Hinode Bridge


The Hinode Bridge is a two-lane road bridge in the suco of Dili, capital city of East Timor. It was built by a Japanese company,, between 2016 and 2018, with grant aid funding from the Government of Japan.

Location

The bridge spans the Comoro River, south of the CPLP Bridge, and connects the Avenida de Hudi-Laran in the east with the National Highway 3 in the west.

History

Hinode Bridge, then known as the "Comoro Bridge III", was built by Tobishima Corporation of Japan, with a consortium of Ingérosec Corporation, Nippon Engineering Consultants Co., Ltd. and Idea Consultants, Inc. as consultants. The bridge's construction was funded by the Government of Japan, which, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency, made available grant aid of up to 2.605 billion yen. Work began in August 2016, with the symbolic start of construction taking place on 16 October 2016. The project employed 37 foreigners, 15 local engineers and more than a hundred local workers.
The bridge was opened to traffic on 13 September 2018, a month behind schedule. The official opening ceremony was held on 12 October 2018, during a visit to East Timor of the Japanese Foreign Minister Tarō Kōno. The East Timorese officials who attended were Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak, Transport and Communications Minister José Agustinho da Silva, and Public Works Minister Salvador Soares dos Reis Pires.
At the opening ceremony, the official name of the structure, "Hinode Bridge", was announced. The Japanese word "hinode" means "rising sun", an expression used to refer both to Japan and to East Timor.

Technical data

Hinode Bridge is of box girder design, has a superstructure spanning and consists of six arches, two with a length of and four in length. It is wide, the two lanes are each wide, and there is a footpath on each side.
The bridge is intended to accommodate increasing traffic between Dili's city centre in the east and its western suburban area, which includes Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport and the new seaport at. Additionally, the bridge is now part of the Mikrolet line 11, which connects Manleuana Market with Tasi Tolu.