Pont Ruzizi I Explained

Pont Ruzizi I
Official Name:None
Carries:Motor vehicles
Length:57 m
Width:8 m
Below:16.2 m (15 feet)
Opened:1935 : first bridge
? : first Bailey bridge
1982 : second Bailey bridge
Collapsed:1974 : first Bailey bridge
Begin:2011 : new bridge
Complete:2013 : new bridge
Inaugurated:2019 : new bridge
Material:Reinforced concrete
Coordinates:-2.4911°N 28.8928°W
Downstream:Pont frontalier

The Pont Ruzizi I is a bridge in Bukavu which is one of the customs posts over the Ruzizi River between Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cangungu in Rwanda.

The bridge was first built in 1935 and later destroyed to be rebuilt in 1974 in metal and wood (Bailey bridge with a capacity to support only lower weight vehicles or carrying less than 3 tonnes. It remained in a state of disrepair until the construction of this new bridge, with a capacity to support up to 30 tonnes, in 2012, with financing from the European Union in the economic program of the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries. It was inaugurated by the mayor of Bukavu, Bilubi Ulengabo Meschac, on June 19, 2019.[1]

At, it is the second longest bridge in Bukavu, after Pont Ruzizi II, which is also a border crossing with Rwanda.

Notes and References

  1. News: Bukavu: inauguration provisoire du nouveau pont reliant la ville de Bukavu en RDC et le District Rusizi au Rwanda par le Maire Meschac Bilubi . Enoch David Aluta . Fizi Media . June 19, 2019 . September 22, 2019.