Owner of barge that rammed DHB to foot $40M repair expenses

Sep 20, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – The owner of the sand barge that rammed into the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) earlier this month will have to repay in excess of $40M to the Government for repairs to the damaged structure.

Technical staff repairing the damaged sections of the bridge. (Photo credit: Ministry of Public Works)

One of the sections that was damaged on the bridge

General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation, Wayne Watson said that as of last week, the Corporation would have fixed the components and sections of the bridge that damaged as a result of the incident that took place on September 4, 2022. He said that the bridge was able to open for retraction. When asked what about the cost of the damage the General Manager said it is over $40 million. “It’s in excess of $40 million, and this covers all the damage, all the work that was done.”

Kaieteur News understands that some of the sections that were seriously damaged were to the anchorage system, the 7&8 junction, and structural support to the retractor span 9, just to name a few. Meanwhile, Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill informed this media house that the company will stand the full amount of expenses incurred to repair the bridge. He said too that the company and the Corporation did engage on this.

A report from the DHB Corporation on the incident had explained that a vessel named Desal 1 was pulling two tugs – Alpha 1 and Chaka – when it hit retractor span nine around 11:31hrs on September 4. This caused the span to be pushed out of line, also breaking the connecting end post at spans six and seven. As a result, no vehicle was allowed onto the bridge.

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