Estimated 160,000 vehicles traverse Berbice Bridge

Sep 16, 2009 News

In seven-month period…

By Leonard Gildarie

An estimated 160,000 vehicles traversed the Berbice Bridge between December 24, 2008 and July of this year, according to preliminary figures.
Cars (sedan-sized) accounted for almost 55% of the traffic while about 40,000 minibus crossings were made during the same period.
Details as to revenue earned by the bridge have not yet been released.
According to Chief Executive Officer of the Berbice Bridge Company Inc., Omadat Samaroo, the operations of the bridge since its opening to traffic on December 24 have been “satisfactory” so far, and in keeping with the expectations of investors and management.

The Berbice Bridge was commissioned by government in January of this year

In addition, while it may take a few years for the bridge to reach a “break even” situation, on the positive side, there have been no major hiccups as far as maintenance and other factors are concerned, the official said in a comment yesterday.
According to the CEO, the preliminary figures are based on the fact that vehicles and motorcycles have to purchase a return ticket. As a result of this, the figures published here only reflect vehicles or motorcycle crossings from the East Bank of the Berbice Bridge where the toll booths are located.
Between December 24, 2008 and July 31, 2009 almost 10,000 motorcycles would have crossed the bridge from one side, according to toll sales.
It is estimated that more than 90,000 cars, including private and hire, travelled the bridge over the seven-month period.
Over the same period, some 4,000 pickups and 6,000 Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs)/4-wheel drives also bought tickets.
Goods vehicles, which include trucks of varying weights and Canters, were over the 14,000-mark while more than 200 tractor-trailers made use of the structure.
The bridge has been hailed by Berbicians as a major catalyst of development. In the past, commuters were forced to wait as many as three hours for the pontoons and ferries to cross the Berbice River. The wait was sometimes much longer when any of the vessels encountered mechanical and other problems.
In August 2006, the US$40M Berbice River Bridge project was launched. Despite delays due to shipping and engineering challenges, it was opened to traffic on December 24 last year and commissioned by government in January of this year.