Royal HaskoningDHV received accolades for a recently completed project – the HA Mofutho Pedestrian Bridge in Lesotho – from the South Africa Hot Dip Galvanizers Association at their awards function.

Not only did the HA Mofutho Bridge win its category – infrastructure and community development, but was awarded the overall prize, winning the coveted WGS Barnett Trophy.

The Kingdom of Lesotho, Ministry of Public Works and Transport appointed Royal HaskoningDHV (then SSI) to carry out engineering investigations, detailed design and preparation of detailed drawings and tender documents and the site supervision of the construction of a pedestrian bridge across the Senqu River near the village of HA Mofutho in Quacha’s Nek District, a very remote area in Lesotho.

The footbridge provides access for pedestrians and domestic animals between the villages of Tsoelike (also known as Auplus) in HA Makhaola and HA Mofutho. Previously, river crossing took place by small boats or directly through the river during low flow conditions, but access during the rainy season was hazardous due to fast flowing and high water levels.  The engineering team met and exceeded the client’s objectives of the project:

The footbridge had to be an economic suspension bridge and incorporate:

• Involvement of local community participation and serve to transfer skills to emerging local contractors
• Be acceptable by the local community, usable and safe
• The structure had to be aesthetically and environmentally acceptable
• The footbridge to be durable and easy to maintain and
• The design should satisfy the owner’s requirements

Directorate of Rural Roads Engineers identified the general bridge locality area and the locals at the Auplus village indicated the preferred crossing point. A river analysis was then carried out to establish a suitable crossing point 600 m upstream and 400 m downstream but the bridge crossing was eventually placed at the locals preferred point even though a longer span was required. One of the objectives of the project was the use of local construction materials and labour. Low strength concrete was prescribed to promote the mixing of concrete on site by volume batching. The expected batching volumes were limited to accommodate the equipment available to small contractors.

The HA Mofutho Pedestrian Bridge provides an important link between the villages of Tsoelike – Auplus in HA Makhaola and HA Mofutho improving the quality of life of the local residents and livestock and will also save lives of future generations that no longer have to cross the dangerous Senqu River by boat. The bridge has been appreciated by the local travelling public and is well used. This project highlights the concern of the client for developing and safeguarding remote village communities and Royal HaskoningDHV’s appetite for people centric projects being able to engage with the local community to create jobs and transfer skills, not only to local contractors, but also to personnel from Ministry of Public Works and Transport.