Acrow Helps Restore Transportation Lifelines in Mozambique

Acrow, a leading international bridge engineering and supply company, announced today it has provided 26 modular steel bridges to Administração Nacional de Estradas (ANE),the National Road Administration of Mozambique. The bridges will be installed in rural areas of Mozambique to restore vital transportation routes damaged by cyclones in 2019.

The modular steel structures range from 30 meters to 60 meters in length, with each having a single 4.2-meter-wide traffic lane. The bridges were procured with loans and grants from the African Development Fund (ADF), the financing window of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) as part of the “Post Cyclones Idai and Kenneth Emergency Recovery and Resilience Project” (PCIREP).

Cyclone Idai wiped out roads, bridges, and dams as it swept through Southeast Africa. The United Nations estimated that Cyclone Idai and subsequent flooding destroyed more than $773 million in buildings, infrastructure, and crops.

The reconstruction of damaged infrastructure to restore connectivity to isolated regions is one of the goals of the project to promote resilience to subsequent climate impacts and disasters in vulnerable communities.

Acrow’s bridges are particularly well suited for emergency applications. Their modular design allows for the easy customization of each structure to meet specific site requirements, and they are easily transported and rapidly installed in days or weeks, by a local workforce with minimal heavy equipment.

For decades, Acrow has been a leading supplier of permanent and temporary bridging to regions throughout Africa and has a rich legacy of successful project implementation. To date, thousands of Acrow bridges in more than 40 African nations have connected people and communities across Africa, improving access to schools and hospitals and generating greater economic opportunity.

Acrow has also trained thousands of African engineers and contractors in bridge assembly, installation and maintenance, and arranged financing for numerous large-scale bridge development projects.

“We are honored to have been selected to partner on such an important project to support communities in Mozambique affected by cyclones Idai and Kenneth,” said Paul Sullivan, President – International Business. “It is a testament to the hard work of the ANE and other stakeholders that the challenges of this project, made more difficult by the global pandemic, have been successfully managed to benefit the people of Mozambique.”

Bill Killeen, CEO of Acrow Bridge, added, “Acrow bridges are designed and manufactured with high-strength galvanized U.S. steel for a service life of 75-100 years, but are also an ideal solution for emergency applications. The unique attributes of our modular bridges enable the rapid restoration of transportation lifelines, a critical part of achieving a level of normalcy following the loss of bridges and roadways.”

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