Goz Abu Goma Bridge

Stretching across the White Nile in southern Sudan, near the city of Kosti, the Goz Abu Goma Bridge is almost exactly a third of a mile long. Walkways line both sides of the railroad tracks that traverse the teal, truss bridge, which is the largest of its kind in Sudan. 

The Goz Abu Goma Bridge is a swing bridge, which can open at its center like a door, allowing large boat traffic to safely pass by on the White Nile below. When it was in operation, the railway linked Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, to southern cities like El Obeid. However, the southern parts of the railroad have been little used since the South Sudan Civil War broke out in 2013.

The Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company, a company based in Darlington, England, built the bridge between 1909 and 1910. It was one of the most ambitious building projects the company took on in the early 20th century. The far-reaching Cleveland Company built bridges across the world in many countries either part of the British empire or where England held significant sway. Before 1925, the company constructed bridges in Shanghai, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, and the Isle of Man.

The Sudanese Goz Abu Goma Bridge was the last they completed before World War I enveloped the globe. The British colonial administration of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan had commissioned the massive bridge, which stretched 500 feet longer than any other bridge the company had previously built.