Military engineers have convened civilian counterparts to share skills on how to swiftly shape steel bridges as floods increasingly rip roads amid climate change.
The prefabricated bridges offer a quick fix to safeguard the movement of people and goods during humanitarian crises, as they can be assembled by hand without the use of heavy machinery.
The truss bridges, dating back to British civil servant Donald Bailey’s World War II design, have become handy for the country’s fragile roads as climate-related disasters become more frequent and severe.
Since the 1970s, Malawi Defence Force (MDF) engineers have rapidly replaced concrete bridges with the flexible steel design on roads ripped by swelling rivers.
The training held at Zalewa in Neno District yesterday brings
civilian and military engineers to a common understanding as they work together to urgently fix devastated roads, said MDF Engineering Battalion commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Desmond Sikelo.
Bailey bridges | James Chavula
The Ka sung u -ba s ed battalion is constructing a 67-metre Acrow Bridge—a versatile version formerly called Mabey—on the Shire River to ease the transportation of people and goods for
the construction of the Mpatamanga Hydropower Plant.
Funded by the World Bank, the project supported the training of Ministry of Transport and Public Works agents, including Roads Authority (RA) staff, to enhance their capacity to assemble steel bridges during humanitarian crises.
“Our engineers and civilian government personnel used
to attend joint trainings, but we haven’t had such meetings over the years. So, we needed to share knowledge and harmonise our skills as they task us to work with them to ensure our bridges are in good shape for development purposes, disaster response and military use,” said Sikelo
In an interview, Department of Roads chief civil engineer Edwin Matanga said the training was timely as the steel bridges have become a lifeline to safeguard mobility amid climate shocks.
He revealed that when flash floods destroyed Mpasadzi Bridge on M1 in Kasungu, the initial plan was to install a Bailey Bridge, but they resorted to round culverts while mobilising components for the steel crossing.
However, the engineer disclosed that the plan has been overtaken by the vanishing rainy season and ongoing M1 rehabilitation that includes construction of a permanent bridge over the gap.
Yet the RA is still mobilising equipment to install steel
bridges on shattered sections of the M5 in Nkhotakota District along Lake Malawi and the M18 between the shoreline district and Kasungu via Nkhotakota Game Reserve.
The search comes five years after the ministry resolved to replace timber and Bailey bridges with concrete decks to stockpile metal components for rapid response to disasters.
However, Matanga could not clearly state the number of bridges that government agencies and contractors could urgently assemble with the pieces retrieved to give way to modern bridges.
He said: “I can’t tell how many bridges we can assemble currently, but we have replaced 60 percent of the Bailey bridges and 90 percent of the timber ones since we embarked on the new policy.
“The steel bridges are ideal in times of disasters because they are so easy to assemble and many take a day to a week when disaster strikes. They are also compact and sturdy. Some can withstand heavy traffic for over a year.”
MDF is expected to construct the 67m bridge within three weeks.
It is designed to withstand trucks and equipment weighing up to 30 tonnes.
