Key Baghdad-Kirkuk bridge reopens six years on from flood damage

KIRKUK — The Daquq Bridge on the Baghdad-Kirkuk highway reopened Monday after six years of partial closure from flood damage, restoring full access to one of the main routes linking Baghdad with Kirkuk and the Kurdistan Region.

Floodwaters had damaged a large section of the structure, and reconstruction delays blamed on a lack of funding forced motorists to use only one side for years, causing congestion and repeated crashes, some of them fatal. Temporary repairs were carried out several times, Daquq District Commissioner Adnan Hussein told 964media, but flooding and poor-quality work kept causing the bridge to deteriorate again.

“This bridge is a main route and is used continuously,” Hussein said. “After six years of problems, a government decision led to rebuilding the bridge according to modern engineering standards. This will put an end to the traffic bottlenecks and congestion on this road.”

The Ministry of Construction, Housing and Public Municipalities inaugurated the rebuilt bridge earlier Monday. The project replaced 48 flood-damaged concrete spans with a new structure more than 1,000 meters long and 12.5 meters wide, completed in 200 days. The ministry said it would improve road safety and handle the heavy passenger and freight traffic along the Baghdad-Kirkuk corridor.