The Demerara Harbour Bridge has resumed normal operations after engineers were able to swiftly complete repairs yesterday.
The Ministry of Public Works in a statement yesterday afternoon informed that at 4am, works on the anchorage system began which was damaged after a tug and a barge transporting bauxite crashed into the high span of the bridge on Wednesday. As a result of the crash, the bridge was shifted out of alignment. Although repairs were completed yesterday, the engineering team will continue efforts to re-align the bridge today.
During the repairs, seven anchor chains were reconnected and a buoy was replaced. The technical team is still assessing the extent of the damage, the ministry said.
With remedial works completed, the bridge was able to facilitate marine traffic under the high span and as of 3pm, trucks up to 1,800 metric tonnes as well as other vehicles were allowed to traverse without restriction.
Public Works Minister Juan Edghill yesterday told this newspaper that the management of bridge, along with himself, officers from the Maritime Administration (MARAD) and his ministry, met with Deonarine Sookram of D’Edward Village, West Coast Berbice, the owner of the tug and barge – Rediston and Surtrans – yesterday morning before repairs commenced.
“You may think we don’t work at 4am but we do. We wanted the owner to see the extent of the damages before we started repairs. So we went out there at 4am and we were able to witness the damages and the owner saw that too,” Edghill told Stabroek News yesterday afternoon.
Asked about the estimated cost for the repairs the minister said that they are awaiting the bill from the stores department. He however noted that every effort will be made to recover the cost of the repairs.
Touching on penalties, he said MARAD is currently executing their own investigation and will institute the necessary penalties against the captain and crew.
Meanwhile, the Minister said from preliminary investigations it is believed that the tug and the barge were trying to cross under the bridge before 6pm. He noted that from what his technical officers related, they were not supposed to since the current was not in their favour. He stated that when they approached the bridge they lost control and crashed into spans 30 to 32.
The barge captained by Dale Andrews Green and loaded with bauxite was heading to John Fernandes Wharf in Georgetown.
The accident which occurred at 4.38 pm on Wednesday resulted in a collision with the southern section of the Demerara Harbour Bridge at its incline.
Subsequent to the crash the bridge was immediately closed to vehicular traffic and after some immediate interventions, at approximately 5.40 pm, the bridge was reopened to light vehicular traffic.
Just over a year ago, a Panamanian tug had crashed into the bridge resulting in it being closed for approximately 30 hours. The tug and a barge had drifted and a MARAD investigation found that they had not been anchored in the proper position.
The resulting damage caused the bridge company to carry out emergency works to reconnect eight connecting posts, five sheaves, 15 shackles and 215 feet of anchor chains. The chains, were disconnected as a result of the impact when the tug and barge crashed into the bridge.
The figure for the repairs was close to $100 million given the extent of the damage but when the bill was submitted to Impex Corporation Limited, which owns and operates the tug, it refused to honour its commitment to compensate for the damage.
As a result, the bridge corporation filed a suit against the company to recover charges. The matter is still being heard before the Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire.
