According to the director of the consortium Estradas do Zambeze, Jorge Valerio, constructing the bridge’s deck will be completed by October, after which guard rails, lighting and paving will be installed.
Valerio was speaking during a visit to the construction site on Friday by President Armando Guebuza.
He added that over thirty families would move to newly built houses elsewhere in the city to make way for the bridge’s access roads, under a scheme recently inaugurated by the National Roads Administration (ANE).
The new bridge, about six kilometres downstream from the existing Samora Machel Bridge, will link Tete city to the district of Moatize, which is the centre of the country’s coal mining industry.
The bridge will help to overcome the problem of congestion on the Samora Machel Bridge. It will also increase the flow of goods to and from neighbouring countries, particularly Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia.
The construction of the bridge and repairs to the road linking Tete with the Zimbabwean and Malawian borders will cost about 140 million US dollars.
Estradas do Zambeze is a Consortium of three Portuguese construction companies: Mota Engil, Soares da Costa and Opway.
Post published in: Africa News