Two bridges have been washed away by floods in Lupososhi Constituency of Luwingu district in the Northern Province.
District commissioner, George Mwamba, confirmed the development to Zambia news and information services (ZANIS) in the area.
Mr. Mwamba said Luena Bridge collapsed yesterday making it impossible to get to some areas in Lupososhi Constituency.
He said following the collapse of the two bridges pupils from the nearby Luena Basic School have stopped going to school for fear of being swept away by heavy current as they try to cross the crocodile infested rivers.
Chief Tungati of the Bemba speaking people appealed to the office of the Vice President to consider putting up a permanent bridge at Chifungo stream.
Chief Tungati said the stream is in full capacity, adding that pupils from Washeni village have stopped going to school because of fear of been swept away by water current.
He said the Contractor who was engaged to construct a permanent bridge by government early last year died before mobilising his pieces of equipment.
Meanwhile Chief Tungati welcomed the construction of Luwingu Nsombo road and has also appealed to the contractor to speed up the rehabilitation of the road.
A block of three classrooms in Chief Katuta area in Luwingu has collapsed. This has been confirmed by out going District Education Board Secretary (DEBS) Margaret Mulenga Shikabonga.
Mrs. Shikabonga said the three classroom block at Chambo Middle Basic School collapsed due to heavy rains the district is currently experiencing.
She said a team of officers from her office were dispatched to ascertain the damage but failed to reach the area because the only bridge which connects to the school had also been washed away by heavy floods.
“The area is still experiencing floods and has caused damage to crops,” she said.
Mrs. Shikabonga said the area can only be accessed after the rainy season because it is also waterlogged.
In another development four grass-thatched houses have collapsed while several cassava fields in Lima village in chief Chipalo area have been submerged by heavy floods.
District Commissioner, George Mwamba, who visited the area has instructed the Ministry of Agriculture to visit the area and ascertain the damage caused by the rains in order for District Disaster Mitigation Committee to come with an adequate report to be submitted to the office of the Vice President for possible help.
Mr. Mwamba appealed to the affected peasant farmers to remain calm as government was addressing their plight.
ZANIS/ENDS/EP/EB.
Yangu tata! [-o<
We do shoddy works in Zambia. In other countries bridges can last for a millenium…Why???
Elo lwanya kanshi! Yangu tata. Kwaba ne n’gwena!
Too bad for the sku going children of WASHENI VILLAGE(ba bemba che) Northern Province is just a crocodile infested area.Stop celebrating them(direct translation of Ukusefya pa ng’wena)
IF only the mode of collapse can be known,then we can prevent other bridges from a similar collapse mechanism,and please ba LT next time try to give us a description of such structures,at least parameters like the span of the bridge,how many spans the structure had and if possible get some photos to help us to analyze properly.But basically a bridge will not collapse easily if it has enough external restraint.Definately the piers in a laying in a weak foundation were sweeped off by the hydraulic pressure this then lead to execessive deflections of the deck slab and finally plastic collapse mechanism was formed in the slab similar to a three hinged frame which lead then to total collapse.
The lesson is that the deck slab should be sufficiently restrained so as to enable a phenomenon called arching to triggered,this arching helps in enhancing the load capacity.Adequate Inspection is the only life to a existing bridge,let us learn to cherish our structures please Ba Road Development Agency.
The other possibility could have been that the traffic loads were abnormal,it being in village and no wiegh bridges exists in these bushes,some trucks and buses are often overloaded thus exceeding the capacity of the bridge.
Ba LT please keep this thread for me am not yet done with the analysis,I now need to look at the internal actions of the structure.
Awe cabipa kubena Luena, abena Matipa, abena Mofu, nabena Mubili. Bushe twakulapita kwisa?