Abstract:
ABSTRACT
The Dar es Salaam port was built in 1975 as the general cargo port before it was upgraded in 1984 into a container terminal to operate the new modern container handling equipments (SSGs) in four (4) of its berth windows. During this transformation the Terminal operated three (3) SSGs and five (5) RTGs. Today the terminal operates seven (7) SSGs and seventeen (17) RTGs which tripled the through put from 50,000 in year 2000 to 400,000 TEUs in 2014 more than 375,000 TEUs projected in 2025 on the expense of the same pavement area.
Therefore, the study aims to develop strategies for improvement of container terminal pavement maintenance management at Dar es Salaam port. Its three specific objectives were to identify the fundamental factors affecting effective container terminal pavement maintenance management, while the second was to assess the container terminal pavement maintenance management practices applied at the Dar es Salaam port and the last was to develop strategies for improvement of container terminal pavement maintenance management at the Dar es Salaam port.
In carrying out the research, both qualitative and quantitative research approaches were used. The research involved structured questionnaires, interviews, site observation, reviewing literatures and focus group workshops. The analysis encompassed primary and secondary data obtained in the field, and was done through the Microsoft Excel and statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) programs.
The findings from the study are: Firstly, for enhancing the pavement maintenance activities in the port to match the operations demands and expectations, a strong need for comprehensive pavement maintenance management system is required. Secondly, The pavements in particular are at the end of their economic life, this has implications in resources and budget for repair and maintenance of pavement has not been used effectively and timely. Thirdly, a maintenance team supported with adequate equipment and tools to promptly perform maintenance. Consequently, Maintenance department staff in TICTS should be trained and educated to recognize the right ways of performing the pavement maintenance management tasks and the equipment used also need to be determined, reviewed and updated.
This study, though informative, cannot claim to be exhaustive of all strategies for container terminal pavement maintenance management for the port of Dar es Salaam. Therefore, there is still a need for carrying out similar studies focused on the loading effects on pavement maintenance which has not been fully addressed in this study.