China Road and Bridge Corporation has been awarded a Sh3.22 billion contract to upgrade seven kilometres of Old Mombasa Road between the Nairobi Inland Container Depot and Syokimau.
Kenya Urban Roads Authority disclosures, reported by Business Daily and Mjengo Hub, show construction was expected to start on September 1, 2026, and finish on April 28, 2029. CRBC will build for 18 months and then maintain the road for a further 12 months after winning the tender competitively.
What the works cover
The contract covers pavement construction, drainage and protection works, road furniture, identification and relocation of services, and keeping traffic moving through the site. The bill of quantities provides for two kilometres of temporary gravel diversions while crews rebuild the carriageway.
Electrical works include 259 double-arm LED streetlights on 10-metre poles and 20 single-arm lights on eight-metre poles, plus substations, distribution boxes and power cables. The upgrade is meant to lift capacity, drainage, safety and reliability on a corridor that feeds containers out of the inland depot into Athi River and Syokimau industrial and residential areas.
Congestion and poor drainage on parts of the stretch have long slowed freight and local traffic. Budget documents had previously listed smaller allocations for the Syokimau–ICD section; the Sh3.22 billion package covers a fuller reconstruction than routine patching.
CRBC’s wider footprint
The award adds to CRBC’s long list of Kenyan projects. The firm built the Standard Gauge Railway, financed with $5.08 billion (about Sh658.1 billion) in China Eximbank loans, and the Sh86.8 billion Nairobi Expressway from Mlolongo to Westlands.
It also delivered Nairobi’s Eastern, Southern and Northern Bypasses, with the Southern Bypass alone costing about Sh18 billion. CRBC is finishing the Sh46 billion Talanta Stadium on Jamhuri Grounds, funded through an infrastructure bond via Linzi Finco, and is among contractors on the Nairobi–Nakuru–Mau Summit highway under a public-private partnership. Its parent, China Communications Construction Company, has been linked to JKIA modernisation, while CRBC is also set to build the Sh38.8 billion Galana dam under an engineering, procurement, construction and financing model.
Sections of the lower Mombasa Road were damaged during Expressway construction, and CRBC has already been tapped for capacity enhancement and beautification works around the James Gichuru junction toward Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
For logistics operators, a rebuilt ICD–Syokimau link should cut travel times and vehicle wear once complete. During works, diversions and lane restrictions will add friction on an already busy freight route that remains one of Nairobi’s main cargo arteries.
Sources: Business Daily | Mjengo Hub
Photo: Endesia94 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
