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Article ID: CBB951503443

Maintaining the local Empire: The Public Works Department in Dar es Salaam, 1920–60 (June 2020)

Edward, Frank (Author)
Hård, Mikael (Author)

The Journal of Transport History
Volume: 41
Issue: 1
Pages: 27-46
Publication date: June 2020
Language: English

URI: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0022526619883457

DOI: 10.1177/0022526619883457

Publication Date: June 2020
Edition Details: Special issue: The Historical Ironies of Roads

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Great Britain, colonies Maintenance and repair Colonialism Infrastructure Roads and highways 20th century Tanzania (Tanganyika, Zanzibar)

Historical studies of infrastructures in colonial settings tend to focus on planning, design and construction. The article modifies this bias by highlighting the repair and maintenance of infrastructures. Investigating the Public Works Department in British Tanganyika, the authors illustrate its importance for keeping streets and roads clear, preventing sewage pipes from flooding and keeping electricity lines working. At the same time, the authors show that the Department struggled with a shortage of funds, and that it was often squeezed between other units of the British administration. Despite the obvious importance of repair and maintenance to keep the colonial economy and power apparatus running, such activities did not enjoy high esteem. The authors explain this state of affairs by referring to the generally low status of operation, maintenance and repair in Western culture and to the somewhat uneasy status of the engineering profession in British culture.

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Article De Greiff A. Alexis; Hård Mikael (June 2020) The historical ironies of roads. The Journal of Transport History (pp. 3-5). unapi

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