Tanzania’s Biggest City Bets on Elevated Bridge to Dodge Chronic Flooding

Construction work on the new Jangwani bridge across the flood-prone Msimbazi valley in Dar es Salaam. The elevated road is designed to keep traffic moving when heavy rains inundate the area. Credit: Kizito Makoye/IPSby Kizito Makoye (dar es salaam, tanzania)Friday, October 09, 2026Inter Press Service DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, October 9 (IPS) - Each morning on her way to Kariakoo, Clementina Nyangwine looks out of her commuter bus as it crawls through Jangwani and watches giant foundation piles rising above the muddy Msimbazi valley. Workers in safety helmets and high-visibility vests move among towering reinforcement cages. Cranes swing over the site while excavators, concrete mixers and trucks rumble below. Deep foundations are being driven into the quagmire for a bridge that will carry one of Dar es Salaam’s busiest roads above the floodplain.Nyangwine, a 37-year-old shopkeeper, remembers what travelling through Jangwani was like when the Msimbazi River burst its banks.“I have spent hours here waiting for the water to go down,” she told IPS. “Sometimes we got out of the bus and walked because there was no other way to reach Kariakoo. You would arrive at work with your clothes soak...