President Bharrat Jagdeo has described the deterioration of the 30-year-old Demerara Harbour Bridge as “unbelieveable, almost criminal” and mandated its management to have an assessment of the repairs needed completed by Tuesday so that the issue could be resolved at Cabinet.
In an interview with the NCN television, Jagdeo said he visited the Demerara Harbour Bridge on his return to the country from overseas last week and “Frankly speaking, I was shocked.”
He cited the rotting state of the decking and anchor chains of the bridge and other structural issues.
The state of the bridge, he said had been raised at the level of Cabinet as a number of people from West Coast Demerara had told him about it. “It is unbelievable that we allowed the decking of the bridge to deteriorate to that extent,” he said.
He said he was told that the decking was acquired locally and only lasted six months. “So we spend a large sum of money for local decking and it is all in a sad shape,” he said, adding that during the inspection other also structural problems, including rotting anchor chains were pointed out. “So I am very concerned about the management of the Demerara Harbour Bridge because to allow things to get to that stage, it’s unbelievable almost criminal.”
Jagdeo said he has asked the management of the bridge to do an assessment of what it would take to fix the decking on the bridge and to complete it by Monday or Tuesday latest so that the issues could be resolved at Cabinet.
Noting that the decking was “totally gone”, he said he was told that the plates could not be sourced internationally. “I find that hard to believe. You can get anything internationally,” he said. He added that they could find and import decking of a better quality, which would not rot or deteriorate as easily as the ones that were last placed on the bridge.
He said it was unbelievable that he had to go on the ground himself to do these things.
Commissioned on July 2, 1978, the Demerara Harbour Bridge is a 6,074-foot (1,851 m) long floating toll bridge. It has a pedestrian foot walk and a raised section, under which small vessels pass. A retractor span allows for the passage of large vessels. Construction of the bridge began in May 1976. There are 61 spans in the bridge numbered 1 to 61 going from east to west. When the bridge was commissioned, its initial life span was ten years. The bridge has undergone rehabilitation and repair works on several occasions since.
