Preparations for the manufacturing of one of the Diaspora University Town (DUT) building materials, the interlocking block have started. The interlocking block is one of the latest advancements in wall construction. Ndara B Community through the Ndara B Co. will manufacture 10 million interlocking blocks using 20 Machines provided by Diaspora Kenyans.
Ronald Mwangombe, the executive director of the Ndara B materials production and supplies, and Barnabas Mwadembo, a constructor who has built several houses using interlocking blocks are setting up the production through manufacturing a few blocks for testing and site preparations.
The system once started will produce at least 400 high quality blocks every day by every machine. The system will further incorporate training persons who shall be the producers. Safety measures and quality control will also be incorporated.
In the current budget of $500 million that will produce buildings and supply equipment, these interlocking blocks plan will produce products that will be sold to the project for a budget of about $5 million. DUT will purchase the interlocking blocks to apply in the buildings and walls once construction starts.
Diaspora Kenyans have invested in the purchase of the 20 Interlocking block machines to manufacture 6-inch blocks. Each block machine will produce about 400 blocks every day. The production using 20 machines will create about 140 jobs at any given day. The investors will be paid a fixed amount for every block produced and applied to the project.
When wall building, the interlocking blocks lock against each other without the use of cement mortar and create a structural stable wall. The interlocking blocks reduce the cost and time of construction. They also reduce the sand and cement applied to a building.
The manufacturing of interlocking blocks at the site will further reduce the costs associated with transportation.
About 70% of the block sale will benefit the community through payments of labor, materials extracted from land and profit. The community will benefit with the 140 jobs created to produce over 80,000 blocks a day. Over 1 million human resource hours will be applied to produce the 10 million blocks in about 4 to 5 years.
The stabilized interlocking blocks are recognized by the Kenya Bureau of standards as permanent walling materials. The press machine that produces the interlocking blocks is designed to have extra compaction to produce strong blocks. The block strength will continuously be tested through a drop test and a three-point bending test as per instructions of the machine manufacturers.
