By Joseph Allen
As commuters continue to patiently wait on the completion of repairs and replacements of sections of the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB), which is expected to last three days, the General Manager (GM) of the DBH, Wayne Watson says that works are “way above schedule.”
This comes after it was announced by the authorities that the bridge would be closed for three days from July 25 to 27 to facilitate the replacement of Span Nine which has been deteriorating over time due to heavy traffic and age. The bridge closed from 23.58 hours on Monday the 24th and is expected to reopen at midnight on July 27.
During this period, licensed taxis will be allowed to traverse the waters on a 24-hour basis with passengers. Grove/ Wales will also be used for water taxis and there will be no increase in fares, according to the officials.
On day one, Stabroek News contacted the GM for information relating to the progress of the works currently on the bridge and it was noted that they are ahead of schedule.
“We are above schedule; I will just put it that way. We are far above schedule.” Watson pointed out.
This comes after the DHB Corporation, along with the Minister of Public Works hosted a public consultation on the closure. During that meeting, Watson outlined the three-day work schedule.
In that schedule, he noted that on day one; plans were in place to retract span ten, remove the cable wheels, control panels and the cabin on span nine, remove and disassemble the old span nine ramps, remove span nine, pump out water from span nine pontoon, replacement of span nine, and lastly to anchor span nine.
Watson said that work on the bridge is ahead of schedule simply because of the preparation that would have been done prior to work commencement.
“All of those things were done, some of which was mentioned before closure last night, all of what was mentioned prior to closure was completed; the span was removed, the new span was installed, and they are not currently decking the new span, they are putting the final touch on the ramp, it is about two-thirds completed, the decking is about one-third completed. We are hoping that they put on the cabin in a few, and also, we are also going to start without electrical connections”, he said.
Even though they are ahead of schedule, he preferred not to predetermine the time that works will be completed but said that it will be done within the three days since they are working around the clock.
On the other hand, passengers who now only have the option of using water taxis have hailed the initiative of having three ports of entry outside Region Three.
“Well, I ride and come to the river, park the bike and come over and for the longest while I have been using public transportation. It was all right; it was no hassle to get transportation. So, that is nice what they did, than to get the crowd as Vreed-en-hoop,” commuter, Sunil Rampersaud, said when asked about his experience.
“Well, I went Vreed-en-Hoop this morning, and it was all right; no problem getting in but it’s just a little inconvenient because I do normally drive my own vehicle because it was kind of a little, you know, to get on the boat and to take a vehicle to go where I’m going. But, in terms of how they operate and so, everything went kind of smoothly,” another commuter, Ray July, said.
To prevent congestion, two additional boarding areas were erected on both sides of the Demerara River to minimise the traffic diverting to the Stabroek Market dock.
This was disclosed by the Maritime Department (MARD), which explained that as a means of alleviating congestion, two temporary docking areas are available. One is at Market Street at Grove on the East Bank of Demerara. This crossing will take persons across to Wales on the West Bank of Demerara, directly opposite the Wales Police Station.
The other location is near the Demerara Harbour Bridge. On that side, steps are expected to be erected on the northern side of the bridge that will allow vessels to load and offload passengers on two customised pontoons on both the East Bank and West Bank of the Demerara River.
This decision to have these two additional access points came after the Minister of Public Works, the Demerara Harbour Bridge and others consulted on the issues of having additional routes.
