Motorists, especially motorbike riders (Okada), face grave danger as the rubber insulators covering the metals have eaten away and exposed the metals to the elements of weather leading to wear and tear.

The situation has left the surface of the bridge uneven and thus created the tendency for motorists to avoid depressions on the bridge which sometimes lead to accidents in spite of road signs on each side of the bridge warning drivers of the poor road surface and for them to slow down.

Because the expansion joints are weakening, the bridge, which was last reinforced in 1995 by German contractors, shakes all the time when heavy trucks pass on it.

According to accounts given by some residents of Sogakope and Sokpoe, the two communities on either side of the Volta River where the bridge is located and who use the 650-metre bridge daily, at least two people have died and many others have sustained injuries within a year.

“Two people on motorbikes were knocked down in June and July and are on admission in hospital now, having been knocked down by other vehicles that were avoiding sunken spots on the bridge; we are worried about the safety of our young people, particularly those who use motorcycles,” said Ms Mawulawoe Kpamah, a tilapia seller on the Sokpoe end of the bridge.

Drivers, users of okada and residents of Sogakope and Sokpoe told the Daily Graphic that they faced the risk of becoming involved in an accident and dying as a result every day of their lives.

Importance of expansion, contraction joints

According to experts, bridge expansion joints are designed to allow for continuous flow of traffic between the surface structures of a bridge, while accommodating movements, shrinkage and temperature variations on the reinforced and prestressed concrete, composite and steel structures.

Often, when dirt, dust or other types of debris build up in and around the joints due to traffic and environmental conditions, they lose their ability to expand and contract with the structure, rendering them less effective.

The reduced flexibility that results leads to cracks, distortions or crushing of the joint materials, compromising the structural integrity of the infrastructure.

No show

Such is the state of the bridge now as one could feel violent shakes at sections of the bridge when trucks pass by.

Some concerned residents petitioned the Ghana Highway Authority as far back as 2009 about the state of the bridge and its expansion and contraction joints which were posing a danger to motorists and passengers.

The Daily Graphic can confirm that iron bars in the joints of the bridge are rusted and the rubber bands holding them together falling to pieces.

Meanwhile, a large billboard at the Sokpoe end of the bridge announces that works to replace expansion joints on the Lower Volta Bridge at Sogakope had been awarded to Messrs Mageba, a Swiss company, which was to start work in May this year.

Death

A twenty-two-year-old Okada rider, Mr Godwin Agbedanu, said last year he witnessed one of his colleagues who tried swerving a pothole and crashing into another rider die.

“There are potholes on the road and when you are trying to avoid them you risk being knocked down by other vehicles,” he said.

According to media reports, on May 29, last year, a 22-year-old man also died in a motorbike accident while four others, including a year-old baby boy, all of whom were on separate motorbikes, sustained varying degrees of injury.

For Mama Gba Akashi, a trader, she fears crossing the bridge on a motorbike because of the many incidences of motorbike crashes on the bridge, especially at night.

To make matters worse, all the streetlights on the bridge are not working. Some have the bolts and nuts on them removed by persons who the residents suspect to be scrap dealers.

Agitation

The Assembly Member for the Sokpoe Electoral Area, Ms Emefa Kportie, said the community was in high expectation of having repair works done on the bridge soon, adding that the continuous absence of the contractor to begin work was worrying.

She said the South Tongu District Assembly was aware of the worsening situation of the bridge.

“A number of letters were written to the Ghana Highway Authority following which the signboard announcing the award of contract was erected. We were told work would start in April this year and a site was even cleared, but nothing has happened.

“We are writing to them again and this time give them a two-week ultimatum to get the contractor to start work or we will mobilise the people to demonstrate and maybe that would make the government sit up,” she said.

Besides work to be done on the expansion joints, she said the bridge also needed streetlights and speed humps at the Sokpoe end of the bridge to reduce speeding and reckless overtaking by drivers.

The promise

In December last year, the Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Letsa, announced at the Second Annual Meeting of the Volta Regional Coordinating Council that a contract had been awarded for the rehabilitation works on the Lower Volta Bridge to begin.

According to Dr Letsa, the contract for the works had been awarded and work was expected to finish in six months which was June this year.

Contractor speaks

When contacted, Mr Larry Aikins,the Project Coordinator and Ghana representative with Messrs Mageba, said the project had not been abandoned.

He said the first phase of the project, which involved prefabrication of the expansion and contraction joints, was currently ongoing in Switzerland.

According to him, the prefabrication works were begun this month.

“It is a specialised thing. We have done prefabrication specifications which have been approved and when they are finished they would be shipped into the country,” he explained.

According to him, all the 17 joints on the bridge would be removed and replaced with new ones, adding that the most demanding aspects of the job was with prefabrication which was an off-site activity.

He said he could not state exactly when work on the bridge itself would start, but gave an assurance that as soon as the items arrived, work on the bridge would start immediately and would be finished in 20 days.

He said he had written to the GHA to ask for extension of the contract duration to December 20, this year.

Highlights

The Lower Volta Bridge is one of the country’s busiest because of its location on the trans-ECOWAS highway and links Ghana to neighbouring countries such as Togo, Benin, Nigeria and beyond.

It is located on the National Road One (N1) which connects the Volta and Greater Accra regions.

Lack of maintenance

But like most bridges in Ghana that are forced to shut down long periods to allow for pre-rehabilitation, it has lacked maintenance.

It took over a year for rehabilitation works on the Adomi Bridge to be finished. Work started on March 14, 2014 and was completed in October 2015. This was six years after cracks were detected on the bridge.

On November 22, 2017, the GHA closed down the Yapei and Buipe bridges for rehabilitation. According to the GHA, the closure of the bridges was due to their poor condition.