New Bridge works in Maputo to affect traffic until June 2018.
Traffic on Maputo’s 24 de Julho Avenue, one of the Mozambican capital’s main arteries, will be affected from today until June, the company building the new bridge over Maputo Bay has announced.
Circulation will be limited at the Praça16 de Junho, western end of the avenue, as construction of one of the elevated sections leading onto the southern end of the Maputo-Katembe bridge gets under way.
The construction works will run until June 20, according to the Maputo South Development Company and Maputo City Council. Authorities recommend the use of alternative routes to access the square, such as Avenida do Trabalho and Avenida da ONU.
The construction of the elevated roadway sections is one of the last phases of what will be the biggest suspension bridge in Africa, with a length of three kilometres.
Construction of the bridge started in 2014. Foundations for the two main towers are 100 metres in depth, and the height of the bridge deck will allow the ships up to 60 metres in height to access the port of Maputo.
The road bridge project, plus about 200 kilometres of access road between Maputo and Ponta do Ouro, is costed at US$785 million, and was financed by a loan from China, delivering in turn-key mode, including everything and delivered complete.
The overall project includes five smaller bridges, and parts of the project are already finished, but a final scheduled opening date is yet to be announced.