ZAMBESI BRIDGE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 175, 17 March 1932, Page 6

ZAMBESI BRIDGE

longest in world HUGE STRUCTURE TO TAKE FOUR YEARS TO BUILD. VTTAL LINK IN AFRICA. Work involving the construetion of the longest bridge in the world, the Zambesi bridge, and. about 30 miles of railway in Portuguese East Africa, began early this month. The Zambesi bridge, which will form a vital ink in the railways of Central Africa, will have a totaT length of 11,650 feet 9 inches, the width of the waterway. This entitles it to be described as the longest bridge in the world. It may be compared with the Tay Bridge (Scotlaixd), which is 10,527 feet long, and the Upper Sone Bridge (India), 10,052 fset long. Hell Gate Bridge (New York) claimed as one of the longest bridges in the wferld, is 13,533 feet long, but 10,818 feet of this' are over landl and 2735 feet span the three separate branches of the river. The whole 11,650 feet of the Zambesi bridge will span the water during the high tides of the winter season. 30,000 Tons of Steel. The Zambesi bridge will eross the lower Zambesi between Mutarara, on the left bank, and Sena, on the right bank, and is about 25 miles up-river from the present terminus of the Trans-Zambesi Railway. ilt will consist of 2589 feet 3 inches of viaduct, together with 33. main spans and six approach spans. The steel work required for the construetion will amount to 30,000 tons — all British, writes the London Evening News. When the bridge and railway are completed there will he an unbroken railway link between the port of Beira, Portugxiese East Africa, and Lake Nyasa, The British protectorate of Nyasaland will thus have a railway outlet to the sea. It is expected that the construetion will take four years-. It will be carried out to designs prepared by the joint engineers, Messrs. Livesey, Son and Henderson, of South Place, E.C., and Messrs. Rendel, Palmer and Tritton, of Broadway, Westminster.