TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING
HIGHWAYS THAT CONNECT NAMIBIA WITH THE WORLD Namibia is investing in strategic road upgrades that will serve as a catalyst for socio-economic growth. IMIESA speaks to Heiko Klink, MD of VKE Namibia, about the company’s involvement in strategic projects that include Phase I and II of the Windhoek to Hosea Kutako International Airport Freeway Upgrade and parallel infrastructure works.
F
amous for its desert landscapes, Namibia’s land area covers some 823 290 km2 and shares borders with Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa. This makes Namibia an important international road transit route, as well as in terms of sea and air connections via the Port of Walvis Bay and Hosea Kutako International Airport, situated some 40 km from Windhoek. Since its establishment in 1958, VKE Namibia has performed feasibility studies and designed and supervised the construction of over 2 000 km of roads on behalf of the country’s Roads Authority. Iconic projects include VKE’s appointment as the consultant for a major portion of the Trans-Caprivi Highway Upgrade, completed in 2000.
An expansive network Namibia’s current network comprises around 48 900 km, with national paved arterial routes covering some 8 035 km and
interconnecting with all border points. Two of the key commercial transit routes are the Trans-Zambezi Corridor – connecting Walvis Bay with Lusaka in Zambia and extending up northwards to the DRC border – and the Trans-Kalahari Corridor, extending from Walvis Bay through to Windhoek and onwards to Gauteng in South Africa via Botswana. Namibia remains at the forefront in the region in terms of delivering world-class road infrastructure, with the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2019 ranking the country as the best in Africa. Namibia scored 5 out of a possible 7 and was listed in 31st position out of 137 countries surveyed globally. Driving this ranking is the Roads Authority of Namibia’s ongoing investment in support of the country’s Harambee Prosperity Plan II (2021 to 2025) and Vision 2030 objectives. “We are working on a wide range of projects in Namibia, where one of the key features is the large number of river and interchange bridges that need to be constructed or
upgraded. This is very exciting for our VKE team, especially our young engineers, who are gaining invaluable experience,” Klink states. Current VKE projects include the Windhoek to Hosea Kutako International Airport Freeway Upgrade, as well as upgrades on the Windhoek to Okahandja freeway section (approximately 74 km), and Swakopmund to Walvis Bay (approximately 30 km) route. The Okahandja project is at an advanced stage of completion, with the Swakopmund to Walvis Bay freeway scheduled for completion in 2025. In total, some 80 bridges will have been constructed or reconstructed on these three projects, with approximately 150 km of new freeway established.
Windhoek to Hosea Kutako International Airport VKE Namibia was appointed by the Roads Authority in April 2014 for the initial detailed design, tender documentation and
A section of the upgraded Swakopmund to Walvis Bay route
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IMIESA June 2022
