Mozambique | Maputo-Katembe Bridge opens on Saturday

The Maputo-Katembe Bridge, to be inaugurated on Saturday, will be crossed daily by 4,000 vehicles in the first year of opening to traffic, according to forecasts from Empresa de Desenvolvimento Maputo Sul.

The company’s president, Silva Magaia, told Maputo daily newspaper Notícias that the new infrastructure will facilitate the distribution of goods and construction materials to the municipality of Katembe, which so far has been limited due to the small capacity of the ferry that crosses Maputo bay. Magaia said that the bridge is expected to receive about 4,000 vehicles a day compared with the ferry, which can carry no more than 200 vehicles per day across the bay.

The president of Maputo Sul said that with the bridge and the roads, stretching over 187 kilometers, it is now more practical to travel to Ponta do Ouro, in the far south of the country with a stop at the Maputo Special Reserve.

The bridge and the roads will be inaugurated on Saturday, 10 November, when two tolls will start operating, one on the bridge on the Katembe side and the other in Bela Vista, in the district of Matutuíne.

Construction of the Maputo-Katembe Bridge was awarded to the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CBRC). Construction began in September 2012 and was financed with loans from the China Export Import Bank.  MDT/Macauhub