Residents of Central Mahaica and frequent visitors thereto are expressing satisfaction at the decision to rehabilitate the old Mahaica Bridge, which has been in a deplorable state for several years following commissioning of the new structure several years ago.During a visit to the community on Monday afternoon, persons told this publication that among the many benefits the project would entail are conservation of both time and fuel. School children would also benefit from the completed structure, they opined.

Francis Barns who resides in the community said he has seen a lot of development in the area, and he hopes it would continue. he noted that he was especially pleased with the rehabilitation works being undertaken on the bridge, since children attending the Bygeval Secondary School, situated on the eastern side of the bridge, will no longer have to risk their lives and limbs crossing the new structure, which sometimes see them competing with vehicles.

He explained that, of recent, the buses which are not too keen on crossing the concrete structure which replaced the bridge which is now under rehabilitation would drop students off at the western side of the bridge, and this would usually see the students walking a very far distance to access their school.

Godfrey Rodrigues, another resident, said he does not envision many problems with the works being conducted on the bridge, although he raised concerns regarding some of the old materials from the structure being mixed with new ones to effect the rehabilitation.

He also questioned the integrity of the bridge and its ability to facilitate heavy-duty vehicles which would be crossing from time to time. He nevertheless expressed satisfaction that the bridge would be able to serve the community, especially its pedestrians, and more particularly the school children.

Defending the integrity of the bridge, foreman of the works, Mr Jinarine Persaud, who was engaged in welding steel together when this publication visited the location, said the materials being reused from the existing structure to rehabilitate the bridge have been tested.
He explained that a very little amount of materials that were on the bridge had been damaged, and said the work tem had been forced to replace almost all of the six-inch wooden beams from the bridge, since those had rotted.

He explained that replacing the beams had not been part of the original works in the contract, but after the work had been ongoing, they realized that the beams had to be changed.

“Our original scope of work was to take out wood and cap; and when we started doing that, we saw (that) the six-inch beams were extremely rotted, and that is now taking up most of our time, because we have to replace them. We use back some, and the (Works) Ministry provided the rest,” Persaud explained.

The foreman also told the Chronicle that the bridge has been lifted twenty inches, and that the work was going beyond the specified amount of casting for the structure — from seven inches of concrete to nine inches of concrete.

Persaud explained that the reason the beams were rotted was because the bridge was originally made of steel and wood, and whenever it rained, the water would seep through the surface of the bridge and lodge on the beam, which absorbed it and became soft, hence the decision to make the surface of the bridge into concrete to protect the beams.

Persaud did point out that the bridge is not affected by water from the Mahaica River, since that water never found itself to the height of the belly of the bridge.

Project Engineer Khiraj Bisesar, who also spoke with the Guyana Chronicle, said the bridge would have been completed earlier, had there not been a delay owing to the very works which were pointed out by the foreman.

He said completion date of the project may be extended, but, thus far, the Ministry of Public Works and the Works Services Group have not received any official request for an extension of the project by the contractor.

The Bridge will maintain its iconic colonial steel rails, some of the original steel work which the Mahaica Bridge was known to sport during its existence, and the servicing of the community of Mahaica; while bridging the communities to its east and west.

The Mahaica Bridge is being rehabilitated at a total cost of $39.9 M dollars.