Consultancy Services for the Emergency Reconstruction of Ssezibwa Bridge (1.6 Km) along Kalagi – Kayunga Road Under Design and Build

The project involves design review and supervision of the design and build contract for reconstruction of the bridge and approach roads (1.6 Km). The new bridge and approach roads will be designed to be climate-resilient, capable of withstanding a design flood event of 1 in 200 years. Measures will include elevated road levels and increasing the number of water crossing points. The main bridge structure will span 60 meters, and will be complemented by multi-barrel box culverts on either side.

Ssezibwa Bridge is a 1 km-long crossing on the Kalagi–Kayunga corridor, a freight and commuter lifeline for central-eastern Uganda. Built in the early 1950s, the structure and its low-lying approaches were repeatedly overtopped and scoured by increasingly intense storms. By late 2023 the bridge had been reduced to a single narrow lane; heavy trucks were barred and long detours imposed, constricting sugar-cane and market-produce supply chains. Government declared an emergency and opted for a full replacement rather than piecemeal repair after inspections confirmed pervasive concrete decay, foundation undermining and an inadequate flood capacity for modern climatic extremes. The estimated out-turn cost of reconstruction was placed at UGX 67 billion, underlining the scale and urgency of the task.

A long-span prestressed-concrete bridge replaces the failed crossing, set higher than historic flood levels and flanked by multi-barrel box culverts to spread extreme flows. Approaches are realigned, raised, and geogrid-reinforced for all-weather access, with bio-engineering and hard armour protecting banks from scour. Drone-enabled supervision and a temporary light-vehicle crossing kept traffic moving throughout, yielding a climate-resilient link for the Kalagi–Kayunga corridor