700 Egyptian Bridges on the Brink of Collapse

Maintaining Egypt’s road and bridges continues to be a nightmare for the President of General Authority for Roads, Bridges and Land Transport, Saad El-Goyushi, who announced that 700 bridges are on the verge of collapse and that a whopping 75% of roads are in dire need of repairs.

The announcement was made on Wednesday, stressing that the infrastructure in Egypt is in a dangerous state. The announcement was likely made due to the recent increase of nationwide traffic accidents that have resulted in multiple deaths due to the unsafe road conditions.

The 700 deteriorating bridges are not located in one area, but rather spans the entire country. In effort to put minds at ease, El-Goyushi mentioned a few of the efforts undertaken to resolve the dangerous problem including increasing the authority’s revenues by forming an investment company that controls advertising on the roads, purchasing new equipment that will cut the cost on long term maintenance, and has eluded to an agreement with the Ministry of Planning to divert funds from building new roads into maintaining old ones. 

Photo courtesy of AP