Dar es Salaam opens major new bridge

Nyerere Bridge links centre of Dar es Salaam linked to Kigamboni.

A Chinese-built $135 million bridge linking the centre of Dar es Salaam with the southern Kigamboni district was opened by Tanzanian president John Magufuli on 19 April.

The 680m-long cable-stayed bridge, north of the city's port authority, has been hailed as the longest in east Africa by the China Railway Construction Engineering Group (CRCEG) which built the structure in a joint venture with China Railway Major Bridge Group (CRMBG).

Named after the nation's founding leader Julius Nyerere, the 32-m wide bridge has six traffic lanes, three in each direction, with two 2.5-m wide pedestrian and bicycle lanes on either side.

Describing it as a “liberation” for the city, President Magufuli said Nyerere Bridge would contribute to the country's economic growth by boosting the domestic tourism sector at the planned tourist resort at Kigamboni.

The bridge, whose construction began in February 2012, offers a quicker alternative to the Kivukoni ferry, previously the only link between central Dar es Salaam and Kigamboni.