Road Engineers are a shame to Kenya Part 2

Herr Ezekiel,
You have raised the levels on this debate to acceptable standards. This is what we really want at The Clean Kenya Campaign- TCKC- www.kcdnkenya.org.
I want to start by agreeing with you on the aspect of maintenance. Those who are employed to do this are sleeping on the job. We have Provincial and District Road Engineers across all Kenya, and they are Engineers. They are a shame to all Road Engineers.
Secondly, what is the scientific wisdom that makes one build a Road that develops cracks and holes two months after Commissioning? I pointed out to Roads that were built in Europe in the 1930's as still being strong as they were built. What makes ours wear out withing two Months of completion?
Thirdly, and I want an honest opinion here; are our Road Engineers happy with their Professional Competence in Kenya? Are they happy with the standards of Roads they are building for us? A drive around all our Roads reveal the kind of scientific incompetence we are referring to. We do not have any single Road with a smooth continuous stretch of 50 meters! Just take a drive anywhere across Kenya and you will confirm this.
Does this tell us anything about the Professionalism or lack of it of these chaps?
Fourthly, the science of Road building involves a few things and I want to look at some;

1. Topographical Sampling; I want to believe that before any Road is constructed, the soil samples for the earmarked area must be taken and studied. I have two clear cases I want to make reference to in this piece; 1; From Timboroa towards Burnt Forest, we have a section that makes you very sick. There are no cracks and no pot-holes. But the Road has developed bumps- very unpleasant bumps. One is tempted to ask; Who built this Road? Was he a Roads Engineers or was he a Brewer? Secondly, Mai Mahiu Road has just been opened after being closed for about 5 Days because the Road developed cracks and the sides were washed off. Now, as you build a Road, is there need to take care of such cases; Drainages. Most of our Roads are built without any consideration of such a basic necessity for any Road; Drainage. This again begs the question; Was this Road designed by a Roads Engineer or by a Brewer?
2. Design; All Roads are designed after careful studies. During the Design stages, I want to believe that some little thinking is involved. Because you are an Engineer, and even in Brewing, some thinking is involved, you look at what course the Road will take. You look at the soil situation, the gradient levels, the hills, the rivers and all. You then come up with a Design that meets the levels of your trained competence. Now, going by some of the Road Designs we have seen, can you be convinced that someone applied some level of thinking in coming up with those Designs? Some Designs leave some of us bewildered. It makes us ask, was this the works of a Road Engineer or a Brewer?
3. Drainage System; Drainage is a must component in any Road Construction. In our Lay World, we all know that Tarmac and Water are never the best of friends. And this is why in any meaningful Road Construction, the first things they work to put in place are the Drainage Systems. But take a walk across Kenya and report back to us which Road in Kenya has a functional Drainage System. Whenever it drizzles in Nairobi, you are on your own. Now, when it rains, all come to a stand still, because of the incompetence of these rudderless people calling themselves Road Engineers. In fact, they must never talk where we are! You cannot build a Road without building a functional Drainage System. Take a keen look at what our Road Engineers build for Drainage and you will laugh all the way to the Bar for a cold Guinness. They are open ended things heading nowhere. When it rains, they drain all the water onto the Road. And they call themselves Road Engineers these Brewers! 
4. Size and width; When constructing a Road, I want to believe that the size and width of the said Road is very important.I want to ask, what is this scientific wisdom of building very narrow Roads for us. I have had to come to a complete stop in some sections of our Roads when a Trailer is approaching. I am not the only one who suffers this. Many who have failed to stop have ended in the Mortuaries- courtesy of the Professional Incompetence of these our Road Engineers. If it is a question of resources, then where is your professional training? You must tell the bureaucrat that I need this much for this far and you stand to your Professional standards. Have you ever heard any Road Engineer complain of under funding? Have you ever heard even their Professional Association, if they have any, stand up for this demand?  I have never heard. They are complicit to the mass murder of Kenyans in our Roads.
5. Durability; We have what we call Strength of Materials and all those technical jargons you bury your head into before you qualify as a Roads Engineer. When you are in an Engineering Class, you are taught that what you develop must be durable, and in most cases, some specific periods are given to this. When you build a Road, it should last for some given period before you start the routine maintenance on it. This is what we call durability. I want to ask our Road Engineers, and their Professional Association if they have any, do you have a time line for the Poor Roads you build for us in Kenya? Why must we be perpetually on a building mode for our Roads? If it is not the rains that are spoiling our Roads, it is the Trailers. If it is not our Buses spoiling our Roads, it is our small cars. It is surprising that even light track users like Bicycles are also spoiling our Roads! Now with vast resources being channeled to our Incompetent Road Engineers every Year, can we achieve our Visionless 2030? We must be realistic. We cannot be on a permanent Road Construction Mode on the same Roads every 2 years, yet, we have a lot of catch up to do.
6. Axel Load and Road Weight; Roads are built to take some given weight, and on this, as rudderless and incompetent as our Road Engineers are, they will shake their incompetence to the bureaucrat. They will build poor Roads and blame the enforcing agencies for allowing over weight vehicles on the Roads. This is defeatist and escapist.
7. Consumer/User Considerations; For every Professional Undertaking, we have consumer or user considerations. This is why the Doctors have compassion on their patients, and this is why Lawyers, as bad as they are, offer Pro-Borno services to some clients. Now, as you build any Road, you must envision who will use the said Road and how. Are you designing a death trap for your consumers, in this case the Road users? Or, are you designing what will develop a crack and potholes as soon as it is Commissioned.

There are several issues that I may want to raise to justify why these creed of people should be banned in Kenya and taken to Siberia. Times have come when Road Engineers must start to behave like Form Ones, only to be seen and never heard.
In the new dispensation where we will be Staying with the issues, we want to keep the heat on any Professional negligence in Kenya. And our Road Engineers must shape up or ship out, for this is the State of our Nation.

Odhiambo T Oketch,
Executive Director,
The Clean Kenya Campaign- TCKC
Tel; 0724 365 557
Website; www.kcdnkenya.org
Blogspot; http://kcdnkomarockswatch.blogspot.com