REPAIRS to the collapsed section of Burnham Drive, one of the main thoroughfares on the Wismar Shore in Linden, have been completed and the road is back in use, but regional authorities and residents have expressed fear that other sections of the road may collapse, given several structural faults that have been detected along the way. A few months back, one of those faults caused an entire section of the road to collapse, thus resulting in the road being impassable to vehicular traffic.
Given that it is the lone thoroughfare to many communities on the Wismar shore, a bypass was created while repairs were being done.
While several residents praised the completion of the extensive repairs, calls are being made for the entire road to be re-done given its current state.
They believe if this is not done earliest, lives and limbs will be at risk.
The road being contiguous to the Demerara River and with the rise in tide and heavy rainfall, the main roadway over the recent years has experienced erosion and the breaking away of culverts and kokers along the way.
At January’s Regional Democratic Council statutory meeting, Regional Chairman Renis Morian revealed that the road has serious problems and several depressions and holes have been identified.
A few months ago, Morian called for a complete study of the road by engineers attached to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure who have responsibility for the road.
“Burnham Drive needs a study; we need to move beyond the patching. The road is contiguous to the river, so… we believe that the road is being undermined by the river,” Morian said.
Burnham Drive, which starts at the Mackenzie/Wismar Bridge and ends at Christianburg, is used by many residents as an access to most of the communities on the Wismar shore, including Wismar Housing Scheme, Victory Valley, One Mile, Blue Berry Hill and Danjou Alley.
Also located on the roadway are several schools, churches, the Linden Magistrate’s Court, the Wismar Police Station, all boat landings, the Wismar Market, several car parks, and several Government and private offices.
Given the magnitude of pedestrian and vehicular traffic traversing the road daily, there is fear that if extensive repairs are not done to the road earliest, fatalities may occur.
Senior Engineer Jermaine Braithwaite, while on a visit to Linden, told Guyana Chronicle that the upper part of the tubes holding the kokers together had corroded, causing the road base to wash in and its foundation to be lost.
And even though the upper layer of the road may seem sound, its foundation is void; and that is why some parts are sinking while visible holes will continue to expand.