By Francis H. Murray
Engineers rebuilding the Savage Street Bridge have assured that all major work on it has been completed with indications that the street will be reopened to vehicular traffic by the end of January.
The Project Manager, Engineer Patrick Masuba, could not give a specific date for the opening of the bridge but noted that plans were on to possibly merge its opening with that of the Limkokwing-Regent Road which is tentatively slated for the 31st of January 2021.
“That will be determined following consultations among the key stakeholders in the road sector. That will include the SLRA, our Supervising Ministry, the Ministry of Works and Public Assets and the Ministry of Finance” he said.
He assured that all structural work on the project had been completed as promised, leaving only minor ancillary work to be done.
‘‘The SLRA through the Director General promised the people of this country that before Christmas, substantial completion of all major works would have been achieved. That was actually achieved,” Ing Masuba said. He went on to say that only “minor ancillary work” now remained.
“We would however require a few more days for proper curing of the deck before opening the bridge to traffic,’’ he said.
Ing Masuba further assured that various interventions had been identified for other respective bridges ranging from reconstruction to rehabilitation.
He said that starting this month, “project preparation work will commence which will eventually lead to works on those bridges. We are anticipating funding from the Government of Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Finance,’’ he said.
He said engagements would continue among major stakeholders to ensure the demolition of makeshift tents constructed by people around bridges, which he said had further weakened the already strained structures constructed some 50 years ago.
‘‘We have even before the collapse of Savage Street Bridge been involved in a series of engagements with the Police when such complaints were received by SLRA. We will continue to engage the Sierra Leone Police and other stakeholders like the ONS and EPA to effect demolition of makeshift structures around our Bridges and to punish by Law miscreants damaging our structures,’’ he stated.
When Politico visited the site on Tuesday 5 January, pedestrians were already using the bridge while work continued on the sidewalk and slabs.
The bridge, which costs over Le 9billion, is expected to last for not less than 100 years even with the projected increase in traffic volume and environmental factors envisaged, according to SLRA engineers.
The bridge collapsed in September last year with no casualty reported except for a young bike rider who was almost caught in the rubble and had to be later taken to hospital.
The bridge connects Savage Street to St John on one end and Main Motor Road (Brookfields) on the other end, with three major schools located within the area.
Following its collapse, the Government awarded the reconstruction project to China Railway Seventh Group (CRSG) with a stipulated timeline of October to December for the construction work to have been completed.
Site Engineer of CRSG, who gave his name only as Chin, told Politico that work on the bridge had already finished in December, but could not be opened to vehicular traffic because of some cable work by SIERRATEL which he said had delayed completion of the entire work.
The collapse resulted in serious traffic congestion in the West End of the city, leaving two alternative routes into the city centre: the Old Railway Line Bridge and Kingtom Bridge; two other bridges that have also gone for years without any major maintenance work done on them.
Alice Kamara, a business woman who trades around the Siaka Stevens Stadium said she had been forced to spend more on transportation ever since the bridge collapsed and often reaches home late.
‘‘I live in the Wellington Community, so that should give you a picture of what is involved in getting to the Siaka Stevens Stadium, my business area. Before the bridge collapsed, although it was challenging to get to my business spot in time and return to my family early, it was much better. With the current situation, I’m forced to pay more than I used to as transport fare, with no guarantee of reaching home early. Now that it is almost completed, we urge them to open it as early this year,’’ she lamented.
Alfred Kargbo, a commercial bike (Okada) rider within the Central Business District of Freetown said that the collapse had badly affected business with most passengers preferring alternative routes with a reduction in transport fare.
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