With a section of Ugandans angered and others worried, following images that show bitumen peeled off a section of the New Jinja Bridge that was opened last year, Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) has come out to dispel the concern of Ugandans.
Mr. Allan Ssempebwa, UNRA’s media relations manager, has told the media that the cracks that recently emerged in the tarmac of the said section of the bridge, causing it to peel off, are not a result of shoddy work in the construction of the bridge. Rather, that the cracks (captured in pictures that have been widely shared on social media) are simply a result of continuing tests on the 500-meter-long new bridge, which is projected to have a lifetime period of 120 years.
“There is no cause for alarm because what you’re talking about is a deliberate method of construction used by the contactors.” Allan Ssempebwa told the media yesterday.
“The wearing course seen and referred to as bumpy by a section of the public is a non-structural attachment and therefore not a defect on the bridge. It was meant to be temporary and it is to be replaced with everlasting tarmac as soon as the investigation on structural manners is completed and a baseline fact is created. This will be finished within the project’s Imperfection Liability Time before the contractor leaves the site. At the moment, the contractor has completed all the tests and has embarked on plans to start application of permanent tarmac/bitumen. Currently they are preparing a trial section of the bridge at the length of approximately 100m on both approaches of the bridge” Allan Ssempebwa explained to the media yesterday.
Mr. Ssempebwa appealed to travelers who are worried to remain calm and confident that there is nothing wrong with the new bridge.
The New Jinja Bridge, also known as the Source of the Nile Bridge, was commissioned last October by president Museveni. It is the longest across any river in East Africa and cost USD450m.