Weighbridge on Chingola-Kasumbalesa Road completed as government drives infrastructure progress
The Road Development Agency has completed construction of a weigh-in-motion weighbridge along the Chingola-Kasumbalesa Road, in the latest sign of progress on the New Dawn government's infrastructure agenda.
RDA Chief Communications and Corporate Affairs Manager Anthony Mulowa confirmed the development during a media tour of the project on Wednesday, adding that the facility would be operational soon and would enhance efficiency along one of the country's most important trade corridors.
Mulowa said the Chingola-Kasumbalesa Road was the first public-private partnership financing project delivered under the New Dawn government. The agreement was signed in October 2022, with works completed in November 2024 and the road opened to traffic on 1 December 2024.
He explained that the weigh-in-motion technology allowed trucks to be weighed without stopping, easing congestion and reducing the queuing times that had previously hampered cross-border trade. The system also removed direct contact between truckers and RDA staff. Mulowa said the weighbridge was complete and that the agency was awaiting the installation of software before it became operational.
He noted that the RDA was mandated by law to regulate the maximum permissible weight on public roads, and that overloading remained a major cause of road failure. Properly enforced weight limits, he said, were essential to ensuring roads reached their intended lifespan.
Mulowa also confirmed that the Kakoso Bridge, which was washed away in February this year after a steel culvert eroded, had been fully reinstated. Traffic was already moving across the structure, with the final asphalt pavement to be laid once the embankments on the approach roads had settled. The culvert had been improved with wider concrete channels.
The concession agreement for the road covers construction all the way to the border and the dualising of three kilometres of Kasumbalesa border town. The concession period runs for 18 years, comprising one year of construction and 17 years of operation and maintenance. Mulowa said the project had transformed a previously poor road that had impeded trade with the Democratic Republic of Congo, and was now supporting mining, cross-border commerce and other sectors.
He pointed to further investment on the Copperbelt, including the Luansobe-Machiya-Ngabwe Road, which broke ground in May this year under the same PPP framework. The road would support farming, mining and logging activities in the Mpongwe area, one of Zambia's breadbaskets.
Mulowa said the projects would improve living standards and drive economic growth, with accompanying township roads planned for Luanshya, Ndola, Masaiti, Kapiri, Kabwe and Lusaka.