New Mombasa 105 East

New Mombasa 105 East was a large highway that passes through the city of Mombasa, Kenya on Earth. It passed through Old Mombasa and ended on Mombasa island, and was a significant conduit of civilian traffic.
==History==
===Battle of Earth===
During the Battle of Mombasa in 2552, the highway was heavily damaged during intense fighting between UNSC Marines and Covenant forces. Sections of the tunnels collapsed due to Covenant bombardment, and the Highway's emergency doors were activated. The Covenant positioned over a dozen Ghost assault vehicles, four Banshees, and three Wraiths, several Shielded Plasma Cannons, along with a large number of infantry, including Elites, Drones, Jackals, and Grunts, to hold the NM 105 E.
There was a UNSC effort to rally scattered defenders across the city and retake it, with a major objective of launching an assault on the city center to board the Covenant Assault Carrier there to try to capture or kill the Prophet of Regret, a major Covenant religious leader. John-117, who was spearheading the attempt, was forced to assault the NM 105 E to reach the city center, and almost singlehandedly retook the highway, with occasional Marine reinforcements arriving from side entrances in Warthogs. In the middle of his attack, the Covenant attempted to regroup, reinforcing their positions with several Shadow transports, but were ultimately unsuccessful. Meanwhile, a Covenant Scarab walker tore a path from Old Mombasa to New Mombasa above NM 105 E, stepping over it, and decimating a Marine platoon that was sent to destroy it. John-117 was eventually able to retake the Old Mombasa segment on NM 105 E, despite significant Covenant resistance and ambushes.
Upon reaching the bridge that bridged the two segments of NM 105 E, he re-joined the sole survivors of the entire Marine platoon, and was reinforced by a M808B Scorpion Tank that was air-dropped by a Pelican Dropship under the command of Sergeant Major Avery J. Johnson.
Later, Covenant air forces in the forms of Banshees and Phantoms attempted to impede John-117's advance, but nevertheless, together with the two surviving members of the former Marine platoon, John-117 was able to liberate two Marines pinned down by Covenant vehicles in the center of the NM 105 E's bridge, and later in the short New Mombasa segment of the NM 105 E, John-117 was again reinforced by a Marine Warthog with a pair of Marines, and shortly afterwards, the last vestiges of Covenant resistance on NM 105 E collapsed, and the UNSC was given a direct shot for New Mombasa's city center.
==Route==
It ran through a subterranean tunnel beneath Liberty Street of Old Mombasa before rising and connecting to New Mombasa via a bridge. This was the main entrance to the city, and traveling further down the highway would take one straight through Sector B and through the City Center. The Highways featured numerous emergency doors that would shut in case of emergencies.
The underground highway was separated into several sections. During the Battle of Earth, John-117 passed through the C2, C3, and C4 sections of the highway on the west side of the bridge, on the mainland.
===Bridge===
Its most spectacular feature in the Mombasa district was a cable-stayed bridge stretching over Kilindini harbour that is located West of Mombasa island. It is one of few bridges connecting New Mombasa to the mainland.
The cable-stayed bridge had already existed for some time, but this bridge used the concept in a unique new way. The design combined several structural concepts to produce a maximally ascetic appeal. It employed an extradosed design with double backward-cantilever rounded-portal spars, connected to the deck with 44 cables in the harp configuration. The bridge also has multiple sets of remotely operated emergency barriers, that can be raised from the road surface.
There is a toll gates at each end of the bridge, suggesting that it is in in fact a toll bridge. On a scaled map, the Kilindini bridge is actually 1.09 km long, making it almost the length of a .
===Tunnel System===
The highway was enclosed completely within a type of overland tunnel, allowing for the construction of numerous buildings on top of the tunnel. This gives the illusion from most perspectives that the highway is subterranean, but it is entirely above ground, although not everywhere above sea level. It featured in most parts, a four-lane highway constructed of prefabricated sections that consist of a polymer and concrete mixture. Tunnels such as this are seen on both ends of the bridge.
The tunnel on the New Mombasa side, Mtangwe Underpass, passes under the Kilindini district, connecting to Shimanzi Road in the city's industrial area.Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe, Palace Hotel
==Emergency Measures==
The NM 105 E featured a large number of heavy, impregnable gates and several periodic interchange gates, that can be closed off in the case of emergency. Typically, there is a raised side strip to one side of each section that allowed for passage un-interfered with traffic in the main lanes. The bridge deck has a similar structure to the enclosed sections of NM 105 E but with slight additions, like built-in road blocks.
==Trivia==
*On both ends of the highway bridge, "SV.2326" can be seen painted on the walls. This is likely referring to the year of construction of the NM 105 E.
==Gallery==
Bridge1600.jpg|View of NM 105 E from the bridge in Halo 2.
==Sources==
Category:Roads
Category:Mombasa