Bridge upgrade delays truckers at Moz border

Users of the Samora Machel Bridge that is under rehabilitation over the Zambezi River at Mozambique’s Tete Province are reporting continuing delays roadfreighting goods from the port of Beira to Malawi due to ongoing bridge construction. Return trips from the interior are also delayed due to the bottleneck. “It’s got a good year to run,” Robert Poverello of Aquarius Shipping reported to FTW on his estimate of the construction timetable. The contractor, a Portuguese company Teixeira Durate, said work that began in March 2009 would be done in September, but bridge users assessing work in progress have their doubts. Currently traffic is one way on a revolving basis. Malawi-bound east to west traffic is permitted to cross for 30 minutes, and then direction is reversed so west to east traffic flows for a half hour. The bridge, which is closed to traffic from 01:00. to 6:30, will be shut entirely for unspecified periods as sections of the bridge are removed and new superstructure is erected in their place. Meanwhile, work is under way for a US $107 million second bridge a few kilometers upstream at Tete City. The new bridge, at 1350 metres long and due to be completed in 2012, will work in tandem with the Samora Machel Bridge to achieve free flow of traffic along the 250- km long highway that connects Zimbabwe and Malawi via Mozambique’s Tete Province.