Positioned within Manda Bay along the Kenyan coastline, the project’s strategic location at the intersection of major shipping routes is expected to boost regional trade and economic growth. Part of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor—which aims to connect landlocked countries such as South Sudan and Ethiopia—the $591-million project was completed in seven years, on time and within budget. Work included dredging the port basin and navigation channel, construction of storage yards and wharves, installation of revetments and breakwaters, construction of asphalt roads, development of port-related buildings and associated infrastructure.

An international research team consisting of experts from Chinese, Korean and Kenyan design firms collaborated to determine optimized mix proportions for the storage yard’s nearly 3-million-sq-ft cement stabilized layer. The yard’s technical specifications required high strength. Deep coral reef limestone underneath the site made pile driving difficult. Penetration tests and studies on bearing characteristics of steel pipe piles in deep coral reef limestone helped the team deploy a pile-driving method that achieved international certification.