Kpeshie Bridge in Danger of collapse
Users of the La Kpeshie Bridge in Accra have called on the government to, as a matter of urgency, close down the road to long vehicles and heavy trucks or divert it to avert any disaster.
The bridge, a major link which connects La, Teshie Nungua, Tema and beyond, has deteriorated to such an extent that if nothing is done about it sooner, the whole bridge will collapse.
Cracks and rustiness
Some of the rusty iron rods are exposed, while there are cracks on some of the piers and beams, a situation which makes the bridge fragile and dangerous to use.
The bridge has not seen any major rehabilitation for some time now, and although the former Minister of Roads and Highways, Alhaji Amin Amidu Sulemani, in September last year inspected it and promised that rehabilitation works would begin in earnest to avert any danger to road users, nothing has been done.
Motorists
According to one motorist who plies the road on a daily basis, Mr Cecil Garbrah, owing to the nature of the bridge, all motorists have to be very cautious when driving on it.
He said there had been instances when drivers had skidded off the road in the night and plunged into the lagoon, dying instantly.
Mr Garbrah, who was seen taking pictures of the bridge, told the Daily Graphic that “whenever you drive alongside some of these long vehicles or trailers, you feel the vibration as if the bridge will collapse any minute”.
He said with the setting in of the rains, the ministry had to move in quickly because the lagoon had been heavily polluted and whenever it rained the water overflowed the bridge, making it unmotorable.
Rehabilitation works
On September 11, 2013, the minister had indicated that rehabilitation works would begin on the Kpeshie Bridge to forestall any danger to motorists.
Incidentally, the bridge was scheduled to be reconstructed along with the widening of the 16.1-kilometre La Beach road, estimated to cost $96 million, with part of the expected $3 billion Chinese loan.
The Department of Urban Roads (DUR) contracted the China Water and Electric Company Limited to undertake the works, expected to have begun in November and completed by December 2013, to guarantee the safety of the hundreds of motorists who cross the bridge daily.
The Kpeshie Lagoon, from which fishermen caught tilapia in the past, is virtually dead. There is no aquatic life in it, owing to poor sanitation.
It is also engulfed in filth.