The Source of the Nile Bridge, also New Jinja Bridge, which was commissioned on 17 October 2018, by the president of Uganda, is a cable-stayed bridge across the Victoria Nile in

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. It replaced the Nalubaale Bridge, which was built in 1954.

Location

The bridge is located at Jinja city ( the second capital of Uganda after Kampala) across the

Victoria Nile The White Nile ( ') is a river in Africa, the minor of the two main tributary, tributaries of the Nile, the larger being the Blue Nile. The name "White" comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color. ...

, between the

source of the Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the longest river i ...

to the south and Nalubaale Power Station (old bridge) to the north. This is adjacent and immediately north of where the

Uganda Railways The Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) is the parastatal railway of Uganda. It was formed after the breakup of the East African Railways Corporation (EARC) in 1977 when it took over the Ugandan part of the East African railways. URC's system ...

line crosses the Victoria Nile. It is located on the proposed Kampala–Jinja Expressway, approximately , by road, east of

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

, Uganda's capital and largest city. The coordinates of the New Jinja Bridge are 0°26'19.0"N, 33°11'15.0"E (Latitude:0.438611; Longitude:33.187500).

History

Prior to the construction of this bridge, the Nalubaale Bridge was one of only two road crossings across the Victoria Nile in Uganda, the other crossing being the Karuma Bridge, approximately , by road, to the north. The road crossing at Jinja is of national and regional significance because it is part of the "

Northern Corridor Northern Corridor is a busy and important transport route to the East and Central Africa countries of Burundi, Eastern DR Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda. The main Northern Corridor transport network is connected to the Port of Mombas ...

", a highway across east and central Africa linking the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

Mombasa, Kenya Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

, to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

Matadi Matadi is the chief sea port of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the capital of the Kongo Central province, adjacent to the border with Angola. It had a population of 245,862 (2004). Matadi is situated on the left bank of the Congo River, ...

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. The old bridge, commissioned in 1954, is in bad structural shape and has outlived its expected lifespan. The new bridge carries a four-lane dual highway with pedestrian sidewalks. It is the longest bridge in Uganda at long and wide. The feasibility studies were conducted by the

Japan International Cooperation Agency The Japan International Cooperation Agency (), also known as JICA'','' is a governmental agency that delivers the bulk of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social gr ...

Construction

In November 2013, the

Uganda National Roads Authority The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) was a government agency mandated to develop and maintain the national roads network, advise the government on general roads policy, contribute to the addressing of national transport concerns, and perfo ...

awarded the construction contract to th
Zenitaka Corporation
of Japan and Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company of South Korea. Construction was expected to last four years. On 28 January 2014, the construction was launched by the

President of Uganda The president of the Republic of Uganda is the head of state and the head of government of Uganda. The President (government title), president leads the Executive (government), executive branch of the government of Uganda and is the commander- ...

. As of August 2017, the construction was 40 percent complete, according to the bridge contractors, as reported by

The Observer (Uganda) ''The Weekly Observer'' is a Ugandan weekly newspaper headquartered in Kamwookya, Kampala. It is one of the largest privately owned papers in the country co-founded by maverick journalist John Kevin Aliro and nine other directors In 2007, its rep ...

. During an inspection tour of the construction site by the Japanese ambassador to Uganda, the contractors revealed that they had started using steel from an unnamed Ugandan manufacturer, after the product met the contractors' standards. Other infrastructure developments associated with the new bridge, include a “roadside station” or service centre on the Jinja side, which will host a restaurant, supermarket, public toilets, and an exhibition area. The station will also accommodate a chamber for bridge maintenance, security and an emergency response unit. The development also calls for surface roads on the Njeru side to connect to the Nyenga-Njeru Road, the proposed Kampala–Jinja Expressway, the existing

Kampala–Jinja Highway The Kampala–Jinja Highway is a road in Uganda, connecting the cities of Kampala and Jinja, Uganda, Jinja. Sometimes referred to as Kampala–Jinja Road, it is a busy road, with several towns, trading centers and other points of interest alon ...

, and the

Mukono–Kayunga–Njeru Road Mukono–Kayunga–Njeru Road is a road in the Central Region, Uganda, Central Region of Uganda, connecting the city of Mukono Town, Mukono to the town of Njeru at the Nalubaale Power Station. Location The road starts at Mukono, the headquarter ...

. Road connections to the town of Jinja will be constructed, east of the road service centre. The bridge was commissioned on 17 October 2018 by the President of Uganda

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and military officer who is the ninth and current president of Uganda since 1986. As of 2025, he is the third- longest consecutively serving current non-royal n ...

to national acclaim. The president did caution though that the bridge is to be traversed by vehicular and pedestrian traffic only and is out of bounds to cyclists locally known as " bodabodas" which include bicycles and motorcycles which were advised to use the old Nalubale Bridge.

Construction costs

The total cost of the New Jinja Bridge was budgeted at US$125 million. The

government of Japan The Government of Japan is the central government of Japan. It consists of legislative, executive (government), executive and judiciary branches and functions under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan. Japan is a unitary st ...

will finance 80 percent of the cost, in the form of a soft loan of US$100 million at an annual interest rate of 0.01 percent, repayable in ten years but extendable to forty years. The

government of Uganda The politics of Uganda occurs in an Authoritarianism, authoritarian context. Since assuming office in 1986 at the end of the Ugandan Bush War, Ugandan civil war, Yoweri Museveni has ruled Uganda as an Autocracy, autocrat. Political party, Politi ...

will fund the remaining US$25 million (20 percent), out of its own coffers. In March 2018, the Ugandan parliament authorized a supplementary loan from JICA, amounting to JPY:3.891 billion (UShs 133 billion or US$36.721), to complete this project. The bridge was completed and officially commissioned on 17 October 2018. The cost of construction was quoted at US$112 million (approximately USh41.1 billion) and the bridge has a projected lifespan of 120 years.

References

External links