People and Places: Yapei Bridge
The Yapei Bridge is a steel bridge over the White Volta at Yapei, a town on the Kumasi-Tamale highway in the Central Gonja District of the Savannah Region of Ghana. It is one of two bridges at Buipe and Yapei on the stretch that crosses the Black Volta and the White Volta respectively.
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Both the Yapei and Buipe bridges were formally opened on the same day, November 19, 1966.
The Yapei Bridge was designed by Ove Arup & Partners and built by the Cementation Company at the same time and to the same specifications as the Buipe Bridge.
The bridge is 750 ft long and has a carriageway of about 20 ft in width with a walkway on both sides.
The bridges serve as a link for commuters, especially heavy-duty vehicles that transport goods from the southern part of the country to not only the northern part of the country but also to the Sahelian countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
Tamale Port
The White Volta passing through Yapei makes the town an important terminus point for the northern sector of the country.
Due to this, the town is known as the Tamale Port because the river is navigable from the Volta Lake and Tamale, the northern regional capital, is just about 45 km away by road.
The Yapei Queen Ship, which is a cargo ship, used to sail from Akosombo with petrol and other convenience foodstuffs up to the Yapei port.
Repair works
The bridge, which was constructed in the mid-1960s, saw its major repair works after over 50 years of existence.
In November 2017, the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) closed down the dilapidated bridge which posed serious risks to motorists and pedestrians for major maintenance works. It was reopened to traffic on December 22, 2017, after about four weeks of closure.
