GGM engineers tour Kigongo–Busisi bridge project

Geita Gold Mine (GGM) has sent some of its 40 engineers of various fields for a study tour to a 3.2-kilometre Kigongo-Busisi bridge that crosses a portion of Lake Victoria.

GGM the biggest single gold mine in the country said the tour was of paramount importance since the bridge connecting Kigongo in Mwanza and Busisi in Geita offers ideal engineering challenges need for them to learn for future considerations.

GGM engineers tour Kigongo–Busisi bridge project

GGM Infrastructure Manager, Eliakim Kagimbo, said they’re interested in using the bridge as a learning platform to gain insightful knowledge on the technical aspects of the overall project.

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“We are delighted to see this bridge being built in close proximity to our operations [some 100km],” Mr Kagimbo said adding “hence the bridge provides an opportune platform for us to upgrade our skills.”

The engineers vised the bridge last week and were from various fields including mechanical, electrical and industrial engineers, project managers, fitter mechanics, welders and boilermakers.

    GGM engineers tour Kigongo–Busisi bridge project

TANROAD construction supervisor at the bridge, Eng William Sanga welcomed the learning of the GGM engineers saying the bridge will provide an important link between Mwanza and the surrounding regions as well as neighbouring countries.

“This bridge will accommodate significantly more traffic volumes along the route as well as improve the safety of users at this lake’s crossing point,” he said.

The Kigongo–Busisi Bridge, also referred to as the Mwanza Gulf Bridge, is set to be completed next February and also tarmacked road will be constructed to link the eastern end of the bridge to the city of Mwanza.

The bridge is billed as the longest in East Africa and the sixth longest in Africa and is constructed by China Civil Engineering Construction Group and the China Railway 15th Bureau.

According to TANROAD website the bridge project route consists of two major components bridge works and road works. The Bridge works consist of the construction of extra- dosed bridge of 520m with a total length of 3.0 km, including the approach section, crossing Lake Victoria. Road construction consists of the widening of 1.66 km of the existing road from two lanes to four lanes and the construction of 1.16km on the Kigongo side and 0.5 km on the Busisi side.

The bridge is the first to transverse the Mwanza Gulf of Lake Victoria and thus the symbolic meaning and aesthetic beauty of the surroundings are adequately expressed by the extra-dosed bridge with three pylons. And also, approach bridges are pre-stressed-concrete (PSC) beam bridges with 40 metre long of the span length in terms of securing the economics of the projects.

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