Repairs are underway at the Demerara Harbour Bridge.
Minister of Public Works and Communication Robeson Benn told reporters yesterday that there was new management in place at the bridge and an “improvement programmme is well underway”. His comments came after President Bharrat Jagdeo described the deterioration of the 30-year-old Bridge as “unbelieveable, almost criminal” and mandated its management to compete an assessment of the repairs needed by today to clear the way for Cabinet to intervene.
Benn said he was happy that funds were now being made available to carry out maintenance and repair work on the bridge.
On the issue of the bridge plates or decking, which the President had cited as rotting along with the anchor chains of the bridge and other structural issues, Benn noted that historically the plates were obtained locally and were readily available. In an interview with the NCN television after returning from an extended overseas trip last week, President Jagdeo said he was told the plates could not be sourced internationally, an idea that shocked him.
Meanwhile, Benn said recent increases in trucks transporting materials that are over the weight-limit for traversing on the bridge and the speeding has had a severe impact on the bridge plates. He observed that with the increased level of construction taking place in recent times in housing schemes such as Parfait/Harmonie there was a tremendous increase in trucks loaded with sand and other materials resulting in “severe dynamic stress and damage” to the plates. The western carriageway of the East Bank Demerara Highway and the southern carriageway of the bridge is where the damage is being done. In the light of this, the weight limit for the bridge will be enforced, the minister said, while pointing to the ongoing construction of a new scale for weighing vehicles.
Over the weekend, Stabroek News observed workers carrying out the assessment on the bridge along with the General Manager.
Asked for a comment on the President’s observation in relation to the management of the bridge, General Manager Rawlston Adams said he could make no comment and referred the newspaper to Benn.
However, he did say the bridge’s maintenance programme was ongoing and in July it was part of ‘Operation Transom,’ which involved work on the retractor span, and the rehabilitation of the ‘chairs’ which support the transoms (the beams for the bridge).
The work also includes the rehabilitation of 70 pontoons, replacing one-extra large pontoon and three large pontoons for the bridge’s high span and retractor spans and replacing 320 deck plates. These works were expected to cost some $555 million.
In May, GINA had said that efforts were being made to conduct a feasibility study for a new bridge across the Demerara River. The study, GINA said, would focus on various types of bridges, location and estimated cost of the project.
The release noted that over the years, significant investments were made by the government to maintain and upgrade the DHB and generally improve its services. In this regard, there has been replacement of wire ropes, sheaves, shackles, buoys and servicing of winches on the anchorage system.
Among the main projects undertaken during the last year was construction of three large pontoons costing $120M and resurfacing of the structure, which cost $42M.
The bridge was commissioned on July 2, 1978. It was originally built to last ten years but was repaired in 1998 through a major European Union project at a cost of US$10 million, which extended its years of service. The bridge’s superstructure is supported by more than 100 pontoons and comprises 61 spans.
