UNRA ON SPOT as road experts reveal why Katonga bridge caved in
Part of the affected road section
Last week there was a rise in water levels in Lwera areas and later fast moving floods.
Consequently, part of Katonga Bridge caved in something that has paralyzed movement to and from Western Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to road construction experts this publication talked to, the worst scenario would have been the Bridge being submerged by water but not caving in.
They now attribute the cave in, to shoddy works by contractors—current and past. Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) is responsible.
According to experts, the cantilevers (a long projecting beam or girder fixed at only one end, used in bridge construction) should have been extended further and deep into dry land to create a long bridge to support itself against weight and the effects of any erosion.
However, their observation (from the damage) indicates that the bridge was only built within the water and the dry land borders.
As a result, the raging floods washed away the soil between the cantilever and the dry land, hence the broken separation from the soil erosion.
The matter has been exacerbated by sand mining and rice growing activities, according to analysts.
“The cantilever has no land. Near the Chinese are dredging sand on one side and planting swamp rice on the other side,” they opine.
“The road was constructed in the middle of the lake bed. Both sides of the road are L.Victoria proper. The contractors should have suspended the road above the marshland for about 30 kilometers. It seems this was not done due to lack of money or it was swindled,” adds another bridge construction expert.
UNRA says it will take three weeks to repair the affected Bridge.
Ugandans are also asking UNRA to sort the Lwera stretch menace for once and all.
A year in-out UNRA has been spending money on maintenance works on Lwera stretch.
There have been frequent breakdowns experienced on this stretch which has largely disrupted transport activities along Kampala-Masaka-Mbarara highway especially towards Christmas and Easter festivities.
“The Lwera stretch is just a representation of all the things that are wrong at UNRA with Allen Kagina as the boss. You cannot be sure if the road crews are merely incompetent workmen, hapless fellows who are underfunded or clever imps who intentionally do a shoddy job and run off with the balance of the public funds meant to do a proper job,” rants a concerned Ugandan.
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