Engineers seen working on the part of a damaged Juba Bridge on 6 March 2020 | Credit | Okot Emmanuel/Eye Radio

Maintenance work on Juba Bridge is expected to be completed by the end of this month, the head of security manning the bridge has said.

One lane of Juba Bridge has been closed over damage on parts of the superstructures holding the bridge.

An accident in 2010 left one lane of the bridge unusable for heavy vehicles.

The damage is on the span which directly receives the live load, according to South Sudan Roads Authority.

The head of security manning the bridge, Brigadier General Gideon Manyuan told Eye Radio that the work is set to be completed this month.

“We are already working on the bridge and work will probably be completed at the end of this month,” said Gen. Mayuan.

He urged truck drivers to stop overloading trucks.

“The advice we can give to our people is that trucks should not be overloaded beyond the tons the bridge can carry. The bridge only can carry 45 tons and we need a vehicle to carry load less than 45 tons.”

“We need weighing machine to be brought and the station may be in Nesitu to check the load each truck carries. Loaded trucks shouldn’t be allowed at the same time on the bridge. The engineering corps who manage the bridge have to take this seriously.”

“Drivers should not over speed on the bridge because over speeding will cause a problem on the bridge.”

In September last year, the Minister of Roads and Bridges banned heavy trucks carrying sand and aggregate from crossing the bridge but the order was largely disregarded.

This follows a warning in August by an engineer that the bridge was nearing collapse.

Juba Bridge was constructed in 1972 and it underwent some repairs in 2008.