Katonga Bridge repairs to take three weeks – Unra

The Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) has said it would take engineers between two to three weeks to make emergency repairs on the damaged River Katonga Bridge on the Kampala-Masaka highway.

The Bridge, which is a major gateway to key regional borders like Tanzania, DR Congo, Rwanda and Burundi, caved in last Thursday following devastating flash floods that swept through the area.

Over the weekend, Unra started assembling machinery and construction materials to embark on the restoration works of the bridge.

According to the Unra spokesperson, Mr Allan Ssempebwa, the water level at Katonga has subsided to enable actual works to start.

“Everything we need is already on site and if we get favourable weather conditions, the planned emergency works to allow traffic flow will take us just between two and three weeks,” he said in an interview on Monday

Mr Ssempebwa added that the task of restoring traffic flow at the damaged section of the highway is being managed by competent engineers who are expected to do a thorough job.

He told the Monitor that they had anticipated damages on some sections of the Kampala-Masaka highway and came up with well-designed plans which they are updating now to improve the state of the Katonga-Lwera section.

“This section is low lying and we shall raise the road profile by installing bigger culverts and improving the drainage system,” he added.

Mr Bashir Mawanda, the chairperson of Masaka Coaster Drivers Association welcomed the response, noting that the alternative route to Kampala through Bukomansimbi, Sembabule, Gomba and Butambala and then Mpigi is too costly for motorists.

“It’s a terrible experience and we are hard hit as public transporters because we spend close to four hours on that section compared to the two and half hours we used to take on the main highway. But Unra’s quick response restores our hope,” he said.

[email protected]