New Vaipua Bridge to be built with Chinese grant [1]
Friday, October 15, 2010 - 20:28. Updated on Saturday, May 10, 2014 - 15:26.
THE reconstruction of the Vaipua Bridge, a vital short cut to Neiafu for the people living in the western district of Vava'u, has finally been confirmed to start in January 2011, Mr Huang Yueguo, the First Secretary at the Chinese Embassy, Nuku'alofa told the Matangi Tonga on October 13.
Huang said that the 85 metres long by 9 metre wide bridge would have two lanes and street lights.
The bridge will be built with a grant fund of $12 million pa'anga from the People's Republic of China, and the construction will be carried by a Chinese company.
A group of Chinese professional construction experts would arrive in Tonga in November to prepare construction materials and do preparation work on the site.
He expected that the construction work would follow soon after the preparation work either before the end of the year or early next year.
Huang said that the foundation of the bridge would be made of cement but the handrails on both sides would be made of hardwood.
He expected that the construction work would follow soon after the preparation work either before the end of the year or early next year.
The Vaipua Bridge was declared unsafe on September 2, 2008, and it has remained unused and collapsed recently.