The Tanzanian government has recently announced that construction works on the Kigamboni bridge, the longest cable-stayed bridge in East Africa which will connect the Dar es Salaam central business district to Kigamboni and Kurasini in the southern coastal areas, are expected to be completed in February 2016 to start being used in March, 2016, and contribute to reduce congestion in the region.
Once joined, the bridge would be later connected to Charambe, Mlandizi and Chalinze roads to further reduce the city’s congestion, explained Tanzania’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications, Mr. Joseph Nyamhanga, when recently visited the construction site and engaged the construction staff to ensure that the bridge will be joined in the current month.
Moreover, the bridge’s construction is meant not only to reduce congestion but also to boost the domestic tourism sector in Tanzania since Kigamboni area in Dar Es Salaam’s south beach is rich in holiday beach spaces but they were not completely chosen by the public due to the Kurasini Creek that separates it from the rest of the city and lack of reliable ferry services.
It will also promote the establishment of a new city in Kigamboni which has a capacity to accommodate 1.2 million residents and that is expected to be the next tourist hub to make longer the stay of international tourists in Dar es Salaam that are currently using the city only as a gateway to other tourism destinations in Central Africa.
The bridge, which is under construction by China Railway Construction Engineering Group (CRCEG) and China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group (CRMBEG), was planned to be ready in January, 2015, but it is now at final stages and would be soon joined after delays due to technical issues as undersea cavities below one of the pillars and shortage of sand in the area, explained the project’s business manager, Mr. Zhang Bangxu, in an interview with Xinhua news agency.