The Ministry of Roads and Highways has instructed heavy-duty vehicle drivers not to use the Doli Bridge near Bole in the Savannah Region.
The Doli Bridge, which links the Upper West Region to the southern part of Ghana, was washed away by heavy rain on September 17, 2023.
The Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwesi Amoako-Attah, visited the broken bridge on September 19 and assured the public that it would be repaired within a week.
After temporary repairs were made to the bridge, an accident involving an articulated truck blocked the road again on Thursday.
The truck blocked vehicular and pedestrian movement across the temporary connection for buses and smaller cars.
Speaking to Citi News, Public Relations Officer for the Roads Ministry, Nasir Ahmed Yartey, said that the temporary connection was meant for buses and smaller vehicles only, and that heavy-duty vehicles must continue to use the alternative route.
“We are calling on heavy-duty drivers not to use that section of the road. They should still use the diverted route that we created on the road, and the Regional Minister for the Savannah Region issued a press release asking the police to implement these directives to make sure that no heavy-duty vehicle crosses that section of the road, because it is very important that heavy-duty vehicles don’t use that section of the road,” Mr. Yartey said.
Mr. Yartey added that contractors are mobilizing to reconstruct the bridge permanently.
“In the meantime, the contractor is on site mobilizing to make sure that the construction of the main bridge is done in earnest and is finished in good time so that the road can be permanently reinstated. But as we do that, it is going to take some time because it is concrete work that we are going to do.”