Ministry of Public Works employees were last evening working feverishly to fix a culvert at the junction of Sheriff Street and the Railway Embankment, which collapsed around midday yesterday.
Stabroek News visited the scene last evening and observed water which had spilled from a pipe within the collapsed section of the street, along sections of the road.
A public works official told this newspaper last evening that a few days ago a section of the culvert along the eastern carriageway of the busy Sheriff Street appeared to have been damaged while parts of the street close to the culvert appeared to have been sinking. He said workers had already started fixing that section of the culvert on the eastern carriageway when the western end of the culvert caved in yesterday, damaging an underlying metal pipe in the process.
According to a release from the Govern-ment Information Agency (GINA) issued last evening, engineers within the Force Account Unit of the Ministry of Public Works were working on the collapsed culvert and work is expected to be completed within 48 hours. GINA stated that David Murrell, Head of the Force Account Unit, is heading the operation and workers were digging to remove the metal pipe which will be replaced by High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipes. Murrell advised that the area will be closed to vehicular traffic over a 24-hour period, GINA noted
At the scene last evening, Minister of Public Works, Robeson Benn and City Engineer (ag) Lloyd Alleyne were observing works being carried out. Traffic on Sheriff Street flowing towards that section of the roadway was moving at snail’s pace while barriers were erected at the junction of Sheriff Street and the Railway Embankment and on Sheriff Street, close to the scene.
