05 Sep 2023 Okavango Bridge built by Itinera finalist at IABSE Awards
The Okavango River Bridge, built by Itinera in Botswana and opened to traffic in June 2022, has made the short-list of the world’s best bridges at the IABSE Awards, in the category “large road and rail bridges.”
IABSE (International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering), a scientific / technical association founded in 1929, now counts members in more than 100 countries. Created to promote knowledge in the field of structural engineering in the service of profession and society, the association organizes the IABSE Awards each year, through which an international jury selects and rewards outstanding works. The winners of this edition will be announced on November 8, 2023.
The candidate infrastructure is in northern Botswana, on the border with Namibia, and plays a crucial role for the approximately 100,000 people who inhabit the nature reserve whose skyline it now characterizes, connecting numerous villages and local communities.
The new cable-stayed bridge, which allows transit between the two banks of the Okavango River previously possible only by Ferry Boat, is 1.2 km long and consists of a central span of 200 m, two side spans of 100 m and 18 approach spans of about 45 m. The work is characterised by two pairs of steel support towers resembling the shape of an elephant tusks, one of the country’s iconic animals. As part of the project, approximately 3 km of new access roads to the bridge were also built.
