There is an impending danger looming at the Achimota trumpet interchange, according to Ing. Kwabena Bempong, President of the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE).
Ing. Bempong says the interchange is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode given the threat posed by overloaded heavy trucks that frequently strike the bridge.
Speaking in an interview with The High Street Journal, the highway and structural engineer explained that the menace of trucks overloaded to exceed their height limit striking the bridge has been happening for some time but the authorities are looking unconcerned.
With this phenomenon, Ing. Bempong contends that the structural integrity of the bridge is threatened waiting for a day it will break down to kill humans and destroy valuable properties.
“We also have another thing that has to do with the height. I am talking about pedestrian footbridges and also vehicular bridges. It is a time bomb. If I look at the Achimota one, it is a time bomb just waiting one day, mark my words, it is just going to come down if we don’t do anything about it. I don’t want to be a prophet of doom, but it will happen,” Ing. Bempong painted a gloomy picture of the situation.
He recalled a similar tragic incident from 1995 on the N1 Highway near Abeka, Ing. Bempong where an overloaded truck struck a bridge causing it to tumble down which led to the death of a pregnant woman walking on the bridge then.
“It has happened before in 1995 on the N1. There was a steel bridge around the Abeka area. A truck which was overloaded went and struck the bridge and because it was steel, it came tumbling down. There was somebody on it. I think a pregnant woman or something. That person died,” he narrated.
However, he was quick to add that even though the Achimota bridge is made of concrete and not steel, it can stand some pressure but there is a limit to the pressure it could take before it comes down.
He said, “luckily for us, the ones we have currently are concrete, concrete is able to withstand such impact. But if we continue to do what we are doing, one day, one day this is possible so let us be wary and protect it.”
Ing. Bempong is therefore calling on the authorities to move swiftly and implement measures to address and avert the impending catastrophe.
