There are lots of them throughout Africa as a cheap and fairly efficient alternative to a permanent bridge. River widths vary significantly with the seasons (the rains come between November and March). Most are operated with a cable across the river that guides the pontoon and various methods of moving the pontoon across the river. The simplest of these is a second cable and 2-3 guys with a piece of wood about a meter long that hooks over the cable and they pull the pontoon across the river. I was told that there are still a few in operation today in the more remote locations. The “B Series” has a looped cable and a winding device on one shore I assume still operated by the same guys!
The prevalent system today is the single cable and two small diesel motors (often Chinese made). The challenge here is that they rely on fuel and some maintenance and often the pontoons are in very remote locations with no electricity or reliable communication.
The pontoon at Chirundu is larger than most and does not have a cable but a couple of larger diesels with steerable thrusters.
At Chirundu there were about 5 vehicles waiting in total and Rian (the bridegroom) was also towing a boat. We all boarded for the 5 minute crossing. My son Al had driven one of the Land Cruisers down from Lusaka (first time on the other side of the road) and he had fun driving the Cruiser on to the pontoon.
Once on the other side it was about 20 minutes to Kanyemba Lodge and River Camp where we were staying and the venue for the wedding.
Here are two guys doing it the old fashioned way
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