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Demerara Harbour Bridge returns to normalcy
Normalcy has resumed on the Demerara Harbour Bridge with heavy trucks and other large vehicles being allowed to start traversing yesterday.
It would have been three days after a section on the western end dramatically collapsed, leaving thousands of commuters stranded and a chaotic situation on both banks of the Demerara River.
Three days after a section collapsed, normal traffic was allowed to use the Demerara Harbour Bridge yesterday.
Yesterday, it was business as usual as relieved businesses rushed to stock up on supplies and complete postponed engagements.
On Monday, hours after workers removed a pontoon to repair corroded connections, two temporary pontoons broke off and sank shortly after the bridge reopened from an early morning closure. It caused the two westernmost spans to buckle at its connections and to be partially covered by river water.
A minibus filled with passengers was caught on one of the spans. However, the panicked driver who abandoned the vehicle managed to return and help a few of the passengers out. The vehicle was safely removed.
It was a traffic nightmare as workers and others rushed to the Vreed-en-Hoop speedboat stelling on the West Bank. Emergency measures had to be put in place to allow for the speedboats to operate at night to cater for the crowd.
Several farmers in their trucks were caught with the perishables and there were reportedly significant losses suffered by some. A number of lumber and rice trucks were left stuck too. Reportedly, also, patients could not be transferred to the city.
On Wednesday, bridge authorities were forced to allow a canter from the West Demerara Hospital to pass for emergency supplies of oxygen.
The bridge’s workers were at it around the clock as they battled the tide and time to have the problem fixed.
The structure was commissioned in 1978 and given a 20 years life, it is the main link between Essequibo and West Demerara to the capital city, Georgetown.
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