The new A1M1 road, which will link the Grande Rivière Nord-Ouest highway and Coromandel, will be ready in December. According to the Road Development Authority (RDA), work on this major project is progressing at a rapid pace. This project, which started in February 2019, will allow motorists exiting the highway to successively take the bridge over the cliff of the Great Northwest River and Coromandel.
It must be said that this ambitious project that will link the highway between A1M1 and Grande Rivière Nord-Ouest is called to become a national landmark and represents a pride for our country.
350 meter bridge
The bridge is 350 meters long and will be connected by two sections to Sorèze and Coromandel. The length will be about one kilometer and only a few tests remain to be done.
In a statement to MBC, Nazeer Mowlabaccus of the RDA argued that it is a bridge that passes over the cliff of the Great Northwest River because in terms of distance, it is shorter. That is, it can connect to the Coromandel area to join the MI Highway. “The distance is about 350 meters from Coromandel. From there, we can go to the Black River area. Regarding the bridge, we are at a very advanced stage in terms of construction, which was not easy because it was complicated. We are working in a cliff, which is about 90 meters deep and the geotechnical conditions are very difficult,” he added.
Foundation of 30 meters deep
In addition, he suggested that: “We were obliged to take into consideration the phenomenon that we know. We do not want risks regarding types of disasters, especially at the cliff of the Great Northwest River. We have taken all this into consideration in order to make the design and to make solid foundations, equivalent to 30 meters deep under the river. We want to finish the work in October”.
The purpose of this mega project is to improve traffic flow by providing an alternative access for vehicles coming from Port-Louis to Beau-Bassin and vice versa and in turn help to resolve traffic jams in places such as Réduit and Ebène.
Pedestrian Access
Scheduled for completion in July, the work was delayed due to heavy rains earlier this year. This project will also include pedestrian access. The pedestrian walkway will be built to allow them to use this road safely and to admire the cliffs of the Grande Rivière Nord-Ouest.
It should be noted that the number of vehicles has increased from 250,000 in 1980 to 650,000 in 2023.
