News

May 2011

In December 2010 Roughton International Ltd signed a contract with the Government of Kiribati to provide design and supervision services for the Kiribati Road Rehabilitation Project. This involves pavement rehabilitation of about 31 km of main road and 8km of feeder road with associated drainage and road safety improvements. The physical works will be completed in 2013. The project is jointly funded by ADB and World Bank but the consultant services are under the ADB portion.

Kiribati is country made up of small coral atolls separated by large expanses of the Pacific Ocean. It straddles the equator and the International Date Line and encompasses Christmas Island which was the base for atomic bomb tests in the 1950’s although the bombs were exploded offshore on hulk ships. The work is taking place on Tarawa, which is where the international airport and main wharf are situated together with 75% of the population. Despite its small size and remoteness Tarawa has an AADT figure of 6000 in the commercial center.

Our study team includes several greybeards with long time employment by RI including Simon Ovens (Highway Engineer), Ken Robinson (Lead Singer and Materials Engineer) and John McFarlane (Project Manager), but the average age is considerably reduced by the presence of young Kieran Kelly. Despite initial worries the Island escaped from the devastating Tsunami.

Written by Regional Manager John McFarlane