UNRA assembles machinery and construction materials for restoration of collapsed Katonga Bridge

UNRA @UNRA_UG assembles machinery and construction materials for the restoration of Katonga Bridge on the Kampala – Masaka Highway. #WhisperEyeNews

Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) has started assembling machinery and construction materials to restore the Katonga River Bridge along the Kampala-Masaka highway which collapsed last week.

Speaking to Whisper Eye News, Allan Ssempebwa the UNRA spokesperson, said that the water levels at Katonga have lowered, therefore it enables construction works to start. “Everything we need is already on site and it would take our engineers between two to three weeks to make emergency repairs provided the weather conditions remain favorable,” Ssempebwa said in the interview.

Ssempebwa added that UNRA recently came up with well-designed plans on anticipated damages on sections of the Kampala-Masaka highway saying that they are updating them so as to improve the state of the Katonga-Lwera road section.

It should be remembered that a section of the bridge at Katonga River collapsed last week due to an increase in water levels which caused devastating flash floods to sweep through the area. In a bid to allow the continued flow of traffic from Kampala to Masaka, UNRA advised motorists to use the route going through Mpigi – Kanoni – Maddu – Ssembabule to Masaka.

The route diversion made the journey longer by 109km which resulted in a sharp rise in the transport fares for public means mostly taxis to cover up the extra fuel costs incurred.

However, thousands of load-side market vendors are crying for help from the government as they have had no source of income since last week when the bridge collapsed.