Dorman Long's Given Contract for New Structure It is officially announced that the Belt Trustees have entrusted to Dorman, Long and Ca, Ltd. of Middlesbrough, and London, the supply and erection of the new steel suspension bridge over the Chirundu Gorge on the Zambesi River.
The bridge, which will connect the two capitals, Salisbury and Lusaka, will form an important link between Northern and Southern Rhodesia. It will cross the river with a single span of 1050 ft., with four short approach spans on the south side, each of which will have a length of about 40ft, The main span will be of the suspension type and will be carried cables passing over two steel towers, 120 ft,, in height, erected on banks of the river, and anchored 2 tunnels driven into the rock on either side of the river. The bridge deck is to be nearly 50 ft. above the normal river level, and it will carry a concrete roadway, 18 ft, in width with two 3 ft, footpaths. It is" announced that all the steel, work required for the bridge will be manufactured at the Dorman-Long works in the Middlesbrough area, where the steel cables will also be made. The <esign for the bridge has been prepared by the Consulting Engineer to the Belt Trustees, Mr. Ralph Freeman, M. Inst. C-E, of Sir Douglas Fox and Partners, of Westminister. Mr. Freeman, it may be recalled, was responsible for the designs for the Sydney Harbour bridge. The resident engineer for the construction of the bridge will be Captain R. Marsland, Work on the steel structural part of the bridge is expected to be begun before the end of the year, and the bridge is scheduled to be completed early in 1939.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.