Residents given green light to use Sh1.5b bridge across Lake Victoria

Residents use the Sh1.5 billion bridge that has replaced the Mbita Causeway. [James Omoro, Standard]

The State has allowed residents to start using the Sh1.5 billion bridge recently built across Lake Victoria to replace the Mbita Causeway.

The public started using the ultra-modern bridge Thursday after the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) certified it fit for use.

The bridge, which took five years to build under the Mbita Causeway Replacement Bridge project, consumed thousands of tones of concrete, some of which was imported.

Work on it started in March 2013.

Nearly Sh800 million was spent on constructing the underwater steel and concrete structures.

The bridge became inevitable after scientists piled pressure on the Government to remove the causeway, which they claimed blocked the free flow of water across the lake, resulting in the near-death of one side of Winam Gulf.

They also claimed that the causeway blocked free movement of fish migrating into breeding zones in the gulf.

Thursday, the KeNHA general manager in charge of design, Samuel Ogege, gave residents the greenlight to use the bridge.

This now sets the stage for the demolition of the causeway, completed in 1983, and which was prompted by increased deaths of residents trying to cross from the mainland to Rusinga Island.

Mr Ogege said the authority had started removing the causeway material to allow free circulation of water and oxygen. This is expected to take a month.

Speaking when he led a team that supervised the project, Ogege said there were a few minor works remaining for the project to be 100 per cent complete.

“We realised the bridge is fit for human use hence there is no threat on the safety of anyone who uses it. This situation is like a house which is complete but only requires painting, which cannot deter the owner from using it,” he said.

Ogege said the civil works remaining include installation of the lighting system, road signs, and fencing.

“We want to ensure that even children who walk on this bridge cannot fall into the lake,” said Ogege.

The removal of the causeway will allow ferries and other vessels (but not ships) from Homa Bay town to pass under the bridge to call at several islands in the lake, including Mfangano, Remba, and Ringiti.

Area residents expressed optimism that the bridge would improve lake’s ecosystem.

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