A paradigm shift in Kenya’s build-scape
Mabati
2019-09-10
Back in the mid 00’s, the reality of Kenya’s decimation of her natural resources came to fore with the rapid deforestation of the Mau water tower. Earlier projections of 10% vegetation cover over the country’s landmass were replaced by the reality of barely 4% cover! Droughts were being reported, the Mara and other rivers had shrunk in volumes, prices of building timber were escalating even as quality dropped; the environmental chicken were coming home to roost!
Mabati Rolling Mills Ltd (MRM) had, as part of its product development effort, been considering an alternative solution to timber trussing, partly in seeking market growth but also in answering the environment challenge as a responsible citizen in line with its policies.
ULTRASPAN in Kenya was born in unceremonious setting, in the backdrop of the infamous post-election violence of 2008. With thousands of households displaced and a massive humanitarian crisis, ULTRASPAN was one amongst the choices of solutions to get the suffering families a decent, lasting, quick and affordable roof over their heads. There were challenges of a new technology and inadequate local know how to overcome. But like all great ideas, ULTRASPAN endured. And thrived. From a trickle of projects initially, ULTRASPAN is today Kenya’s leading light-coated steel trussing solution, crowing the buildings of many developers and homeowners.
ULTRASPAN offers the market’s only unique combination of member components, allowing it
to span larger distances while being optimized into an efficient design. This has made it a
A typical ULTRASPAN truss assembly of Chords as rafters & bottom-chord, webs
as struts and connecting brackets all pinned using self-drilling screws.
A typical ULTRASPAN truss installation – freedom to apply any roof finish product of choice amongst mid-larger applications including churches, learning institutions, light warehousing that most other local light-gauge solutions are unable to address.
It is also the markets only light-weight roofing truss brand based on MRM’s Aluminium-Zinc coated steel, allowing it to be applied in challenging environments like Kenya’s coast where alternatives based on Galvanized steel would be prone to pre-mature failure through corrosion.
With well over a million square metres area of successful roof installations and thousands of trees saved from roof-related logging, SAFAL BUILDING SYSTEMS Ltd (SBS), MRM’s specialized building solutions subsidiary, is proud of its contribution to solving the challenge of its birth date.
Talk to us today at any of MRM’s nine (9) services centres across Kenya and at selected dealers to experience the freedom of design, simplicity of execution, non-compromised quality and value for money that have become the hallmark of ULTRASPAN. Your great, great- grandchildren shall admire your wisdom and foresight.
