Repairs to a section of the retractor span on the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) were completed yesterday and openings for marine traffic are expected to return to normal from today.
Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill yesterday expressed appreciation to the engineering team as well as the Management and Technical Team from the DHB for their “work beyond the call of duty” over the last week since it was announced that there was severe damage to the retractor span section nine.
Yesterday, ahead of the 4 o’clock scheduled reopening to vehicular traffic the engineering team was able to successfully complete their work and traffic is now flowing as per normal, a release from the Ministry of Public Works said.
“We wish to use this opportunity to call upon all motorists, especially truck drivers to observe the weight limit as well as the speed limit since both excessive weight and sudden application of brakes create damage that is very costly”, the release said.
During the period of repairs, special retractions were being supervised by the engineers to enable marine traffic.
The release said that by today retractions will be back on schedule to facilitate both north and southern bound marine vessels.
According to Edghill, long-term solutions as it relates to the weight on the bridge are still being pursued and trucks and heavy motor vehicles will still have to observe the restrictions.
Edghill expressed appreciation to the High Level Technical Team which comprised former Minister of Public Works, now Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn; engineer Marcel Gaskin from Marcel Gaskin & Associates Ltd; former Major of the Guyana Defence Force and Former Design Engineer at the Ministry of Public Works, Bhageshwar Murli; Ret’d Specialist in Bridges and Designs, Joseph Holder, engineer Jerry Max Goveia and his team from Industrial Fabrications Inc.
