On June 19 local time, the Magufuli Bridge project in Tanzania, a collaboration between China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and China Railway 15th Bureau Group Corporation Limited under China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC), was successfully completed and inaugurated. This remarkable achievement has resulted in the creation of Africa’s longest low-pylon cable-stayed bridge.
A view of the Magufuli Bridge [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
Spanning a total length of 4.66 kilometers with a design speed of 120 km/h, the bridge features a dual four-lane carriageway. Its main span is a 520-meter three-tower, double-plane low-pylon cable-stayed bridge.
The bridge connects Misungwi and Sengerema districts in the Mwanza Region in northern Tanzania. It is expected to significantly reduce transportation costs and improve connectivity with neighboring countries including Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Kenya. The project is set to boost regional development in agriculture, tourism, and trade, benefiting over one million residents in the Lake Victoria area.
During construction, the project team adhered to smart construction and green development principles. It marked the first use in Africa of a self-developed flexible waterstop technology, enabling “zero underwater concrete pouring” for pile cap construction — minimizing the ecological impact on Lake Victoria.
Nearly 95 percent of the workforce hired for the project were local employees, creating close to 3,000 jobs and training over 1,500 skilled technical workers.
(Executive editor: Yuan Ting)
