Repairs on motorway completed
There is free flow of traffic on the Accra-Tema Motorway following the emergency repairs of a bridge that caved in on the Tema-Accra section of the expressway two weeks ago.
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Officials of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) managed to repair the damaged bridge in a record one week, using metals to cross the damaged section.
The authority had earlier announced that the repair works would take at least five weeks, as it needed to remove the concrete deck and cast a new one and wait for it to cure for at least 28 days before it could open it to traffic.
An experiment with the metal crossing had, however, proved successful and the bridge has consequently been opened to traffic.
That has significantly reduced the gridlock which characterised vehicular movement on the corridor.
Repair works safe
The Minister of Roads and Highways, Alhaji Amin Amidu Sulemani, told the Daily Graphic that the newly repaired bridge was safe for all types of vehicles.
According to him, the change in the scope of work for the repairs did not affect the quality of the work done and the safety of motorists had also not been compromised.
He said traffic volumes on the stretch required an urgent action to reduce the suffering of motorists, some of whom spent hours in traffic following the damage to the bridge.
According to GHA statistics, about 20,000 vehicles used the motorway daily.
Alhaji Sulemani said although the repair works had been completed, there were plans to rehabilitate the entire 19-kilometre stretch of the motorway.
Background
The just repaired bridge caved in two weeks ago, causing heavy vehicular traffic on the road.
The situation prompted officials of the GHA to close part of the bridge to traffic from Tema to Accra for repair works.
The 19-kilometre stretch of the motorway links Accra with Ghana’s industrial and manufacturing hub, Tema.
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