In 2007, the Bandami Bridge collapsed three times during the rainy season cutting off thousands of vulnerable people’s access to important goods and services. The bridge is part of the primary transport link to both neighbouring Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It has been rebuilt as part of the Sudan Accelerated Infrastructure Program, a partnership between the Government of Southern Sudan and USAID, which supports recovery in Southern Sudan.

UNOPS Sudan Operations Centre was selected by USAID as the implementation partner in the project.

The program provides employment opportunities to displaced, returning and other disadvantaged people in the region. It also facilitates the return and reintegration of people affected by the country’s two-decade civil war which ended in 2005.

The bridge was completely rebuilt by a local firm contracted by UNOPS. The previous stone structure was replaced with a new 31-meter long steel structure bridge to ensure increased resistance to flood damage in future rainy seasons as well as to improve road safety. The bridge was officially handed over to the Government of Southern Sudan’s Ministry of Transport and Roads in July 2009.