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Brazzaville–Kinshasa Bridge

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The Brazzaville–Kinshasa Bridge is a proposed road-rail bridge planned to connect Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo and Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which are major capital cities on the Congo River.

Contents

The bridge would need to be about 4 km long.

Advantages

  • Amongst other things, the proposed bridge would connect Kinshasa via rail to the deepwater 10.46 m draft port at Pointe Noire rather than the shallower 8.20 m draft river port at Matadi.
  • The railway systems of both countries use the same gauge, namely 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
  • With ever bigger ships, shipping companies prefer to use fewer ports.
  • The connected railways can share rolling stock which saves capital costs.
  • If one line is closed, for example by floods, traffic can be diverted to the other line.
  • There are potential lines from Angola and Namibia which would create a better network.

    • Disadvantages

  • A minor detail would be to eventually unify couplers and brakes, etc., if not already compatible.
  • The Republic of the Congo might be more exposed to political turmoil in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
  • The great expense of construction.

    • References

    Brazzaville–Kinshasa Bridge Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA