Latest update February 23rd, 2025 1:40 PM
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Light traffic resumes on Harbour Bridge
Cars and “light” traffic started flowing on the Demerara Harbour Bridge yesterday midday, more than 48 hours after a section collapsed. The opening brought much needed relief for stressed commuters.
Shortly after 13:00hrs yesterday, the gates were opened and according to General Manager, Rawlston Adams, the heavier vehicles will be allowed passage sometime today.
Ongoing works at the Demerara Harbour Bridge yesterday.
Works to bring the structure back into full operation are more than 95 per cent complete, the official told media personnel yesterday during an early morning tour.
It was chaos on Monday after a temporary pontoon at the western end of the bridge sank. This caused the first and second spans to be swamped under water. A minibus filled with workers bound for the city barely managed to escape the collapsing section.
The bridge management said that the temporary pontoon was attached to facilitate planned maintenance on corroded connections. The maintenance works were being done over the weekend. It was on Monday that the connections to the temporary pontoon broke loose.
Thousands of commuters were left stranded with many forced to sleep with their loads of lumber and rice.
Emergency measures had to be put in place to allow speedboats to work beyond the 18:00 hrs close off time. Several gas stations are reported running short of fuel especially on the West Coast Demerara.
According to Adams, staffers worked around the clock since the incident, only letting up for short periods when the tide fell.
While lauding his team, the official admitted that the bridge’s sudden closure due to the accident would have caused some severe fallouts with small businesses losing perishables.
The structure which links East Demerara to the heavily populated West Demerara and Essequibo is the main link for commuters, sand, goods and other critical supplies.
Government has said it is looking at an alternative to the bridge but nothing concrete has been publicised.
Commissioned in 1978, it has long passed it 20-year life span but officials believe it has another 10 years to it.
Government has been subsidizing it to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars as maintenance costs continue to rise in face of increasing traffic.
Light traffic started flowing on the Demerara Harbour Bridge yesterday.
There was total chaos Monday as commuters converged at the Vreed-en-Hoop end to make way to the capital city for work and business.
The situation improved Tuesday with a heavy police presence that closed sections of Vreed-en-Hoop to normal traffic. Police presence at the Stabroek Stelling helped too but many persons were still on the roadways late waiting for transportation.
Announcing the reopening of the bridge yesterday to light traffic, Minister of Transport, Robeson Benn said that there may be restrictions to heavy traffic in the initial phases.
Several commuters were still skeptical and the traffic remained light yesterday afternoon on the structure.
The crowds continued at the Stabroek stelling.
There was one reported case of a speedboat charging up to $90,000 from one passenger to transport a body for burial on West Demerara.
Several farmers from West Demerara and Essequibo were said to have been severely affected too.
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