By Nasratu Kargbo
The Project Manager of construction company CSE, Abdulai Mbow has told a group of visiting journalists at the construction site of the new Magbele Bridge along the busy Port Loko highway, that the structure will be ready by December this year. He said major work has been completed, with few remaining work to be done, before the structure is handed over to the government.
Mbow stated that the bridge is expected to have a life span of one hundred years. He said the quality is assured due to the materials used, and spoke of the company having applied strong concrete to bolster its foundation, and the fitting of high quality accessories such as the handrails and safety barriers.
The Director of the National Authorizing Office (NAO), Ambrose James said NAO and the EU have a cooperation development envelope, and said one of their areas of intervention is road construction.
James said the construction of the bridge will be a milestone noting that there have been so many accidents on that bridge and lives have been lost there. The old bridge is a one lane bridge which increases travel time because opposing vehicular traffic had to wait on one another.
Speaking on the benefits of the new bridge, the director said it is a double lane which will increase the traffic flow, get goods and services across faster and make accessibility easier.
He also noted that the bridge is very significant because it connects regions. “The Northern Region will access the Western area, this bridge also connects us to Conakry, Kambia, Kono etc. this is a major milestone and a major development infrastructure for which the government and the EU have thought it fit. If we change the landscape it will connect and bring a lot more development,” said James.
He said their office is the contracting authority, and was so far pleased with the structure. James noted there has been massive improvement compared to the last time they visited in April.
The Director of Planning Policy and Research at Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA), Engineer Vandy French said they were satisfied with the project.
He explained that all foundations, sub structure and the decks have been completed, with the most significant work already completed.
He also stated that in order to connect the road to the bridge, the approaching lanes on both sides of the bridge will be leveled to meet the bridge’s deck which will allow vehicular access on and off the structure.
Explaining the reasons for the delay French said that sometimes they fly experts to the country, and that due to the state of COVID in the world, they could not travel. He also stated that some of the quality materials used were imported and there was delay because of the pandemic.
With regards the weather the engineer noted that the approach roads need to be done in fair weather because there is a lot of backfilling which needs to be done on either side of the bridge and that cannot be done with a soft soil. As a result, the bridge which had an earlier deadline for mid-2021 now has a new
Responding to the question on maintenance, the Director said by virtue of their mandate SLRA is responsible for the maintenance of all roads, bridges and ferries, stating “this bridge is no exception”.
“After construction based on the conditions of contract, the country has a one year defect liability period during which SLRA and consultants will be monitoring the bridge and should they notice any defect, the company will be responsible for maintenance. He added that if there are no defects, after the defect liability period the bridge will be handed over to the SLRA for any maintenance in the future.
The New Magbele Bridge has a length of 163m and the pedestrian handrail 10.8m wide and the carriageway also with a width of 7.2m.
The bridge is reported to cost over 6 Million Euros.
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