Railways to buy 125,000 bags of silica sand for locomotives traction

Kenya Railways (KR) has issued a 125,000 bags tender for clean silica sand for use in its latest fleet of locomotives.

Local and international bidders with capacity to deliver 2,500 bags a month weighing 20 kilogrammes each at KR’s Nairobi depot for the next two years should apply by March 30.

Clean silica sand free of clay, loam, mica and other foreign material is commonly used for traction sand as well as braking sand for trains, trams and other locomotives.

“Each wagon should be loaded with 1,800 (one thousand eight hundred) bags of dried, sifted and bagged sand each weighing 20kg, totalling 36 tonnes of sand. The sand is to be delivered in part approximately 100 tonnes per month,” it says.

Traditionally, sand dealers in Kenya sell in bulk starting at seven tonnes a lorry that goes for Sh9,000 in Nairobi with a 14 tonnes haul charged at Sh12,000 for deliveries in the City.

The quantity of silica sand required per month may increase or decrease but Kenya Railways insists the 2,500 tonnes will be consumed within the next two years from date of signing the contract.

It says its mandate includes management of the meter-gauge railway.

Kenya Railways is actively involved in revitalising the Naivasha-Nakuru-Eldoret-Kisumu-Malaba railway lines for both passenger and cargo use.

Each tender should be sustained for three months and each bidder should provide a Sh180,000 tender security bond issued by a local bank.

All bidders must provide proof of fulfilling tenders of similar nature in the past five years and should own the site and equipment as proof of ability to handle the contract.

Every bidder should have been sanctioned by the National Environment Management Authority and have a history of paying cess to the county governments.