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THE BRIDGE
The Demerara Harbour Bridge has outlived its life. Due to constant repairs its lifespan has been extended, but that bridge should have been retired a long time ago and a new one built.
There will eventually come a time when the cost of keeping that old structure going will require that a new bridge be built. In fact, for the past few years, hundreds of millions have been spent in repairing pontoons and bridge plates on the structure. These costs are not going to get any lower as the bridge ages.
The bridge was opened in 1978, two years after construction works commenced. Lack of sufficient maintenance saw sections of the bridge breaking away on a few occasions.
In one instance, a bus filled with school children escaped a watery death after the driver of the vehicle managed to stop the vehicle just before the section of the bridge just ahead of him broke off and floated upstream. There were many other closures which caused a huge bottleneck in transportation.
The ferry which operated between Vreed-en Hoop and Stabroek was called into action to allow the persons stranded on both sides of the river to cross. In those days there were not that many cars, yet there were interminable waits.
Imagine the chaos that would be caused if today the Harbour Bridge had to be closed for an extended period. Each day more than 40,000 persons use the bridge. Thousands more travel by ferry in speedboats across the river. There is going to be madness should the Harbour Bridge be down.
No doubt the government recognizes the problems that can arise should there be a problem with the bridge and it has been pumping a great deal of resources into maintaining the bridge.
The government has an excellent record when it comes to maintaining the bridge, but it should not sit too comfortably because as mentioned earlier, the extended lifespan of the bridge will continue to absorb a great deal of resources.
It is time for a new bridge to be built. In fact, the government was considering this a few years ago, but seemed to have abandoned the idea. It may be a huge mistake since there is a need to retire the present bridge.
Part of the problem that the authorities face is a new location for the bridge. There seems to be no viable location for an alternative bridge.
Any new bridge will have to be constructed further downstream and this will entail massive construction and road building costs. It will also mean that those coming from the West Demerara area will have to travel much further.
The additional cost of this travel could see a repeat of what happened during the PNC era when workers simply abandoned their jobs because they could no longer afford the high transportation expenses.
Regardless of the situation, there has to be a contingency plan to deal with any problem that may arise. In most countries, planners develop such contingences in case the unexpected happens. Guyana does not seem to have such plans.
If something should happen to the Demerara Harbour Bridge, the alternative river crossing for commuters would have to be the Stabroek and Vreed-en-Hoop Ferry Stellings but those facilities are also in bad shape.
While the ferry may be called in action, the ferry would not by itself be able to handle the traffic that will descend at the ferry terminals should there be a problem with the bridge. The speedboat would also not be able to handle the traffic. It is precisely this sort of eventuality which needs to be catered for by an emergency contingency plan which the government does not have.
It seems as if the government is hedging its bets on ensuring that the bridge is properly maintained. But this will be extremely costly and there will come a time when a new bridge will have to be built.
The big question is where will it be located and when will it be constructed.
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