Zambia’s Engineering professional body, The Engineering Institute of Zambia (EIZ) has maintained its stance and will not budge or compromise its professional advise that the Alick Nkhata flyover bridge should be demolished.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, EIZ President Eng. Abel Ng’andu said he has not backtracked on his position concerning the Alick Nkhata flyover bridge, adding maintained that the structure does not meet the specifications of a well-designed structure.
EIZ deemed the bridge unsafe after undertaking a review of the design and construction as well as after engaging all stakeholders involved on the project through an in-depth analysis of the intended purpose of the bridge, its design and construction sometime last year.
According to a press release made available to the media on 22 December 2020 by the EIZ Registrar and Chief Executive Officer Eng. Linus Chanda, the space where the flyover bridge is being constructed is not sufficient to meet a well-designed flyover bridge, which meets standard specifications.
Chanda had stated then that the assessments done prior to undertaking the project do not justify the construction of the bridge, adding that the safety of the pedestrians was not adequately addressed.
He also said that the steep slopes of the bridge would lead to frequent accidents and the sudden slope change on the deck of the ramp will eventually affect the integrity of the bridge.
The EIZ therefore recommended that the bridge be demolished and a new re-designed road section be constructed and it has since maintained its stance. Some patch up work was recently done by the contractor but a drive through the bridge is still raising doubt even from ordinary motorists as to whether the bridge is safe.
Some stakeholders have indicated that the contractor and the Pension fund (PSPF) may be reluctant to demolish and redesign due to the huge sums of money that has already been sunk into the bridge. Efforts to get a comment from both PSPF and the contractor proved futile by press time.
