A recently published report by the East African Business Week (EABW) has indicated that, following the anticipated approval of tender documents for the construction of the infrastructure for the Dar es Salaam city Rapid Transit (DART) system, the much anticipated Tanzania transport system will officially open as expected in 2012.
According to the EABW, the World Bank has granted its approval for the tender documents, which are now awaiting the arrival of a tender award for the construction of major works that will likely begin next year.
In another recent announcement that was made by the Tanzania National Roads Agency (TANROADS), large builders have been invited to place their bid for the new Tanzania construction project for the Kariakoo bus terminal building, main shed, guard house, concrete access road and parking to the terminal station as well as the construction of sheds at feeder bus stations.
According to a statement by TANROADS, in order for applicants to be eligible to submit their bids, they must be agencies with previous experience in annual construction works that have been valued at USD 10 million and they must also be able to complete the project within 12 months.
The EABW article went on to explain that eligible and interested applicants must their bid for the project by December 30, 2009.
Following this announcement, TANROADS also revealed an additional tender that is part of the USD 190 million World Bank loan project that is intended to help reduce some of the transit time commuters in Dar city.
This second tender will be awarded for the construction of additional feeder station sheds at Shekilango, Urafiki, Magomeni Mapipa, Fire, Kinondoni ‘A’ and Mwinyijuma, as well as for the completion of bituminous access roads leading to these feeder stations.
Upon completion, the DART system will restrict the city’s 8,000 small minibuses from having full access to access to the business district and transferring them to the feeder roads on the suburbs of Dar es Salaam, thus avoiding crowding the streets.
The minibuses will be replaced by more than 150 articulated buses that have the ability of carrying 140 passengers each as well as an additional 60 passenger buses to help cover transportation on the DART system’s feeder roads.
According to the EABW report, upon completion, the DART system will have a total length of 130 km and will include several stations, terminals and depots and will run along six main corridors, including the Kimara-Ubungo to Ferry on Morogoro Road, Magomeni to Morocco terminal on Kawawa Road, Kilwa Road and the Nyerere Road that leads to the Julius Nyerere International Airport.
