How many tonnes is a lorry?

It depends entirely on the lorry, which is the whole problem with per-lorry pricing. A seven-tonne Isuzu, a fourteen-tonne tipper and a twenty-two-tonne trailer are all called a lorry in Kenya. Always ask for the payload alongside the price, then divide.

Is machine-cut ballast worth the extra?

For structural concrete, yes. Consistent aggregate size keeps the water demand of the mix stable between batches, which keeps the strength stable, and clean stone bonds properly to the cement paste. For mass fill and blinding, hand-cut is fine and the saving is real.

How do I check sand quality?

The silt test: fill a clear jar about a third with sand, top up with water, shake, and leave it to settle for a few hours. Silt settles as a distinct layer on top of the sand. More than about 6% of the sand depth and it is too dirty for concrete. It costs nothing and it is worth doing on any large order.

Why does sand vary so much in price?

Mostly distance from the river and county levies along the route, not quality. Two loads of near-identical sand can differ substantially by which source and which road they came from. A supplier claiming a large advantage on sand is usually describing their haulage rather than their material.

Ballast, Sand, Hardcore and Murram Prices in Kenya, Per Tonne

Prices per tonne, delivered in the Nairobi area

Reviewed August 2026. Every rate is per tonne, deliberately, for the reason set out below.

Why per-lorry pricing tells you nothing

Kenyan aggregate is quoted “per lorry” almost universally, and almost never with the lorry stated. A seven-tonne Isuzu and a twenty-two-tonne trailer are both “a lorry”.

Take three published Kenyan figures that look wildly inconsistent:

Grade A machine-cut ballast, KES 40,000 for a 22-tonne trailer delivered
Grade B hand-cut ballast, KES 30,000 for the same trailer
“A lorry of ballast for KES 12,000”

That spans a factor of more than three. Divide each by its payload and you get about 1,820, about 1,364 and about 1,714 per tonne. The first and third are essentially the same price for the same material. The middle one is cheaper because it is a different, lower-grade product.

Nothing in those numbers was wrong. The unit was missing, and the missing unit is where a great deal of money quietly changes hands on Kenyan sites.

What to ask, every time

The tonnage rate and the stated payload of the vehicle. With those two figures any set of quotes becomes comparable in about a minute. Without them, you are guessing, and the supplier quoting the lowest headline number is frequently the one with the smallest lorry.

Machine-cut against hand-cut

Machine-cut ballast is graded to consistent size and comes clean. Hand-cut is cheaper, varies in size and carries more stone dust.

The variation matters more than people expect. Inconsistent aggregate size changes how much water a mix needs from batch to batch, and water content is what sets concrete strength. Dust coating the stone interferes with the bond between aggregate and cement paste, which is the bond the whole material depends on.

Structural concrete: machine-cut. Mass fill, blinding and backfill: hand-cut, and take the saving.

Hardcore and murram

Cheap materials, expensive haulage. The ex-quarry rate is close to meaningless because on most Nairobi sites transport exceeds the material cost, sometimes by a wide margin. Quote and compare delivered, or you are comparing nothing.

Rates

Work	Rate	Notes
Ballast, machine cut (Grade A)	KES 1,700 - 1,850 /t	Consistent size, clean. What structural concrete needs
Ballast, hand cut (Grade B)	KES 1,350 - 1,500 /t	Variable size and more dust. Fine for mass fill, not for a slab
River sand	KES 1,830 - 2,110 /t	Priced by distance from the river and by county levy, not by quality alone
Quarry dust	KES 900 - 1,200 /t	Blinding, bedding, block making
Hardcore	KES 700 - 1,000 /t	Before transport. Transport often exceeds the material cost
Murram	KES 700 - 1,000 /t	Before transport. Same caveat

Rates reviewed August 2026. Every job is confirmed with a written quotation before work starts.