Following the surprise closure yesterday of the Liliendaal bridge on the East Coast of Demerara, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure today said that emergency works were required.
A statement from the ministry follows:
The current works being executed on the Liliendaal Bridge, East Coast Demerara came following recommendations by two inspection teams.
These recommendations came from both the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) Inspection Team and engineers attached with the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI).
In its recommendation, the DHB Team said that the Liliendaal Bridge should be urgently closed to traffic. These recommendations were based upon findings which showed that one of the panel systems on the northern rail of the Liliendaal Bridge demonstrated signs of imminent failure. In particular, one of the panels in the system had been detached, rendering the system structurally unstable. Additionally, a section of the northern carriageway of the bridge also experienced serviceability failure demonstrated by excessive deflection.
An additional inspection was subsequently carried out by the MPI Team and the engineers concurred with the initial assessment. While works had been slated to commence on the bridge on March 6, 2017, the construction was pushed up due to its urgency. These works, to the tune of $89M, will see the bridge being converted to a pre-stressed concrete structure over the next four months.
The Ministry’s team has given its assurance that a timely closure will be coordinated with the contracting company, H. Nauth & Sons Civil Engineering Contractors, to facilitate the commencement of the road works while negating any traffic hazards.
