Last Saturday, workers from the Ghana Highway Authority's (GHA) Bridge Maintenance Unit began changing the bolts holding the corrugated metals in the tunnel connecting Tema Community 18 to Borteyman.
The replacement is necessary to stop the bridge beneath the Accra Motorway from collapsing after about 1,400 of the 2,000 bolts anchoring the bridge to the concrete of the motorway were stolen.
After a recent evaluation of the bridge revealed signals of impending danger, the stealing incident was found.
According to the evaluation, the missing bolts also threatened the bridge's structural stability, rendering it vulnerable to collapse if not immediately restored.
Last Saturday, the tunnel was closed to traffic so that the bolts could be changed.
Aaron Nana Amponsah, the Senior Engineer of the Bridge Division of GHA, told the Daily Graphic yesterday inside the tunnel that the missing bolts were crucial for keeping the bridge together and noted that their collapse could split the motorway in half, severing Accra's connection to Tema.
Recent significant axle loads on the freeway have caused the tunnel to vibrate severely.
According to officials, the tremor significantly undermined the tunnel's structural integrity.
Similar to how some obstructed waterways caused floodwaters to pool around the bridge, this also had an impact on its basin.
Mr. Amponsah claimed that the new bolts were being welded to the corrugated metals so that they would be hard and challenging to remove, preventing further bolt theft.
The watercourses have been channeled into a nearby storm drain, according to Mr. Amponsah. "We have also done concrete works around the bridge basin to prevent water from accumulating there," he added.
When Stephen Jalulah, a deputy minister of roads and highways, toured the tunnel last Wednesday before construction began, he bemoaned the damage the alleged thieves had done to the corrugated metal.
By today at midnight, Mr. Amponsah promised, the work would be finished, allowing the tunnel to be opened to traffic.
#GHA #Borteyman #Ghana #Accra #Tema
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