IN A telephone interview with the Guyana Chronicle yesterday, Sussex Street Bridge contractor Surujpaul Sukhdeo disclosed that works on that structure have been completed since last Saturday, but the cement work has been left to be cured before the structure is open to traffic within the next two weeks. Sukhdeo said his team began work on the bridge two Wednesdays ago, after being awarded the contact. The previous bridge was a bitumen-coated steel structure covered with concrete slabs; and judging from the damage it had sustained, it was over-used, thus pot holes had developed on the structure.
Sukhdeo said that while the authorities were aware that pot holes on the structure could have been the main cause of many accidents, drivers also need to be more careful when using the roadways. He added that, as a contractor, he had repaired bridge rails in several areas in the city, including in La Penitence, and it is only eight months now since the rails of those bridges have been repaired.
He said a bridge on Lamaha Street was recently rehabilitated and rails were installed, and soon thereafter, they were damaged by reckless drivers.
Angry residents of North East La Penitence and contiguous areas recently blocked the Sussex Street Bridge with wood, burnt tyres and other materials after a car with three occupants careened off the bridge into the canal that runs east along Cemetery Road, causing the death of a 16-year-old lad. There were two other serious incidents over the past few months.
According to residents in the area, the bridge over the Sussex Street canal has been without a rail for the past three years.