High tide shifts bridge out of alignment

May 07, 2012 News

Abnormal high tide caused three anchors at the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB)’s retractor span to burst, shifting the structure completely out of alignment, yesterday. Manual realignment took one and half hours, causing traffic to build up in and around the bridge environs.
On schedule, the bridge closed its gate to vehicular traffic at 14:30 hrs to allow the passage of ocean going vessels for one and half hours. Failed attempts to retract the bridge led to the discovery that the wire ropes had popped.

DHB staff working to realign the structure.

According to DHB’s General Manager, Rawlston Adams, “We had abnormal high tide and that burst three anchors at the retractor span, throwing the bridge completely out of alignment…We were not able to dock the western retractor span…it had to be done manually.”
Adams asserted that the wire ropes, which are exposed to salt water, are changed and maintained regularly. He emphasized that is not unusual for the wire ropes to pop but they are quickly repaired with adequate staff.
The General Manger, who helped to manually turn the wrenches, said, “Unfortunately, it happened on a Sunday when we don’t have a full complement of personnel out here to handle it… If we had a full complement we would have dealt with it earlier.”
He emphasized that everyone present, including Walter Willis Technical Adviser to the Public Works Minister, cooperated in turning the wrenches and slackening them so that the bridge could have been realigned.
“Tomorrow (today) we just have to connect the buoys to the wire rope for the anchor and everything should have been fine,” Adams said.
Adams emphasized that the recent operation to change the eastern hydraulic ramp of the structure had nothing to do with the bridge failing to retract.
He said, “That operation dealt with the hydraulic ramps; this is the anchor system down at the bottom… The tide was high and the wire ropes just pop due to the tension in the wire ropes at the bottom.”
Drivers, who were waiting for hours to traverse the structure paid little attention to attempts by officials to manage traffic. At some points traffic on the eastern end blocked the one lane provided for vehicles coming from the western side.