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The Adomi Bridge (originally the Volta Bridge) is a latticed steel arch suspension
bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
crossing the Volta River at
Atimpoku Atimpoku is a small town in the Eastern Region of Ghana and located along the Volta River. It is the capital of the Asuogyaman District, a district in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Geography The town of Atimpoku is located on the banks of the Vo ...
in
Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
in
West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...
. It is the first permanent bridge to span the
Volta River The Volta River is the main river system in the West African country of Ghana. It flows south into Ghana from the Bobo-Dioulasso highlands of Burkina Faso. The main parts of the river are the Black Volta, the White Volta, and the Red Volta. ...
, which drains south into the
Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in ...
, and is Ghana's longest suspension bridge. It provides the main road passage, just south of the
Akosombo Dam The Akosombo Dam, also known as the Volta Dam, is a hydroelectric dam on the Volta River in southeastern Ghana in the Akosombo gorge and part of the Volta River Authority. The construction of the dam flooded part of the Volta River Basin and led ...
, between the Eastern Region and the
Volta Region Volta Region (or Volta) is one of Ghana's sixteen administrative regions, with Ho designated as its capital. It is located west of Republic of Togo and to the east of Lake Volta. Divided into 25 administrative districts, the region is multi- ...
of Ghana. It was opened in 1957 by Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first president. The iconic crescent-shaped arch bridge is featured in Ghanaian stamps and currency.


History

In 1953 (before the independence of Ghana in 1956 from British colonial rule), the decision was made to build a bridge across the Volta River to replace the overloaded ferry service at Senchi where delays were occasionally up to a few days. Reconnaissance indicated a good site for a single-span crossing about 800 ft long at a narrow neck of the river at Adomi, about 2.5 miles upstream of the ferry and closer to the then-projected dam and power station in the Volta River Project. Several sketch designs for an arch bridge or a suspension bridge at Adomi and other sites were drawn and cost estimates were developed. The Standing Development Committee chose the single-span arch at Adomi. In Fall 1953 the consulting engineers were appointed: Sir William Halcrow & Partners were the project administrators and designed all approach roads and spans, while
Freeman Fox & Partners Hyder Consulting was a multi-national advisory and design consultancy with particular specialisation in the transport, property, utilities and environmental sectors. The firm employed approximately 4,200 people across the UK, Europe, Germany, Midd ...
were to design the single-span arch bridge. A year later, tenders were invited for the complete project, include approach roads, the arch bridge and approach spans. By January 1955, the contracts were settled and some construction staff began to arrive on site. Dorman Long (Bridge and Engineering) Ltd was the main construction contractor and
Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company was a UK bridge works and structural steel contractor based in Darlington. It built landmarks including the Victoria Falls Bridge in Zimbabwe; the Tees Transporter Bridge; the Forth Road and Humber suspe ...
was the steelwork fabricator. Work on the bridge began in March 1955, with the steel parts being prefabricated in the United Kingdom, while concrete works for the approach spans and the bridge abutments were carried out on site. The prefabricated parts were fully welded, but almost all on-site steelwork erections were designed as bolted connections, including those of the upper and lower chord of the crescent-shaped arch. After the steelwork was completed for the arch and the deck, the concrete carriageway was built. By January 1957 the project was substantially completed. The total cost of the completed project was 682 thousand
British pounds Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and t ...
.


Design of arch bridge

The single-span arch bridge was designed by William Brown of the engineers
Freeman Fox & Partners Hyder Consulting was a multi-national advisory and design consultancy with particular specialisation in the transport, property, utilities and environmental sectors. The firm employed approximately 4,200 people across the UK, Europe, Germany, Midd ...
. It is a two-hinged silver latticed steel crescent-shaped
arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...
with a two-lane road deck suspended by cables. The lower-chord arch rises above the hinges and the main span is long. To make an aesthetically pleasing crescent-shaped arch, the lower curve formed by the lower chords is a parabola, and the upper curve is derived from it by offsets decreasing logarithmically from the center to the hinges. As the roadbed is suspended by means of vertical cable stays (hangers) connected to the steel truss arch, the bridge can be considered as a hybrid arch suspension type. Pairs of vertical cables or hangers are attached at 35-ft intervals to the deck transverse beams, which, along with six longitudinal stringer beams and bracers in between the transverse beams, support the weight of the roadway and its load. The bridge was officially opened on 25 January 1957 by Kwame Nkrumah, then Prime Minister of the Gold Coast and first President of Ghana. It carries the National Route N2 and has been of tremendous help to travellers and traders who use the road to access the east and north
regions of Ghana The Regions of Ghana constitute the first level of subnational government administration within the Republic of Ghana. As of 2020, there are currently sixteen regions, which are further divided for administrative purposes into 260 local metro ...
.


Route to the bridge

The Adomi bridge is located in
Atimpoku Atimpoku is a small town in the Eastern Region of Ghana and located along the Volta River. It is the capital of the Asuogyaman District, a district in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Geography The town of Atimpoku is located on the banks of the Vo ...
in the Eastern Region of Ghana, which is along the Volta River. The bridge carries National Route N2 and connects parts of the Eastern Region and Juapong in the North Tongu District, Ho, Hohoe and other towns in the
Volta Region Volta Region (or Volta) is one of Ghana's sixteen administrative regions, with Ho designated as its capital. It is located west of Republic of Togo and to the east of Lake Volta. Divided into 25 administrative districts, the region is multi- ...
. A trip from the north regions of Ghana on N2 would go through the eastern corridor and finally use the Adomi Bridge to cross the Volta River. The bridge is about northeast of Accra, the capital of Ghana, and about north of the port of
Tema Tema is a city on the Bight of Benin and Atlantic coast of Ghana. It is located east of the capital city; Accra, in the region of Greater Accra, and is the capital of the Tema Metropolitan District. As of 2013, Tema is the eleventh most populo ...
.


Rehabilitation works

* 2008: Some serious cracks, possibly due to fatigue fracture, on the bridge deck's traverse beam at mid-span were discovered. Following these findings, the Government of Ghana imposed a load limit on the bridge in an attempt to slow down the rate of damage. The cracked girders were locally strengthened by the installation of additional steel plates at the affected areas. The continued use of the bridge by overloaded trucks however, further compromised the deck's safety and stability. *2009: More cracks developed, mainly around the same area as the earlier ones were discovered; this necessitated major rehabilitation works on the suspension bridge deck. *2011: A full bridge inspection was completed in April 2011. Overall, the arch was found to be in good condition, but the bridge deck was structurally much worse than expected, which was attributed to high traffic loads and lack of maintenance, and should be replaced. *2014: The bridge was closed to traffic on 10 March 2014 for the replacement of the entire suspended road deck and all hangers, by engineers of Bilfinger MCE GmbH of Austria for 13 million euros. The old concrete deck was replaced by a lighter, stronger
orthotropic deck An orthotropic bridge or orthotropic deck is typically one whose fabricated deck consists of a structural steel deck plate stiffened either longitudinally with ribs or transversely, or in both directions. This allows the fabricated deck both t ...
with a double spine: a steel plate with two continuous longitudinal girders, running under roadway/walkway curbs, along the entire suspended span. *2015: Newly rehabilitated bridge opened to traffic in December 2015.


Tourist Site

In April 2019, Adomi Bridge was classified as a tourist site after a consensus between the Asuogyaman District Assembly, Ghana Highway Authority and
Ghana Tourism Development Company The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts of Ghana is the government ministry responsible for the development and promotion of tourism-related activities in the country. Functions of the Ministry The ministry functions to develop and ...
(GTDC).


Gallery

Image:Volta Bridge at Adomi.jpg, Adomi Bridge from abutment Image:Adome Bridge, Ghana.jpg, Aerial view from the north of the Adomi Bridge Image:Lake Volta 06.jpg, The silver crescent-shaped Adomi Bridge from the Volta River Image:Adome Bridge 2010.jpg, Adomi Bridge in 2010 Image:Nice bridge, close to Akosombo Dam.jpg, Adomi Bridge hangers from arch to the transverse beams Image:Adomi II.jpg, Adomi bridge from afar Image:2000 cedis (1994).png, Adomi Bridge on a 1994 2000 Cedis banknote File:Adormi bridge.jpg, Adomi bridge


References


External links


See rare photos of famous Adomi Bridge during construction
Bridges in Ghana Volta River {{Africa-bridge-struct-stub