Gambia President Adama Barrow and Republic of Senegal President Macky Sall have opened the Trans-Gambia bridge.

Known as Senegambia Bridge, the 1.8km structure will support the movement of people, goods and services in both African countries.

Senegambia Bridge will be operated under a toll basis, connecting both banks of the Gambia River and connects the country’s north to the southern half of Senegal.

The African Development Bank (ADB) provided a major portion of the total $93m funding to construct the bridge through its flagship Trans West Africa Corridor project.

The bridge includes prestressed box girder over the river and reinforced concrete structure over the swamps.

“Senegambia Bridge is five-storeys high with an estimated lifespan of approximately 100 years.”

Senegambia Bridge is five-storeys high with an estimated lifespan of approximately 100 years.

Construction on the bridge started with the award of the consultancy contract for design review and supervision of works to a consortium of firms, including SETEC TPI, STUDI International and SETEC International in 2013.

In December 2014, the joint venture (JV) of Spanish firm corsan-corviam and Senegalese company Arezki AS was awarded a contract to build the bridge. The JV was split on a 70:30 basis between corsan-corviam and Arezki respectively.

Building and engineering works started in 2015, four years after Gambia formally signed an agreement to construct the bridge on its territory.

In July 2017, the lead firm corsan-corviam left the project due to bankruptcy. Subsequently, the remaining work of the bridge project was performed by Arzeki.