Work on the two-tier Tamale Interchange project is progressing steadily, with the contractor targeting to complete the construction process by the end of this year.

Currently, work is about 80 per cent complete and — barring any unforeseen developments — it will be opened to traffic by December.

The completed works constitute the first and second phases of the project, which entails the construction of box girders and the deck on top of which the roadway will be put to form the overpass, both of which have been laid.

Slip lanes for those who would not need to drive on the overpass has been laid, while 10 kilometres of roads within the central business district of the metropolis will be laid with asphalt as part of the final part of the phase two.

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Inspection

These came to light when President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo inspected the project in Tamale last Saturday as part of his two-day tour of the Northern Region.

Conducting the President around the project, the Site Manager, Mr Emmanuel Degbotse, said “the rate at which we are moving, by the close of the year we should finish the project”.

He said they would soon finish with the main construction works and then start fixing street lights and drains, and then coat the roads with asphalt.

The Director of Urban Roads, Alhaji Abass Awolu, said the project would have 19 spans, 13 of them and the relevant ramps had all been completed, with work currently ongoing on the next six spans.

He said the six spans were expected to be completed in the next three months, with ancillary works — mainly asphalt overlay, street lights and road safety works — all to be completed before the end of 2021.

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Satisfaction

President Akufo-Addo expressed satisfaction with the progress of work, and charged the contractors to speed up work so as to complete it on schedule.

He said the interchange was one of the prioritised projects of the government because it was the first of its kind in northern Ghana and designed to give Tamale a major facelift.

The interchange is being constructed by the Government of Ghana, and is part of the $2 billion facility from the Sinohydro Master Project Support Agreement.

President Akufo-Addo launched the agreement and also cut the sod for the construction of the Tamale Interchange on April 10, 2019.

Other projects

President Akufo-Addo also inspected ongoing work on asphalt overlay on sections of the road network in Tamale.

The contract, being undertaken by M/S Queiroz Galvao Konstruktion, involves the construction of 100 kilometres of roads within the Northern, North East and Savannah regions.

Work commenced in March 2021, and is expected to be completed by September 2022.

So far, 18 kilometres out of the 40-kilometre road network in the Tamale Metropolis have seen the overlay of asphalt, with construction of the remaining 22 kilometres underway.

Some 15 kilometres of town roads in Yendi will also have the construction of asphalt overlays.

In addition, the President inspected ongoing work on the upgrading of the 30.2 kilometre stretch of the Tali to Daboya road, which is being upgraded from a gravel surface to a bituminous surface road.

The work includes earthworks to embank the road in low lying areas, construction of drainage structures to ensure that the road was effectively drained, and, therefore, did not end prematurely, pavements and surfacing works.

The contract for implementation of the works was awarded to Messrs Maripoma Enterprise Ltd at GH?119,657,337.41 to be completed in 36 months.

The works commenced on November 16, 2020 and is scheduled for completion by November next year.