Maputo-Catembe bridge 82 percent complete

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Maputo-Catembe bridge 82 percent complete

11:24 CAT | 15 Aug 2017

O País

The Maputo-Catembe bridge is already 82 percent complete, but there are still challenges ahead.

Maputo Sul CEO Silva Magaia, who heads the public company that owns the Maputo-Catembe bridge project and connecting roads, hopes these challenges will not compromise deadlines.

“As you approach the small roundabout in Malanga, next to the Praça 16 de Junho, the power lines are still there. At that point there are still deep excavations to be made and elevation of pillars to the access ramps,” he admits. And the metal deck for the bridge connecting the capital and the Catemde shore has not yet reached Maputo, two months behind the initial deadline.

Still, the structure is expected to be assembled by September. “Our expectation is that between the end of September and the beginning of November the assembly of the deck will be completed. We had forecast that this would arrive at the end of the first half of the year, but, there was a changeof plan regarding procedures in the finishing of the modules themselves. There are interventions that were initially expected to be done here in Maputo City, but it was thought that this was wasteful, given the time the modules were going to be here – the vessel delivering the deck will occupy a significant part of the port of Maputo,” Magaia explains.

“If the structure was aligned, we would need a space of 700 metres, plus the reserve of the work area,” he explains. “There are lights on both sides of the roadway for visibility at night, but also for aesthetic considerations.”
Construction works of the entrance and exit ramps In Malanga are underway. The first ramp must join the Avenida das Nações Unidas, right next to the barriers of Malanga. Magaia says this will be the starting point for those going to nearby areas such as Malanga and Chamanculo. The second ramp under construction will connect to the sixth section of the Maputo Ring Road, which passes behind José Macamo General Hospital. initially, this road will end at Avenida de Moçambique, near the port of Maputo.

The location of the third ramp is not yet defined. Silva Magaia says there are still technical aspects to be studied, but that it is expected to end in front of the National Institute of Communications of Mozambique. The Nwankakana market is expected to be displaced to give way to the fourth exit of the Maputo-Catembe bridge, ending on Avenida 24 de Julho. Also here will be an entrance embankment, start near the Mozambique Transportation Institute.

In Catembe, the work is relatively more advanced. More than half of the pillars already have the concrete tray mounted, and the division of the two directions of the bridge, which will have four lanes, two for each direction, is taking place. The team is also putting a fence on the sides. There is also space reserved for ducts, where several cables will be placed, among them, electric power and telecommunications. Lighting poles will also be mounted along the bridge trays.

The Maputo-Catembe bridge is expected be in use by December, though with some finishing work still to be done. The bridge will be the largest in the country, the largest suspension bridge in Africa, and among the 60 largest suspended spans in the world.

Source: O País