Design review and supervision of Milange-Mocuba corridor road, Mozambique

Project summary

The Milange–Mocuba road in Mozambique forms part of the corridor between the main north–south road at Mocuba and Milange on the border with Malawi. Nicholas O’Dwyer has supervised its construction on behalf of Administracao Nacional de Estradas with funding support from EuropeAid.

The background

The Milange–Mocuba project was the last missing link in the transport corridor between Malawi to Mozambique’s north–south road and its ports. It is fundamental infrastructure for regional integration in Southern Africa.

Nicholas O’Dwyer has supervised the works throughout all stages of construction, ensuring that the work followed technical specifications and drawings. Its supervision also ensured that quality and financial controls were in place to keep within the project budget, quality requirements and time frames agreed by all parties.

Following cyclone damage in Zambezia Province in January 2015, which severed the region’s major road connection, additional road and bridge works were contracted. Nicholas O’Dwyer worked with the contractors to restore these connections as an emergency measure.

The project took place over an eight-year period from October 2013 to December 2021. Nicholas O’Dwyer partnered with a local engineering company to deliver the project, combining expertise in delivering international projects of this scale with local knowledge of customs, procedures and culture to ensure successful project delivery.

The challenges

The road project runs through the north of the country, in a fertile agricultural region that has had limited investment. The region lacked good transport infrastructure and was deemed a priority site for a road that could be used throughout the year.

The solutions

Nicholas O’Dwyer assisted in providing an infrastructure solution for the local community, carrying out contract supervision, contract management and some detailed engineering design on key elements of the project. This included the Milange town roads, border-post infrastructure, a weighbridge for weighing freight, town drainage, relocation of utilities, building footpaths, kerbing works, roundabout construction and street lighting. The weighbridge was also redesigned and relocated out of a known floodplain.

The impact

The project included the upgrading of approximately 111 km of international trunk road to a new tarmac-surfaced road. Delivery of the new road included the construction of a weighbridge and the upgrade of approximately 160 km of rural roads to facilitate access to the new international trunk road. The improvements will mean that the entire 350 km east–west crossing of Mozambique will be accessible all year round and has connected the area, via Malawi, to the sub-Saharan international road network.

Approximately 1.4 million Mozambicans living in the districts bordering the corridor will benefit from better rural connectivity and highway transport. This will include better access to markets where the selling prices of agricultural products are higher and consumer goods are less expensive, as well as improved access to education and healthcare facilities.