The Lower Volta Bridge (), also known as Sogakope Bridge (), is a 650 meter long

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

on the N1 highway (

Aflao Aflao is a border town in the Ketu South District in the Volta Region of Ghana on the Ghana–Togo border, border with Togo. Aflao is the twenty-eighth most populous Human settlement, settlement in Ghana, in terms of population, with a populat ...

—

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

) that connects

Sogakope Sogakofe (also known as Sogakope) is the capital of South Tongu district, a district in the Volta Region of Ghana. It is home to the lower Volta Bridge which connects Sogakofe to Sokpoe. The town is mostly known for its river tourism and Mass b ...

to Sokpoe over the

Volta River The Volta River (, , ) is the main Drainage system (geomorphology), river system in the West African country of Ghana. It flows south into Ghana from the Bobo-Dioulasso Department, Bobo-Dioulasso highlands of Burkina Faso. The three main part ...

History

The bridge was constructed between January 1965 and January 1967 by two German contractors. Over the decades, the bridge suffered from poor maintenance and increasing traffic, especially heavy trucks, making it dangerous for drivers. By 2009, locals were already calling it a "death trap," with concerns over rusting joints and deteriorating sealants. In 2013, there was also an appeal by the residents of Sogakope to Ghana Highways Authority to repair the rusting expansion and contraction joints. Despite calls for repairs, only minor fixes were made, and the bridge's structural integrity continued to decline. In 2018, the government promised repairs, but reports in 2019 showed ongoing accidents, with motorcyclists being the primary victims. After a local politician's murder in 2020, protests erupted, with residents blocking the bridge. Ghana Government is planning to build a new cable-stayed bridge (New Volta Bridge) to be started in 2021.

References

Bridges completed in 1967 Bridges in Ghana Volta Region {{VoltaRegion-geo-stub