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$1.2B ‘Span 9’ fully installed, DHB opened to vehicular traffic
Kaieteur News – The Demerara Harbour Bridge (DBH) which was closed from Monday night to facilitate the installation of a new $1.2 billion span nine retractor has been reopened to vehicular traffic as per normal.
The bridge was closed for three days from July 24 to 27 to facilitate the works. Providing an update on Thursday morning, Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill announced that works were completed ahead of the schedule and as such the bridge was ready for opening at 6pm on Thursday.
In a live video yesterday, the minister said, “we have completed our task and we will be opening the bridge six hours ahead of schedule so in as much as we gain that advantage on the first day the men did not slothfully approach it, they kept the same momentum and we were able to maintain that time ahead.”
Following the installation of the span nine, trucks not exceeding 18 tonnes will be able to traverse the bridge. Kaieteur News had reported that during the first day of the closure, workers were able to get the new structure installed and the old span nine removed ahead of time. During an interview, General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC), Wayne Watson had mentioned that beside the installation the new span nine, other works are being done on the bridge.
The new $1.2 billion Span Nine which was installed at the Demerara Harbour Bridge.
Watson said that works costing some $85 million are being done to the High Span of the bridge, while internal rehabilitation on spans 12 to 29 and spans 39 to 60 are being done executed at a cost of $60 million. It was reported that the DHB will be closed from 23:59hrs on July 24 to 23:59pm on July 27 to facilitate the installation of the new $1.2 billion Span Nine retractor on the bridge.
Minister Edghill had stated previously that the government understands the significance of this replacement and is committed to seeing this project through, as this new retractor which spans 170 feet long and 40 feet wide and is valued at $1.2 billion, will result in a much smoother operation (retractability) in the future and will also enable wider vessels to pass through the channel.
Last September, the bridge’s Span Nine was damaged when the Panamanian flagged vessel, MV Tradewinds Passion, crashed into the bridge during a retraction period and rendered the bridge inoperable for several days. Since then, that damaged section of the bridge had to be repaired several times, while plans were being made to replace the unit altogether. Repairs to Span Nine were undertaken by a local company, Industrial Fabrications Inc. (InFab), which was completed in late 2022. In May this year, Span Nine was transported from the dockyard to the bridge for the perfect time and tide to facilitate installation.
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