Design and supervision of the main road in South Tarawa. This involved factors such as climate change and unexploded ordnance from World War II.
The existing main road was heavily deformed by constant installation of services and general degradation over time. The improvement works involved upgrading over 35km of the main road and secondary roads running the length of the island. The project roads are vulnerable to both climate change and remnant unexploded ordnance from World War II; these factors were addressed in design and construction management. The project had a total cost of US$ 70 million, funded by the World Bank, ADB and Governments of Australia, Kiribati and New Zealand.
Fraser Thomas, working with Roughton International (UK) as lead firm, was engaged to provide engineering design, supervision and environmental management services. Construction had to take place on a heavily trafficked main road within a narrow corridor and with no secondary network to allow by-passes. Aggregates for the road base and surface seals were barged to Kiribati from Fiji and protective sea walls were required across causeways and where the road is exposed to tidal and storm surges, the magnitude of which increases with sea level rise.
This project involved:
