# Rusumo Bridge

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> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rusumo_Bridge.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusumo_Bridge
> Source revision: 1284813140
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Bridge linking Rwanda and Tanzania}}
{{Infobox bridge
| bridge_name      = Rusumo Bridge
| native_name      = {{small|{{native phrase|sw|Daraja la Rusumo}}}}
| native_name_lang = 
| image            = RusumoFalls2.jpg
| image_size       = 
| alt              = 
| caption          = 
| official_name    = 
| other_name       = 
| carries          = B3 road (1 lane)
| crosses          = [Kagera River](/source/Kagera_River)
| locale           = 
| owner            = 
| maint            = 
| id               = 
| website          = 
| architect        = Luigi Corradi
| designer         = Luigi Corradi
| engineering      = 
| design           = 
| material         = steel
| length           = {{convert|100|m}}
| width            = {{convert|3.5|m}}
| height           = 
| mainspan         = 
| spans            = 
| pierswater       = 
| load             = 2 x  200 kN (2 x 22.5 tons)
| clearance        = 
| below            = 
| life             = 
| builder          = S.A.E. s.p.a.
| fabricator       = 
| begin            = 1971
| complete         = 
| cost             = 
| open             = 1972
| inaugurated      = 1972
| toll             = 
| traffic          = 
| preceded         = 
| followed         = [Kyaka Bridge](/source/Kyaka_Bridge)
| heritage         = 
| collapsed        = 
| closed           = 
| replaces         = 
| coordinates      = {{Coord|2|22|56.35|S|30|46|59.64|E|region:TZ_type:landmark|display=it}}
| references       =

}}

'''Rusumo Bridge''' is an international bridge across the [Kagera River](/source/Kagera_River) linking [Rwanda](/source/Rwanda) and [Tanzania](/source/Tanzania).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jica.go.jp/english/our_work/social_environmental/archive/grantaid/pdf/rwanda_1.pdf |title= The Study for Facilitation of Trade and Transportation on the Central Corridor between Rwanda and Tanzania including Rusumo Bridge | format = [PDF](/source/PDF) |date= |work= |publisher= [Japan International Cooperation Agency](/source/Japan_International_Cooperation_Agency) |accessdate=16 March 2013}}</ref>

==History==
Designed by Luigi Corradi and assembled previously in [Turin](/source/Turin), [Italy](/source/Italy). The bridge was completed in 1972 as a single-deck steel bridge over a span of {{convert|64|m|ft}}. The structure was the first road bridge across the Kagera River in Rusumo area.
The bridge is an arch bridge whose construction commenced in 1966.

On 28 April 1994, during the [Rwandan genocide](/source/Rwandan_genocide), more than 200,000 people crossed the bridge at Rusumo Falls into Tanzania within 24 hours in what  field workers described as "''the largest and fastest refugee exodus in modern times''".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unhcr.org/3b6925384.html |title=Issue 110 (Crisis in the Great Lakes) - Cover Story: Heart of Darkness |last1= |first1= |last2= |first2= |date=1 December 1997 |website= |publisher=UNHCR |accessdate=27 December 2014}}</ref>

Given the restrictions on the axle load and the use of only a single lane at a time, a new bridge, the [Rusumo International Bridge](/source/Rusumo_International_Bridge), adjacent to the single lane bridge, was opened in 2014 to cope with expected increase of the traffic volume between Rwanda and Tanzania in the coming years.

== See also ==
* [List of international bridges](/source/List_of_international_bridges)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{commons category}}
{{Bridges in Tanzania}}

Category:Bridges over the Kagera River
Category:Rwanda–Tanzania bridges
Category:Bridges in Rwanda
Category:Bridges in Tanzania
Category:Rwanda–Tanzania border

{{Africa-bridge-struct-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rusumo Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusumo_Bridge) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusumo_Bridge?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.