Chinese firm seeks to build new state-of-the-art Victoria Falls Bridge

By Wallace Mawire

Chinese construction giant, China Communications Construction Company Government for the construction of a new state-of-the-art bridge in the resort town of Victoria Falls, the Livingstone Biweekly has reported.

The current Victoria Falls Border Bridge, which opened to traffic in 1905, is located at the junction of Zimbabwe and Zambia. It is the only railway link between the two countries and the only corridor across the Zambezi River in the region. But of late it has been unable to meet the increasing traffic demand owing to limited capacity.

In its project proposal, CCCC said “the construction of Victoria Bridge will not only affectively improve capacity across the Zambezi River, facilitate passenger and cargo transportation in the surrounding areas and promote the development of regional tourism, but will also play a significant role in strengthening regional ties and promoting regional economic development.”

CCCC was one of the Chinese companies that met with President Mnangagwa in China last week and expressed interest to invest in Zimbabwe. CCCC Limited is a publicly-traded, multinational engineering and construction company primarily engaged in the design, construction and operation of infrastructure assets, including highways, bridges, tunnels, railways, subways, airports, and marine ports.

The company has come up with at least three models for the proposed bridge; namely, the “Wing Bridge”, the “Flying Bird Bridge” and the “Rainbow Bridge”.The Wing Bridge is a single-tower composite Girder Cable-Stayed bridge, two-lane road standard with sidewalks.The bridge length is 297m and width is 17,5 metres, and
can be transformed into a four-lane bridge.

The Flying Bird Bridge is a twin towers Composite Girder Cable-stayed Bridge, two-lane road standard with sidewalks. The bridge length is 262m and width is 17,5m. It also has capacity to be transformed into four-lane bridge.
The Rainbow Bridge is a Deck Arch Bridge, two-lane road standard with sidewalks.The bridge length is 208m and width is 13,5m and can also be transformed into a four-lane bridge.