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The government of Tanzania is funding the construction of the US$265 million Kigongo-Busisi Bridge. Construction began in February 2020 and is expected to be completed in February 2024.

Two Chinese contractors, the China Civil Engineering Construction Group (CCECG) and the China Railway 15th Bureau, are making progress with work on the 3.2 kilometres bridge over a ferry crossing on Lake Victoria.

The bridge will span across the Gulf of Mwanza, a 30-kilometre inlet on the lake’s south shore between Kigongo and Busisi, and link Tanzania to Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Burundi by road.

“The road construction consists of the widening of 1.66 kilometres of the existing road from two lanes to four. These approach roads tie in from the existing surfaced road to the new bridge. For construction purposes the bridge and roads have been combined in one contract (Single Lot) covering bridge and road segments,” said Pascal Ambrose, manager at Tanzania National Roads Agency (Tanroads) in Mwanza.

Currently, ferries carry approximately 1,600 vehicles daily, but it is expected that the bridge, with a capacity of 180 tonnes, will accommodate significantly higher traffic volumes. It will improve ambient air quality and reduce traffic volume to the ferry through diversions. The bridge will also reduce travel time by cutting crossing time from thirty-five minutes by ferry to four minutes by automobile and improve safety and public transport, according to Tanroads.

The project scope comprises two major components – bridge works and road works. Bridge works include the construction of an extra-dosed bridge (520 metres), along with two approach bridges.

Construction on the Kigongo-Busisi Bridge over Lake Victoria in #Tanzania has begun! Tanzania’s president, John Magufuli, has laid the foundation stone for the bridge, which will be the longest in Central and Eastern #Africa and the sixth-longest in the continent on completion. pic.twitter.com/nMyKXyCLNM

— CCECC (@CCECC8) February 25, 2020

Dr. Hassan Abbas, a government spokesperson, noted the late president’s role in the project. “President Magufuli believed in using the country’s resources to implement developmental projects,” said Dr. Abbas.

“On different occasions and events, President Magufuli has insisted that his country is not poor but rich. Since then, he has used such spirit to implement mega developmental projects in the East African country which had never been constructed since the country’s independence” Dr. Abbas added.

The project is reported to have created 776 jobs during the ongoing construction. When complete, the Kigongo-Busisi Bridge will be the longest in East Africa and the sixth longest in Africa.

Ongoing construction of the Kigongo-Busisi bridge (@twigacement Twitter Handle | Twiga Cement)