New bridge reopens after more than two months of repair

The new bridge will be reopened tomorrow (July 4) after close to three months of maintenance works, Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) has said.
On April 15, UNRA, with the help of traffic police, diverted Jinja-bound traffic to the old (Nalubaale) bridge to allow maintenance works on the new bridge with the initial date of reopening set on July 10.
However, the project engineer, Mr Morris Odrua, on Wednesday told this reporter that maintenance works are complete and motorists would start using the bridge effective July 4.

“We have finished [repairs] and opening tomorrow (Thursday). We would have finished mid-June but abnormal rainfall affected our progress,” Mr Odrua told this reporter on Wednesday evening.

Maintenance works involved contractors Zenitaka and Hyundai digging up sections of the New Bridge to replace AC14 asphalt – which wasn’t bonding well with water proofing material – with modified polymer asphalt.
The Shs390b Bridge was commissioned last October and it is expected to last for 120 years.