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Adomi Bridge Repair Works Progressing |
| One of the cracks on the beam of the Adomi Bridge at Atimpoku, has been repaired. |
The engineers working on the bridge are expected to repair two other cracks within three weeks.
This came to light on Wednesday when the Director in charge of Bridges of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA), Mr Peter Dagadu, paid a visit to the site.
He was accompanied by the Director of Public Affairs of GHA, Norbert Quarnor, and some media personnel.
When the team arrived there at about 10.30 a.m., the engineers were seen busy working, with some of them standing on platforms built between the Volta Lake and the bridge, welding the cracks. The repairs works involve attaching metallic steel to the cracks.
Briefing reporters, Mr Dagadu was optimistic that the engineers could finish the work within the stipulated time of three weeks.
He said even though a time frame has been given to complete the work, the GHA will conduct thorough checks on the entire beams of the bridge to ensure that there are no other cracks or depressions.
Mr Dagadu said the cracks might be as a result of excessive overloading of vehicles that ply on the bridge, adding that the bridge was designed not to carry more than 20 tonnes of load but some motorists refuse to adhere to the order.
He noted that periodic and routine maintenance work are carried out on the bridge to ensure its lifespan of 120 years.
He said the GHA has written to Dorman Long, a United Kingdom construction firm that built the bridge to come and advise if additional works need to be done on the entire bridge.
Mr Dagadu said motorists are not allowed to use the bridge between 9 a.m. to 12:noon daily so that the contractors will get ample time to work on the cracked portions.
He noted that even though it is stated that the bridge would be closed to traffic for three hours daily, this may sometimes go beyond the stipulated time depending on the nature of work that being done.
Vehicles were seen parked on both sides of the bridge whiles passengers were seen walking across the bridge to the opposite side to board vehicles to continue their journey.
The cracks were detected last month by fishermen who later informed the GHA through the operators of the toll both on the bridge.
The Adomi bridge was commissioned by Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Gha-na’s First President on January 25, 1957. |
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