Construction of a new railway bridge over the River Umbeluzi, in the Boane district of Mozambique’s Maputo province, is scheduled to start soon Mozambican port and railway company, CFM said.

It said the work, costing an estimated $14.7 million, and with an implementation period of 15 months, was needed to correct the bridge’s worn pre-stressing cables.

The new railway bridge will be built at kilometre 37.7 of the Goba line, in the vicinity of the current bridge which, when the Ressano-Garcia railway came to a halt, was considered as an alternative route for the flow of goods from South Africa to the port of Maputo and vice versa. That option, however, was discounted early on due to security issues.

With an approximate length of 226km between the Matsapha Industrial Park and the port of Maputo, the Goba line has capacity to receive trains with 50 wagons travelling at speeds ranging between 50 and 60km/h.

Traditionally, the Goba line has been used as a route for sugar exported from Swaziland through the port of Maputo, with amounts ranging between 200 000 and 240 000 tons per year.

Source: Macauhub