ZWNEWS.com - linking the world to Zimbabwe: "Vic Falls bridge lifespan upprint friendly version
author/source:Financial Gazette (Zimb)
published:Thu 21-Oct-2004
posted on this site:Mon 25-Oct-2004
Article Type : News
Bridge overloaded for the past 15 years
Nelson Banya
The Victoria Falls Bridge, the gateway to trade between Zimbabwe and other SADC member states such as Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is fast approaching the end of its lifespan and urgently requires reconstruction to avert a potentially disastrous structural failure. The bridge was constructed and opened to traffic in 1905 with a lifespan of up to 100 years, which ends in 2005. Officials in the National Railways of Zimbabwe's (NRZ) infrastructure division revealed that the bridge, which carries a railway line, a roadway and a pedestrian walkway, had for long been overburdened due to lack of load restrictions. The 1929 design load for the roadway was derived from two five tonne axles spaced about three metres apart. Two such lorries were allowed side by side to give an intensity of one tonne per foot (or 32.8 kiloNewtons per metre)."
Monday, October 25, 2004
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