The building and construction industry has witnessed significant technological advancements over the past few decades in Tanzania since independence.
Thanks to successive regimes seeing the essence of this right into the grassroots
Digging deep, technological advancement includes how to attempt to understand how things work to develop processes, products, or services and the generation or discovery of knowledge that advances the understanding of science or technology.
That also includes the overall process of invention, innovation and diffusion of technology or processes which has paramount economic benefit in the construction sector.
However, those have not only improved efficiency, reduced costs, and enhanced safety, but have also revolutionised the way various construction related projects are being designed, constructed and maintained in the built environment.
That is why the application of 'Extra Dosed Bridge' technology that materials used in the construction of the Kigongo-Busisi Bridge has been greatly beneficial in the building of that bridge.
According to Mwanza Regional Tanzania National Roads Agency (Tanroads) Manager, Mr Ambrose Pascal, Extra Dosed Bridge Technology that was used for the construction of the bridge by over 60 percent, is a part of the legacy that would be left to Tanzanians, as Kigongo-Busisi Bridge construction is approaching its end.
According to Mr Pascal, the technology involves some building materials such as the pilling, which is an installation of bridge piles that are installed into the water without dispersing it.
"This is our first ever experience. The pilling has been made 11.5 meters from the water surface to 66 meters under water. Pile caps are also fixed without water dispersing," explained Mr Ambrose when he was interviewed by the Daily News in Mwanza city recently.
According to Mr Ambrose, this kind of construction to the state-of-the-art bridge has enabled most of the Tanzanians, who are working at the bridge since they employed to be familiar with it to their practical part, as they are now fully engaged from the project's designing and settings, to-date.
Engineer Pascal said, due to that technology which is applied by many Tanzanian engineers, Tanzania will have to run similar projects with less external support.
In technical-part, he expresses his gratitude to the project's contractor-China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCEEC) who has been promoting knowledge transferring to Tanzanians, through the multi-billion project.
He outlined the bridge's benefits to Tanzanians, including shortening the time people used to spend in ferries to cross Lake Victoria from Kigongo in Misungwi District to Busisi in Sengerema District.
He said in the previous, people who were crossing the lake took over two hours for them to cross the Lake as the ferries were not operating for the whole day.
"It will now take only three to five minutes for the crossing after the completion of this project", he said, adding that the vessel goes to assure reliable transport.
"The bridge has capacity to accommodate not less than 120 cargo tons at once. The construction is now at 90.5 percent and is set to complete by the end of this year," he said.
Engineer Ambrose added that the 3.2-kilometer length and 28.45 Width Bridge will also serve as a tourism attraction, with people becoming eager to visit the longest bridge in East Africa and the sixth in the African continent.
Given the fact that, the bridge will connect Tanzania and the East African countries; it will consequently fuel people and business interaction in the Mwanza commercial hub, in a bid to boost the individuals as well as the nation's economic growth.
He stressed that the project is expected to complete on time noting that the remaining activities like the construction of the opposing ranges, protection polls, and installation of lights as well as tarmac at the bridge are in the final stages.
The CCEEC Project Manager (PM), Mr Li Guojun, said despite some challenges they faced, they are working day and night so as to meet the deadline since the participation of the engineers at workplace is promising since they provided capacity building training on construction technology.
The same applies to non-professional locals, as they are easily trainable to match with modern technologies for such a navigable water bridge construction, he said.
"Tanzanians are hard workers. They have made a huge contribution to this bridge. We are very sure that they will soon be able to conduct similar projects in absence of us, foreign experts, if all raw materials are in place," he said.
Commenting on challenges CCEEC faces at the project site, the PM said few local engineers have stolen construction materials, a situation that made the project slow pace in the implementation of the project.
He praised the regional government, the police force for their intervention at the time when they are on the completion of the project despite the challenges they are facing.
The Manager expressed the CCEEC interest to continue investing in Tanzania, following political stabilization of the country since it attained its independence.
On her part, the internee at the project site, Ms Mwajuma Mohamed, commended the government for setting conducive environments for foreign investors in the transport sector, including the CCEEC as she gains a lot of knowledge since, she joined the project in December, last year.
The Ardhi University graduate Ms Mohamed affirmed that the project provides her a chance to practice all she theoretically learnt in class, including installation of the stay cable, post tension and concrete systems.
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"Tanzania should be proud of the presence of this Chinese company as it expands the locals' knowledge. I do predict that we, Tanzanians, are about to stand alone for similar projects," she said.
On the same issue, the opposition UDP political party Chairperson, Mr John Cheyo, who recently toured the project, commended the government over proper utilization of taxpayers' funds, 716bn/- that has been invested for the bridge constructions.
Also read: Kigongo-Busisi Bridge: A transformative investment in Tanzania's Infrastructure
According to Mr Cheyo, it is Lake Zone natives, including himself who understand much what such a major project means, recalling how difficult the ferrying on Lake Victoria was in yester-years, from Kigongo to Busisi.
"Unlike currently, the available ferries in those days were small, with an uncertainty to cross the Lake. We were forced to get in because we had no alternative transport", Mr Cheyo said, adding,
"We have now been told that the crossing will be taking less than five minutes. This is remarkable development the Tanzanians should be proud of,"
Apart from economic benefits to East Africans, the project strengthens the trust between Tanzanians and their government, as people see their tax contributions being used wisely and effectively.
"This situation puts President Samia Suhulu's competitors in a tough moment in the coming general election, because the citizens have already forgotten what the government does for them," he said.
