Barge slams into Demerara Harbour Bridge

Dec 10, 2020 News

– Only small vehicles, mini-buses allowed to cross

The barge that hit the bridge.

The Stabroek Stelling yesterday afternoon moments after the barge hit the bridge.

Kaieteur News – A barge yesterday afternoon slammed into the Demerara Harbour Bridge causing it to shift out of alignment. As a result of the hit, only small vehicles and mini-buses are allowed to cross the bridge until the repairs to the bridge are completed.
Around 17:30 hrs. the barge crashed into the high span of the bridge and consequently disrupted the smooth flow of vehicular traffic for persons seeking to cross the bridge, and those travelling along the East and West Banks of Demerara. The bridge is the main link between the east and west banks of Demerara.
In a brief statement, the management of the Bridge noted that, “The DHBC assures you that our team is working assiduously to rectify this issue to restore the smooth flow of traffic. Management again apologizes for any inconvenience this may be causing you at this time.”
However, moments after the first statement was issued, the management of the Bridge released another statement in which it was noted that the bridge was reopened to vehicular traffic.
Additionally, the Maritime Department yesterday afternoon issued instructions for water taxis from Georgetown to Vreed-en-Hoop to continue to operate until the bridge repairs are completed.
When Kaieteur News visited the stelling at Stabroek, shortly after the incident, persons had already started to gather in their numbers in order to utilize the boat service to cross the river.
Just last year, a tug and barge had slammed into the bridge and the owner was ordered to pay $100M to the Government to repair the damaged structure. That incident happened on September 2, 2019. On that occasion a tug, Marina Oceanic, and a barge, manned by Cubans and registered in Panama, crashed into the Demerara Harbour Bridge, badly damaging the 40-year-old structure and leaving hundreds of commuters stranded for several hours.
That resulted in the bridge remaining inoperable for almost 36 hours.
Kaieteur News had reported that under the laws, the cost for fixing such damage to the bridge must be covered by the offending parties.

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