Skip to main content

Unganda investing in road maintenance and management

The Ugandan Government is working to improve the country’s infrastructure, with new links planned as well as a new project tackling asset management. Fugro is leading a team on a pioneering project to build a pavement and asset management system for the road network of Kampala in Uganda as part of this focus on infrastructure. The company is working with international asset management specialists from TRL and local Ugandan mapping and GIS specialist Aerophoto Systems Engineering on behalf of the client, Kam
October 8, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Fugro and TRL in the UK are amongst those assisting with road maintenance development in Uganda
The 1073 Ugandan Government is working to improve the country’s infrastructure, with new links planned as well as a new project tackling asset management. 6202 Fugro is leading a team on a pioneering project to build a pavement and asset management system for the road network of Kampala in Uganda as part of this focus on infrastructure. The company is working with international asset management specialists from 777 TRL and local Ugandan mapping and GIS specialist Aerophoto Systems Engineering on behalf of the client, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA). Surveys to map and geo-reference the 1,700km road and surface drainage networks, to build a record of highway inventory and to report pavement condition and traffic data are included under a Contract of Roads Infrastructure Inventory & Condition Assessment that spans 14 months. The GIS referenced data collection programme includes an airborne LiDAR and photography survey, and a truck-mounted road condition and asset inventory survey.

Data will be used to populate a fully featured asset management system based on TRL’s iROADS software, which includes predictive maintenance, deterioration modelling and financial forecasting functions. The project team will also work with KCCA to compile manuals of network development, road performance indicators and survey procedures to unify standards and evaluative methods for Kampala’s roads.

The project forms a key element of the strategy of developing local capacity. The pavement management system will provide a vital tool to help highway managers to target and prioritise maintenance work, while raising overall engineering performance in key areas such as road condition and traffic flow. The specialised software and data will deliver robust evidence to support KCCA funding bids to government and external investors.

Meanwhile the US74 million Kampala-Jinja Highway is one of six highways planned for upgrades by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). The new tolled highway will form part of the Trans-African Highway and replace the old route, which does not have sufficient capacity for present traffic volumes. All six of the projects were selected by the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) and these are due for completion by 2020.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Fugro complete ‘7,000km’ TRASS contract
    April 23, 2012
    Fugro Aperio collected and processed data from up to 7,000km lanes of English trunk roads as part of a just completed Traffic Speed Structural Survey (TRASS) contract. The work, commissioned by TRL on behalf of the Highways Agency (HA), saw the Cambridge-based survey specialist gain information using the HA’s Traffic Speed Deflectometer (TSD). The innovative TSD technology uses Doppler lasers to measure the speed at which the pavement deflects in response to load.
  • Innovative GIS software offerings
    July 18, 2012
    The latest construction software developments can speed the construction process overall, Adrian Greeman reports Construction software is by its very nature a very fast moving technology, with new systems coming to the market almost continuously. There are some key developments however, such as major new product launches and market trends. One of the most important developments in the road design sector is the launch of the Bentley Systems V8i versions of its software, including its road design applications
  • Further progress with new Ugandan highway link
    October 21, 2014
    The Ugandan Government is planning to launch a tender to build a six-lane highway that will stretch 77km and connect Kampala with Jinja. Costing in the region of US$800 - $1 billion, work is due to commence in 2015. The project will be carried out under the PPP model with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) acting as the project's transaction advisor. Meanwhile Uganda is also building a 51km tolled road between Kampala and Entebbe International Airport, which will be partly funded by China’s Exim Ba
  • Laser scanning focuses on asset management
    January 9, 2015
    Laser scanners and improved data collection and analysis software are making light of asset management surveying. David Arminas reports The age of the laser scanner is upon us, taking over from traditional manual methods of surveying, data collection and processing. These new technical developments are making it much easier to process and use the data captured and are providing highways engineers with powerful tools to record, map and visualise their assets. This is good news for highways authorities