The alternative bridge over the Revúbuè River, which connects the cities of Tete and Moatize, will be officially opened this Thursday, 3 October, to the circulation of people and high-tonnage vehicles. The new infrastructure comes as a solution to relieve the pressure of heavy traffic on the Samora Machel bridge, the newspaper Notícias reported.
Promised by the Minister of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources, Carlos Mesquita, in January, the bridge is intended to meet the need to reduce the impact of traffic, especially heavy vehicles travelling along the Zambian route towards the Port of Beira.
The Samora Machel bridge, which had been supporting heavy traffic since then, will now be used exclusively for light vehicles, as was the case before tropical depression Ana. According to the minister, ‘after studies, we saw the need, instead of making a temporary metal bridge, to move on to an alternative that can have a useful life of 40 years, with regular maintenance’.
At 600 metres long and 1.20 metres higher than the previous one, the new bridge was designed to withstand today’s climatic challenges. The deck is wider and some of the pillars are up to 18 metres deep, prepared to withstand heavy loads and the intense currents of the river during the rainy season.
The old structure, temporarily reinforced with metal, could be demolished to prevent its pillars from interfering with the new bridge, although this decision is still being evaluated by the engineers.
‘The completion of the new bridge represents a milestone in improving the region’s transport infrastructure, ensuring greater durability for the Samora Machel Bridge and facilitating the flow of trade between Mozambique and its regional neighbours,’ said Mesquita.
‘It was the government’s concern to resolve the situation of the bridge that was damaged when Tropical Depression Ana hit,’ said Mesquita, referring to the incident in 2022 that interrupted traffic and raised transport costs between the two cities.
