Background
For a long time, the Mozambicans have envisioned making the country accessible from north to south via roads and motorways and, in particular, to create a connection to Swaziland and South Africa. Moreover, thanks to the transport connection to the Southern coastal region, a development corridor was now created, primarily providing tourism infrastructure, as planned in the ”Katembe master plan”, and therefore expecting to generate further employment and economic growth for Mozambique.
Project
Between 2014 and 2018, under the construction supervision of GAUFF, the “Maputo Bridge and Link Roads Project” created the largest suspension bridge in Africa, in the bay of Maputo, with a main span of 680 m and 60 m above sea level. It spans the entire entry area leading into the international seaport of Maputo and is part of the total bridge that consists of a 1230 m precast concrete element, a 1100 meter-long cantilever bridge and a 680 m suspension bridge. It represents the key structure to connecting the city of Maputo with the adjacent road leading from Katembe to Ponta do Ouro and the Republic of South Africa.
The planning and construction of the adjacent roads, with a total length of 170 km, was also supervised by GAUFF. The first section of 115 km now links the city of Maputo with Ponta do Ouro which is considered one of the most attractive tourist destinations in Southern Africa. Up until now, it was very difficult to reach Ponta do Ouro from Maputo. With access to Ponta do Ouro, the road to the South African border has also been expanded, thus creating a new and shorter transport link between Maputo and Durban. The second section connects Bela Vista which lies half way between Maputo and Ponta do Ouro with Boane, improving herewith the access to the easter border region of Swaziland. This section has a total length of 65 km.
The construction supervision of these two road sections comprised the rehabilitation of five existing bridges that cross the rivers Rio Tembe, Rio Changane, Rio Mahubo, Boane and Umbeluzi.
The crowning glory of the project was the ceremonial inauguration of the bridge by President Filipe Nyusi on November 11, 2018.
Services
Design evaluation
- Verification of the detailed design with the help of stability analyses;
- Verification of the detailed design and its compliance with local standards and correlation between local standards and European as well as Chinese standards;
Services of construction supervision
- Supervision of the execution of works conform to local and Chinese standards;
- Supervision of the execution of works conform to the detailed design as well as the
contractual service descriptions; - Supervision of the execution of works conform to the construction time schedule (deadline controlling)
- Supervision of the execution of works conform to the local environmental guidelines;
Development of a “Project Quality Management Plan (QMP)”, Preparation and implementation of a
- Project communication plan
- Design quality plan
- Design management plan
- Health, safety and environmental conservation plan (HSE management plan).