Challenge

Mozambique was struck by heavy rainfall back in January 2015, leading to widespread flooding across the lle District. This had a devastating effect on the local communities, with much of the road infrastructure, including concrete bridges, being washed away. It also had threatened the completion of a major road building project that was taking part in the region.

The road building project, which was being carried out in the Zambezia Province in Mozambique was funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a government agency that coordinates official development assistance on behalf of the Japanese Government, which is highly active in Africa. In order to continue the work JICA had been doing, they required temporary bridging solutions to get major building equipment onto site.

Solution

To resolve the issue, six Mabey Compact 200™ modular bridges were chosen. The bridges were each 30.48 metres in length and 4.2 metres wide, providing temporary relief until a more permanent structure had been built. Although temporary, the Mabey Compact 200™ is designed to bear the weight of the major road building equipment, required for building the new road infrastructure.

Result

It was vital that the communities affected by the devastation caused by the flooding were reconnected as soon as possible, as well as ensuring that the major road infrastructure project could recommence. By November 2015, the installation of six Mabey Compact 200™ modular bridges had begun and was completed within three months. The bridges will continue to be part of the road network in the Zambezia Province until the new 225km long highway is built, which will link together lle and Cuamba.