Since last December and until now, people of Sohag governorate are talking about the governor’s decision of closing Akmim Bridge for six months, the decision that caused a crisis for them; the bridge was closed for urgent maintenance works for the presence of cracks in most of the concrete slabs from top to bottom, which poses a danger to citizens with its high daily traffic density, in addition to frequent malfunctions during the opening and closing of the metal bridge when cruise ships pass.
We monitored the crisis; Alsayed Khalafallah, one of the contractors working on the bridge’s maintenance, has attributed the closure to the presence of a crack in the old concrete leading to it breaking, in addition to the lack of implantation work to connect the old concrete with the new one. Also, the maintenance works are applied on the outer layer of the bridge using steel only and paining works.
Khalafallah clarified that the work is divided into two shifts, the first one works from 8 am to 4 pm, while the second works from 4 pm to 7 pm, and there is an additional group that takes place in case of having work pressure which starts at 7 pm.
Given the importance of the bridge, which is a major link connecting east and west of the governorate, the governor issued another statement about the alternative routes for Akhmim bridge during the maintenance period. The statement explained to the citizens from the east to the west the alternative roads they should take.
Akhmim bridge in Sohag is one of the metal bridges in the governorate, it is so important as it connects the east of the governorate with its west, connecting the government offices located in the two sides. It is also the only route between Gharb district and Sohag University in Sharq district.
The governor issued another statement about the opening schedule and directions of the traffic lane that will be used on the Akhmim Bridge during maintenance works, however the decision to close the bridge formed a major crisis for citizens.
Iman Kamal, 25-years-old, had to quit her job as a receptionist at the Psychiatric Home for Children and Adolescents, located in Al-Kashef area in Sohag, for following the decision of closing the bridge she couldn’t find any transportation that might take her directly to her working place like before.
Iman clarifies her struggle in going to work, “I had to take two vehicles instead of one, added to this the long distance I have to walk to reach work, let alone the streets crowded with schools’ and private lessons’ students”.
“It was difficult to find a vehicle not crammed with people, which took me a long time making me late to work most of the time and thus become subjected to late arrival deductions, in addition to the high cost of transportation money, for after I used to pay 6 pounds I hade to pay 20 pounds”, added Iman.
As for Abdullah Sabry, 24-years-old, an owner of a training academy, he believes that closing the bridge caused high traffic, affecting his commute to work making him arrive there very late, so he had to cancel many meetings because of not being able to arrive on time.
“In addition to taking a very long time to arrive to work, the transportation financial cost has increase as taxi drivers ask for ridiculous sums of money and stopped using a fixed taxi fare, each taxi driver asks for the cost that see fits”, said Abdullah.
Abdullah wishes they would settle the direction to one way, clarifying that closing and opening the bridge is not an ideal solution, and they had to make the bridge one way.
Mohamed Sabry, one of Sharq district residents, complains about the schedule of opening the bridge, as most of the time it is open in the Gharb-to- Sharq direction, while the closing is in the Sharq -to-Gharb direction, except at dawn, as most of his daily necessary trips are in Gharb district.
Mohamed believes that the drivers violate lanes directions; as the lane before the closing decision was from the governorate to the marine parking, passing through Al-Jumhuriya Street, drivers changed route and decided to go to Al-Zahraa or Thaalath Kabari to save time, causing many problems for the passengers who want to go to Al-Jumhuriya Street.
“Akhmim centre transportation vehicles drivers stopped commuting from Akhmim centre to Al-Thaqafa district, and instead started commuting from Akhmim to the governorate, compelling the passengers to take another vehicle from the governorate and pay extra. Also, Al-Aref district drivers are supposed to drop their passengers in front of the station, now they refuse to go all the way there”, added Mohamed.
He explains that the problem with closing the bridge is the fare; it used to cost 3 pounds to reach Al-Shaheed and Al-Arif and Al-Thaqafa, and reaching Bahri parking and Mogama’ used to cost 4 pounds. However, many drivers are taking advantage of the situation and demanding 4 or 5 pounds due to the change of lanes.
Mohamed talked also about the time wasted due to high traffic caused by the closing of the bridge, for after it took him 10 minutes to reach his destination, it takes him now way longer than this.
Rehab Mahmoud, a third-year secondary student, was affected by the decision, saying “I arrive late to my lessons, I started leaving the house two hours before the lesson time, yet my major problem is in the lessons starting at 9 am, I can’t wake two hours before the time”.
Historically, the opening of AKhmim Bridge was in 1951 in Sohag during the regime of King Farouk, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Nahhas Pasha, Minister of Finance Fouad Pasha Serageldin, and the Minister of Transportation Muhammad Pasha Al-Wakil.
Farrag Margi, one of the transportation vehicle’s drivers, believes that the fare is convenient, his only problem is in the long route he has to take to Bahri parking or Mogama’. He tries to solve this problem by taking shortcuts, however the traffic remains an obstacle, and after the decision to close the bridge, all places became crowded.
Mohamed Gasem, one of the drivers, agrees with Farrag that the main problem is the distance; gasoline consumption has increased, as has the high traffic, which increased significantly after the bridge was closed. He takes shortcuts to solve the problem of distance and avoid traffic. As for the fare, he believes it is convenient for them as drivers.
