South African company Stefanutti Stocks has been awarded the contract to build an 85-kilometre road link between Kalabo and Sikongo in the northwest of Zambia.
The road will traverse the Barotse Plains that lie to the west of the Zambezi River, and will terminate at the border with Angola. It will provide access to the Angolan port of Lobito from north western Zambia, according to the Zambian Roads agency.
“The engineering design is of a high standard for this area and we are required to crush 400 000 tons of material for the base course, asphalt and concrete,” says Stefanutti Stocks contracts director Jonathan Pells in a company media release.
“We will also have to allow for flooding during the rainy season in our construction schedule, as some of the potential borrow pits and the bridge site are prone to flooding and are usually submerged and impassable during the rainy season.”
Construction is due to be completed within a 24-month period.