By Alpha Abu
The vital Savage Street Bridge which was being rebuilt after it collapsed last September, has reopened to the public again. The official reopening event took place on Tuesday 23 February 2021, attended by officials in the Ministry of Works and Public Assets and partners.
The Savage Street Bridge connects the Western part of Freetown and the central business district and its collapse affected the movement of vehicles and pedestrians and placed enormous pressure on the nearby railway line bridge.
Works Minister Peter Bayukku Conteh in his brief statement said the structure was completed within the time-frame. He said the reconstruction of the bridge was a demonstration of the government’s key attributes on infrastructural development namely the implementation of quality based projects that also show value for money and timely delivery.
He thanked the contractors, China Railway Seventh Group for meeting the expectations of the government in addressing critical issues of construction when called upon. The minister denied rumours that government paid a sum far exceeding the under one million dollars actually allotted to the Chinese company for the reconstruction of the bridge. Conteh pointed out that residents living along the street now have a structure that he said “will stand the test of time”.
He revealed how they had initially thought of plans to have proper sidewalks built first, taking into consideration a number of schools nearby and the use of the bridge by the children, but instead had to speed up its reopening to ease the traffic congestion.
The President of the Sierra Leone Association of Engineers Trudy Moore spoke about their satisfaction of being involved in the assessment process following the collapse of the bridge and assured that their Association will continue its guidance and advisory role with the government.
Theodora Kamara, a resident of Savage Street for over 20 years now, told Politico that people living in the vicinity will no longer have to go through narrow pathways or people’s private property to reach either end of the street. She explained how they would again have relative tranquillity in the neighbourhood now that vehicular traffic had resumed, and narrated how school children had taken upon the habit of converging in large numbers on the finished bridge then closed to traffic, to fight or play football and other games after school, much to the annoyance of neighbours who sometimes had to chase them away.
Reconstruction work on Savage Street Bridge began on the 25 September 2020, days after it caved in. It took three months to complete. Unlike the previous bridge which the engineers claimed had only concrete frame, the new structure was reportedly made with thick concrete and iron frames. They say the bridge built from the monies of taxpayers will last a hundred years.
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