The Adomi Bridge

Spent a peaceful weekend with Catherine and Carla at Aylos Bay beside the River Volta. We would have appalled the VSO Ghana doctor, if she had known that we had been rashly swimming in the river and eating fresh water prawns. At least we didn’t eat incorrectly prepared fruit or bread from a polythene bag into which a small boy may have previously blown. The only mild annoyance was the occasional bored youth in a canoe bobbing up to ask if he could paddle us to the other side.

Aylos Bay lies ten minutes walk from the Adomi Bridge. The bridge was opened mere weeks before independence in 1957 and is one of only two which crosses the Volta south of the Volta Lake. Curiously, the plaques at either end state that the bridge was opened by His Excellency Sir Charles Noble Arden-Clarke GCMG, Governor of the Gold Coast but that the plaques themselves were unveiled by the Honourable Kwame Nkrumah LLD MLA, Prime Minister of the Gold Coast.

About a year ago this crucial link between the Volta Region and the rest of Ghana was threatened, when cracks were spotted in the superstructure. Worryingly the cracks were, apparently, spotted by passing fishermen rather than any regular inspection team. The bridge was briefly shut and then reopened on a part time basis while repairs were undertaken. Representatives of the original contractors Dorman Long have since given the repair work a clean bill of health. Like most bridges, however, the Adomi was not designed to carry the heavy trucks and buses that now ply this route. The inevitable future repairs and maintenance would cause havoc on the roads, but at least they might provide a few benefits for the youths with canoes.