Belle Vue bridge collapses after canal clearing operation

Jul 17, 2017 News

One of the access bridges in Belle Vue Village, West Bank Demerara, collapsed on Friday following an operation to clear a drainage canal of unwanted weeds. The bridge serves as a link between the Main Road and Third Street. The collapse of the infrastructure comes as a bitter-sweet outcome of much needed cleaning of the waterway.
A resident said that employees attached to the Wales Sugar Estate were cleaning the drainage canal on Friday, by chopping weeds that were a hindrance to proper drainage.
The man said that as the vegetation was cut it was not taken out of the canal but rather left to float downstream. As such, the foliage clung to the stilts planted in the bed of the canal to support the structure.
The situation got worse when the koker door was opened later in the day to allow excess water in the canal to drain off the land.
He said that the bridge is used by a lot of the residents in the area and is one of two such structures. He added that the structure is only two years old. The other bridge mentioned was built by a different contractor and was done using a blend of steel and wood unlike the collapsed bridge.

Residents observing the build-up of vegetation on Friday

The collapsed bridge yesterday with its midsection submerged

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