Kibarani Cargo Train Salvage

August 2016.

A train carrying mixed cargo de-railed whilst heading out of the Port of Mombasa to the Nairobi terminus, on the only bridge heading off the Mombasa Island onto the Mainland Kenya. The causeway consists of dual carriageway and railways track.

The bridge also carries a 2.5 Foot diameter main water pipe that supplies the Island with water, running high volume and relatively high pressure, along the top of the bridge line making this a very sensitive area.

Due to the scale of the recovery and the volume of traffic during the day the, the causeway had to be shut down from 8:00pm to 6:30am.

The carriages Comarco were salvaging were used for transporting bulk grain, namely wheat. Each container housed 25 Tones (net weight Wheat). The containers were 3 Tons each (2 per carriage), the chassis was 10 tons and each bogie was 3 Tons (2 per carriage).

Comarco did a tandem lift on all the carriages using the cranes simultaneously to spread the weight over the very narrow bridge section. Most of the carriages were on their sides and 2 to 3 meters down the bank of the bridge. For two carriages that were further away from the main section of the train - about 5 to 6 meters away from the main railway line and upside down, rough terrain crane had to be position as close to the bank as possible making these two lifts the hardest and furthers.

On all cases Comarco picked the carriages up and moved them closer to the two cranes, laying them on their sides. Comarco removed the grain bulk containers and loaded them on to the awaiting lorries (2 containers per carriage), then removed the main chassis of the two bogies and placed the chassis on a waiting lorry followed by the bogies. In total for one carriage 6 lifts were required. Over two carriages per night were salvaged and seven in total.

Relevant Links

Disclaimer of Liability: The materials contained on this Website have been prepared for information purposes only. Whilst every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the materials, we accept no responsibility for loss or damage which may arise from reliance on information contained on this Website.

© Copyright 2023. Maast Maritime Kenya Ltd. All Rights Reserved.