Driving on the scenic engineering marvel. Africa's longest suspension bridge | Maputo-Katembe bridge

The Maputo–Katembe bridge (Ponte de Maputo a Katembe) is a suspension bridge across Maputo Bay in southern Mozambique. The bridge connects the Mozambican capital Maputo, on the northern bank, with its disjunct suburb of Katembe on the southern bank. Construction work began in 2014 and the bridge officially opened 10 November 2018. The construction work was carried out by the Chinese China Road and Bridge Corporation; a large part of the project is financed by loans from the Chinese Exim Bank.

The bridge is the longest suspension bridge on the African continent, replacing the Matadi Bridge, completed in 1983 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, for this distinction.

The four-lane suspension bridge is 3041 metres long and crosses the bay at a height of 60 metres. The northern viaduct (foreland bridge) is 1097 meters long, approximately S-shaped and is connected to the Praça 16 de Junho roundabout (connected to the EN1/EN2/EN4 highways) in the Maputo neighborhood of Malanga. The southern viaduct is 1264 meters long and consists of precast elements. It is directly connected to the road to Ponta do Ouro.

Originally, pylons were also planned in the bay itself, but they were removed after a change of plan so as not to unnecessarily obstruct shipping traffic. A span of 680 metres is bridged without pillars between the two pylons located on the banks. This makes the bridge the largest of its kind in Africa. The main supporting cables are each connected to a solid anchor block via steel structures in the north and south. The extremely high loads of the structure required pile foundations with diameters of 1.50 m to 2.20 m. The piles reach 110 m deep into the claystone. The two pylons are 141 m high, and at a height of about 40 meters there is a crossbar for the roadway. The individual prefabricated steel elements for the carriageway are 25.60 m wide and 12 m long. These were fabricated in China and installed from a ship lying near the quay wall.[3]

The project also included the extension of the road from Katembe to the border town of Ponta do Ouro (129 kilometres[14]) and between Boane and Bela Vista (63 kilometres[14]), including bridges over the Maputo, Futi and Umbelúzi rivers. After completing the bridge, extending the EN1 trunk road over the bridge to [Ponta do Ouro] was possible.

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