The procurement for the two smaller bridges follows the tender for the biggest of the three Phase II major bridges, the Senqu river bridge in March. Tender submissions for the Senqu bridge construction closed on 9 July.
“Procurement for the construction of the two bridges also follows the start of the Polihali transfer tunnel and Polihali dam construction tenders in May and August, respectively. It marks the last step in the procurement of Phase II major works construction”, Ntsoli Maiketso, LHDA’s Phase II Divisional Manager confirmed. “Each of these tenders is another step on LHDA’s journey to deliver Phase II of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project on behalf of the governments of Lesotho and South Africa and to advancing the economies of our two countries.”
The new Khubelu and Mabunyaneng river bridges will be located upstream of the two existing bridges along the A1 road, to provide access to Mokhotlong town across the Polihali reservoir even at full supply.
Khubelu bridge is estimated to be 270 m long with nine 30 m spans and two abutments. Mabunyaneng bridge, the smallest of the three major bridges ,will be approximately 120 m long and have four 30 m spans and two abutments. The bridges will both be 13.55 m wide. A section of the A1 road will be realigned to link the two bridges.
The works will be carried out under two separate contracts: LHDA Contract 4019A for the Senqu River Bridge and LHDA Contract No. 4019B for the Mabunyaneng River Bridge and the Khubelu River Bridge. The three bridges were designed by Zutari, which will also supervise their construction.
Interested construction firms have until 17 February 2022, to submit tenders. Specific information on the requirements and conditions of the tender is available on the LHDA website at www.lhda.org.ls/tenderbulletin/.
