line started at the Kenyan port city of Mombasa in 1896, the line reached Nairobi in 1899, Nakuru
in 1900 and reached Kisumu, on the eastern shore of Lake Victoria, in 1901. By 1931 it was extended
to Kampala in Uganda. Although almost all of the rail line was actually in the colony that would come
to be known as Kenya, the original purpose of the project was to provide a modern transportation link
to carry raw materials out of the Uganda colony and to carry manufactured British goods back in. The
railway is 1,000 mm gaugeand virtually all single-track. The project cost around 5 million pounds
(approximately 680 million Ksh.) to complete, and the first services started in 1903

Branch lines were built to Thika in 1913, Lake Magadi in 1915, Kitale in 1926, Naro Moro in 1927,
from Tororo to Soroti in 1929 and finally Mount Kenya in 1931. The mainline was extended from
Nakuru towards Uganda reaching Kampala in 1931. Another went to Kasese in western Uganda in 1956.
It was extended to Arua near the border with Zaire in 1964.A disassembled ferry was transported to
Kisumu by sea and rail where it was reassembled and used to provide a service to Port Bell and, later,
other ports on Lake Victoria. A 10 km rail line between Port Bell and Kampala was the final link in the
chain providing efficient transport between the Ugandan capital and the open sea, at Mombasa, over
1400 km away.

The focusing effect of railway junctions and depots created many of the interior's modern towns and
ports, such as:

 Eldoret, originally called "64" its distance, in miles, from the railhead at the time
 Jinja, a city and port close to the outlet of Lake Victoria, the source of the River Nile
 Kisumu, a city and port on Lake Victoria allowing ferry transport between Kenya, Tanzania and
Uganda
 Kitale, a small farming community in the foothills of Mount Elgon
 Nairobi started as a rail depot, becoming the capital of Kenya.
 Nakuru, where the main line splits, one branch going to Kisumu and the other to Uganda
 Port Bell, a rail-linked port, near Kampala, on Lake Victoria allowing ferry transport between
Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda

3.4 History of Air Transport

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Started with the invention of Santos Dummont, Brazilian born scientist, who created the 14BIS and the
very first motor powered airplanes in the world . Humanity's desire to fly likely dates to the first time
man observed birds, an observation illustrated in the legendary stories of Daedalus and Icarus in Greek
mythology, and the Vimanas in Indian mythology. Much of the focus of early research was on imitating
birds, but through trial and error, balloons, airships, gliders and eventually powered aircraft and other
types of flying machines were invented.

During the 17th and 18th century, when scientists began analysing the Earth's atmosphere, gases such
as hydrogen were discovered which in turn led to the invention of hydrogen balloons. The Wright
brothers made the first sustained, controlled and powered heavier-than-air flight on December 17, 1903,
in their revolutionary aircraft, the Wright Flyer.

World War II saw a drastic increase in the pace of aircraft development and production. All countries
involved in the war stepped up development and production of aircraft and flight-based weapon delivery
systems. After the war ended, commercial aviation grew rapidly, using mostly ex-military aircraft to
transport people and cargo. This growth was accelerated by the glut of heavy airframes that could be
converted into commercial aircraft. The first commercial jet airliner to fly was the British De Havilland
Comet. This marked the beginning of the Jet Age, a period of relatively cheap and fast international
travel.

In the beginning of the 21st century, subsonic military aviation focused on eliminating the pilot in favor
of remotely operated or completely autonomous vehicles. Several unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs
have been developed.

3.4.1 History of Air Transport in Kenya

Historically, aviation in Kenya and the other EAC states followed British rules and regulations until the
East African Common Services Organization (EACSO), the precursor to the EAC, was established in
1963. The three EACSO / EAC member States, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, formed one East African
Directorate of Civil Aviation, which formulated aviation policy for the region borrowing heavily from
the British policy. EAC governments provided aerodromes infrastructure, while the International Civil
Aviation

Organization (ICAO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) played a big role in the
development of human resources and provision of air navigation equipment. When the former EAC
collapsed in 1977, each Member State established its own flight information region with its own
infrastructure and national airline based on what existed in its territory when the Community collapsed.
The first draft Kenyan aviation policy was written in 1978 and its provisional application served the
industry well. It was revised in 1999, when new concepts like liberalization, code sharing between
airlines and Computer Reservation Systems (CRS) were incorporated. After liberalization of the air
transport sub-sector in the 1990s, a need has emerged for the GoK to create an environment conducive
to the efficient operation of air transport for passengers and freight. To do this, it has been necessary to
accommodate the needs of both domestic and international air operators through the provision of
efficient and reliable services at all aerodromes. Aviation policy should also address the problems of
safety and security.

Read About the History of Pipelines globally and in Kenya...

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CLASSIFICATION AND MANAGEMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES IN KENYA

Introduction

There is an increasing recognition that the quality of a country’s infrastructure is an important

determinant and prerequisite for economic development. Roads, both urban and rural, are key
components of the infrastructure system in a country. This chapter discusses the the classification, and
management of transportation facilities with particular emphasis on road transport. The Kenyan
perspective of road classification and management is considered.

Classification of Roads in Kenya

The Road Inventory and Condition Survey (RICS) for classified roads was completed in 2003 while the
RICS for the unclassified network commenced in December 2006 and completed in June 2009.
Consequently, all public roads in Kenya are classified as follows, in terms of the functions they serve:

Class Description Purpose Paved Unpaved Total

(in km)
A International Link centres of international importance and cross 2,772 816 3,588
Trunk Roads international boundaries or terminate at
international ports or airports.
B National Link nationally important centres (e.g. Provincial 1,489 1,156 2,645
Trunk Roads headquarters) to each other or to Class A roads
C Primary Roads Link regionally important centres to each other or 2,693 5,164 7,857
to higher class roads (e.g. District headquarters).
D Secondary Link locally important centres to each other, or to 1,238 9,483 10,721
Roads more important centres or to a higher class road
(e.g. divisional headquarters).
E Minor Roads Any link to a minor centre. 577 26,071 26,649
SPR Special Government Roads (G) 100 10,376 10,476
Purpose Roads Settlement Roads (L)
Rural Access Roads (R)
Sugar Roads (S)
Tea Roads (T)
Wheat Roads (W)
U Unclassified All other public roads and streets 2,318 96,623 98,941
Roads
All Total All public roads and streets 11,187 149,689 160,876

International Trunk Roads

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Road Link

A1 Tanzania border (Isebania-Kisumu-Kitale-Sudan Border (Lokichoggio) 886 km

A2 Nairobi-Thika-Isiolo-Moyale (Ethiopia border) (833 km)

A3 Thika-Garissa-Somalia border (Liboi) 556 km

A104 Uganda border (Malaba)-Nakuru-Nairobi-Athi River-Tanzania border (Namanga) 648

km

A109 Athi River Mombasa 473 km

A14 Mombasa-Tanzania border (Lunga Lunga) 106 km

A23 Voi-Tanzania border (Taveta) 114 km

There are seven (7) defined Class A roads comprising of 3,755 km of which 2,886 km are paved and
869 km unpaved as shown in table 2 below. Only A104 and A109 have a prominent international or
port-connecting function at present. The segment A109 and the northern segment of the A104, between
Athi River and Malaba, comprise part of the ‘Northern Corridor’. This is conceived to be a multi-modal
corridor and its development is being coordinated by a multi-national secretariat based in Mombasa.
This is the busiest route in the country since it carries most of the export and import traffic through
Mombasa for Kenya, Uganda and other land locked countries. This is also designated part of the Lagos-
Mombasa long-distance highway (Link 8) under the Trans-Africa Highway Programme. Apart from A1,
A2 and A3 roads, there is no clear logic to the numbering system used and it presumably derives from
pre-independence usage in the East Africa region.

National Trunk (Class B) Roads

Road Link

B1 Kericho/Mau Summit (A104)-Kisumu-Busia (Uganda border) (229 km)

B2 A104-Kitale (A1) (54 km)

B3 Mai Mahiu (A104)-Narok-Sotik-Kisii (A1) (280 km)

B4 Nakuru (A104)-Marigat-Loruk (A1) (227 km)

B5 Nakuru (A104)-Nyahururu-Nyeri (A2) (183 km)

B6 Makutano (A2)-Embu-Meru (A2) (169 km)

B7 Embu-Kitui-Kibwezi (A109) (279 km)

B8 Mombasa-Garissa (A3) (453 km)

B9 Isiolo (A2)-Mandera (744 km)

B10 Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Spur (4 km)

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The national trunk road network comprises of 10 defined links (as shown in table 3), totalling 2,799 km
of which 1,339 km are paved. In practice the class B roads have limited relevance as connectors to
provincial headquarters since they (apart from Embu) are already directly connected by class A roads.
However, they have some evident logic in connecting other important centres or large unconnected
regions or larger centres and the higher level network.

There are a priority grounds for classifying B1 as an international route. B9 also terminates at an
international border, but it does not cross the border or connect with any significant link in Somalia.
Class B group has a logical, sequential numbering from 1 to 10.

Urban Roads
The Kenya Roads Act of 2007 further classified urban roads into three (3) categories as follows:

Class Description
Class UA Urban arterials
Class UC Urban collectors including primary distributors and district
distributors
Class UL Urban local roads including minor distributors. Local streets.
residential stand accesses, commercial and industrial stand
accesses, shopping streets

Management of Roads in Kenya

There was a major shift in Kenya roads policies from the Sessional Paper N0. 10 of 1965, just after
independence, to the era of structural adjustment and now that of the 2010 Constitution that emphasizes
devolution. The only policy strategy that has been consistently pursued is decentralisation of road
service provision. Otherwise, starting in the mid—1980s, there was an increasing effort to move towards
private sector participation, including privatization and full cost recovery for public inputs, as opposed
to emphasizing government provision, as was the case in 1963 to 1984. The shifts in policies over the
years have been gradual and continuous as occasioned by changes in the economy.

Post-Independence
Immediately after independence in 1963, the Government moved to lay the foundation for the country’s
rapid economic growth. The total length of both roads made from bitumen and gravel or earth roads
increased from 41,94lkm in 1963 to 46,600km in 1972.

The establishment in 1969 of the Special Rural Development Programme (SRDP) was a milestone in
the process of decentralizing planning, as it institutionalized rural planning and management through
establishing an administrative structure. While the national government constructed roads in all areas of
the country, district councils had the mandate for developing rural roads using cess funds from the sale
of agricultural commodities. The arrangement was such that bodies like Kenya Tea Development
Authority (now Kenya Tea Development Agency) developed roads in the small-scale tea growing areas.

The roads policy for Kenya over the 1970 to 1989 period was encapsulated Within the second (1970 to
1974), third (1974 to 1978), fourth (1979 to 1983), fifth (1984 to 1988) and sixth (1989 to 1993) national
development plans; the 1984 National Transport Plan; and the 1986 Sessional Paper No. 1 on ‘Economic
Management for Renewed Growth’.

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1980s
In the 1980s, the government through the District Focus for Rural Development (DFRD) Strategy and
Rural Trade Promotion Centres (RTPCs), aimed at effecting decentralized and participatory planning,
further decentralizing road provision. The typical project package included improvement of town and
link roads, Water and electricity supply, grain stores, slaughterhouses, bridges, bus parks,
telecommunications (telephone, post offices), market centres, youth polytechnics, access roads,
footpaths, and ablution blocks. Road tolls were introduced on the main paved network in the early 1980s
to supplement regular budgetary funding.

Some of the challenges faced by the rural roads programmes — and which partly account for the failure
to meet targets — Were shortage of labour in the high-potential agricultural areas, particularly during
harvest times; shortages of middle-level staff such as inspectors and overseers; lack of transport and, in
some cases, technical construction problems attributed to soil conditions, structure and topography.

1990s
The background to and the nature of roads and road transport policy reforms in the 1990s are provided
by a number of Government of Kenya blueprints. These include the seventh (1994 to 1996) and eighth
(1997 to 2001) national development plans, the Policy Framework Paper (PFP) on Economic Reforms
for 1996 to 1998, the Sessional Paper No. 2 of 1996 on Industrial Transformation to the Year 2020 and
the 1997 National Roads Strategic Plan (NRSP).

However, the Ministry of Roads and Public Works recognized that a network approach was required but
that full rehabilitation of the network would be financially prohibitive. The ministry then adopted an
approach to road rehabilitation and maintenance based on district networks. Known as Roads 2000, this
approach was designed to raise operating conditions on the 55,000km of unpaved classified roads. The
Roads 2000 strategy of partial rehabilitation, spot gravelling and improved drainage was developed to
improve road conditions, increase accessibility and bring the network to a maintainable standard.

In 1994, a road maintenance levy fund (RMLF), consisting of an automotive fuel levy and transit toll
collections, was introduced by the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (Amendment) Act of 1994.

In September 1994, the Government introduced transit toll charges under Common Market for Eastern
and Southern Africa (COMESA) arrangements in addition to axle-load limits on trucks that carry heavy
loads. These trucks are partly responsible for damaging the Mombasa—Nairobi—Kampala—Kigali
road. Kenya’s axle—load regulations represent the core of the transport policies relating to trucking
productivity, infrastructure provision, and management. Revisions in size and weight limits are reflected
in truck fleet, operating weights and volumes, which in turn affect the geometric requirements, loadings,
maintenance, and rehabilitation intervention levels of the infrastructure.

The Kenya Roads Board

The History of KRB dates back to 1992 when the Kenya Government together with the Road
Maintenance Initiative (RMI) World Bank team hosted a Road Sector Stakeholders Seminar, to address
the deteriorating condition of the road network in Kenya and the constraints to timely and proper road
maintenance. The identified constraints were institutional, managerial and financial.

The Kenya Roads Board (KRB) was established through an Act of Parliament, KRB ACT No. 7, in
1999 and was given presidential assent on 6 th January 2000 . The Act commenced on 1 st July 2000
and the Board of Directors was appointed. The act specifies the following as the mandates of the board:-

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 Administer the funds derived from the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) and any other
funds that may accrue to it;
 Supervise the development, rehabilitation and maintenance of the road network, with a view to
achieving efficiency, cost effectiveness and safety;
 Supervise the implementation of all policies relating to the development, rehabilitation and
maintenance of the road network;
 Determine the allocation of financial resources from the RMLF or from any other source
available to the Board required by road agencies for the development, rehabilitation and
maintenance of the road network and
 Monitor the operations or activities undertaken by road agencies in the development,
rehabilitation and maintenance of the Kenyan road network.

In essence, KRB provides an institutional framework within which the entire road network is managed,
and is entrusted with the authority to efficiently use KRB funds to develop, rehabilitate and maintain the
network. The KRB Act provides for broad allocation of funds, with 60 per cent going to international
and national trunk roads and primary roads, 24 per cent to secondary roads, and 16 per cent to rural
roads.

2000s
The Kenya Roads Act, 2007 and the Sessional Paper No. 5 of 2006 on the Development and management
of the road sub-sector for sustainable economic growth provided the legal and institutional framework
for the management of roads. The Sessional Paper which was approved by Parliament on October 19,
2006, also spelt out policies to be pursued by the Government in the medium term for sustained growth.

The Act established three Roads Authorities with responsibility of clearly defined mandates on the
management of respective sub-networks. These were the Kenya National Highways Authority, the
Kenya Urban Roads Authority and the Kenya Rural Roads Authority.

Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA)

The core mandate of KeNHA includes:

 Constructing, upgrading, rehabilitating and maintaining roads Class A, B, C roads.

 Implementing road policies in relation to national roads.
 Ensuring adherence to the rules and guidelines on axle load control prescribed under the traffic
act and any regulations under this act.
 Ensuring that the quality of roads works is in accordance with such standards as may be defined
by the minister.
 Collecting and collating all such data related to the use of national roads as may be necessary
for efficient forward planning under this act.

Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA)

The mandate of KURA as defined in the Kenya Roads Act, 2007 is the Management, Development,
Rehabilitation and Maintenance of all public roads in the cities and municipalities in Kenya except
where those roads are national roads.

Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KERRA)

KeRRA is responsible for the management, development, rehabilitation and maintenance of rural roads,
classified as D, E and others. The Finance Act 2009 set up Constituency Roads Committees in each
constituency in Kenya which, under the assistance of each Member of Parliament, advices KeRRA on
the formulation of an annual roads programme and the roads to be included in it. These committees thus

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prioritize projects within their jurisdiction and which are hence implemented under the supervision of
KeRRA.

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ROUTE LOCATION

Introduction

Route when used as a noun is a course, way, road for travel, regular line of travel or itinerary. The
general 'function' of a 'route' is to provide the optimum 'way' for moving traffic (cargo)from an origin
to a destination. The general functions of fixed transport routes are:

[1] Land (activity) Access, i.e. every parcel of usable land should have transport access.
[2] Mobility, i.e. be available for the passage of traffic. Sections of routes for traffic service may or
may not provide land access.

The defined three-dimensional path is the alignment. It is designed as 'horizontal' and 'vertical'
alignment because of 'plane surveying' and two dimensional drawing. The ideal alignment is a great
circle from the start, or origin to the end or destination. As long as walking speeds were the norm,
alignment was mostly effected by acceptable terrain and directness of route.

Route location technology is very old. Modern route location, design and construction began in the
1800's with the building of the railway network. Railways were really the first routes with sustained
speeds higher than a running horse or man. Railways require precision track location for stability &
comfort at limiting speeds. Railways are best with low slope track. Slopes must be within allowable
power & traction limits of the locomotive. Curves must be within the tracking and stable limits of the
vehicles. In rolling terrain, these factors result in a sinuous alignment with many horizontal curves. The
costs of construction are related to the amount of earthwork required.

The precise position of the route path is usually defined as the 'horizontal alignment' and the 'vertical
alignment'. The alignments are usually treated separately for practical purposes, but must be considered
combined for final design and operational purposes. The traffic on a route can range from a single person
to millions of barrels of oil. Most highway, railway, waterway, and air routes usually carry a variety of
traffic (cargo). Rivers are examples of natural alignments developed by hydraulic forces and geographic
features.

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