On Saturday June 17, the Demerara Habrour Bridge (DHB) will be closed to vehicle and marine traffic to facilitate works on key sections of the structure’s retractor span.

The closure will commence at 8:00hrs and end at 14:00hrs. General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC), Rawlston Adams told the media on Friday morning at the bridge’s Peter’s Hall, East Bank Demerara office that the works are Phase One of the corporation’s pontoon exchange project plan.

Old pontoons, which house the bridge’s main operational network and which have been operational over the past eighteen years, are being replaced. As a result the bridge will be closed to marine traffic for a period of four days starting next Friday through Monday. He said vehicular traffic will flow as normal during the four days except on Saturday when the structure will be closed to facilitate the works.

The works will be undertaken on the eastern section of the retractor span at pontoon 10. Adams said that the project has been ongoing for months and next weekend the critical aspects will be undertaken. He said that last Thursday temporary pontoons were assembled and positioned nearby to the works area.

Next Wednesday June 14 , the walkway stairs in the vicinity of the retractor span will be removed while the following day, all pipes, electrical installations and hydraulic hoses will be disconnected. The works will continue through the weekend and on Sunday the system will be reconnected to ensure it is operational. On Monday June 19, a system check will be undertaken.

Adams noted that the project is being undertaken by local firm, INFAB engineering, at a cost of $109M. He said INFAB had undertaken the works previously at the structure some eighteen years ago when that company operated under another name, ECL. As such, given the entity’s familiarity with the bridge, the company is tasked with undertaking next weekend’s work.

Adams note that several considerations were made as regards the timing of the works and these included the weather conditions as well as the sitting of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations which are expected to conclude this week. He said Phase two of the project will be undertaken on the western side of the retractor span before the first quarter of 2017. He said that lessons from next weekend’s works will be taken into account a before the second phase commences.

Meanwhile since the increase in fares for motorists to cross the bridge at the beginning of the year, the corporation has seen an increase in its revenues. Adams said that initially there was a slight reduction in the volume of traffic. However “we are back to normal,” he said. He noted that the management of the bridge now has enough revenue to sustain its operations.