THE Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) was reopened to vehicles weighing up to 12 tonnes at 21:00hrs on Monday night, after the successful completion of a number of repairs on it.

There were claps and cheers amid an air of celebration from the repair team as the retractor span of the bridge was successfully closed just before 19:00hrs, some 64 hours since the repairs began. It was also way below the 72 – 96 hours that was initially estimated for the completion of the repairs to the severe damage that was caused when fuel tanker MV Tradewind Passion slammed into the bridge on Saturday.

The reopening of the bridge was announced by Public Works Minister Juan Edghill during a press briefing held on the bridge on Monday night, moments after the successful closing of the retractor span. Minister Edghill explained that a pivotal part of the bridge returning to operation was the delivery of a necessary pontoon.

“Sufficient work is done to ensure that we can get up to 12 tonnes moving. The [DHB] General Manager has just advised me that with the tidying up and the cleaning up of getting all of the equipment and welding torches and everything off [the bridge], we will open to vehicular traffic at 9 o’ clock tonight, and we will be able to carry up to 12 tonnes,” the minister announced.

“By tomorrow [Tuesday] morning, we will be able to get back to some semblance of normalcy. The only outstanding thing will be the trucks up to 18 tonnes, because you will be doing up to 12 tonnes,” he added.

Minister Edghill showered praises on the men and women who all played a role in getting the bridge up and running in record time.

“Getting this to where it is right now was no ordinary job. Our Guyanese men have shown their capacity, and I don’t think after this anybody should speak a low word or downgrade the capacity of Guyanese contractors, Guyanese engineers, and Guyanese fabricators. You saw the men welding, cutting and moving at a fast rate. They tested many of the things that needed to be tested,” Minister Edghill told reporters.

The minister credited the speedy work to the quick response and support from the private sector. He also thanked the operators of the Georgetown to Vreed-en-Hoop water taxis who rose to the occasion when the Maritime Department (MARAD) opened a 24-hour service for the route.

Minister Edghill explained that by no means has all of the work that has to be done on the bridge been completed; however, enough has been completed to allow for the passage of some vehicular traffic.

He noted that while initial checks recorded damage to one pontoon, subsequent investigations have revealed that two other pontoons have also sustained damage and will have to be replaced.

“So what we have right now are pumps being installed to keep the water out of the pontoons. We have to go into emergency mode in procuring two additional pontoons.

Building a pontoon from scratch takes about 120 days; so we’re going to see if we need to start from scratch, or look to see if we have pontoons that exist that could be rehabilitated. We are going to get it in the shortest possible time,” the minister explained.

He did not give a definitive cost of the overall works.

MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
“Don’t let’s discuss figures right now,” he said, “because everything we were doing here cost tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions. But I don’t want to put a figure yet; let the technical people putting everything together give us the figure. I prefer to wait on that.”

However, what is known thus far is that the bridge has sustained the worst level of damage recorded to date.

Questioned about the pilot and crew of the Tradewind Passion, Minister Edghill shared that they will all remain confined to the vessel while the ministry carries out an investigation to determine culpability for the incident.

“Everybody who was on the boat at the time of the accident remains on the boat; that’s all I will say,” the minister related.

The ship is currently docked on the East Bank Demerara, where it was allowed to offload its fuel cargo. It will not be allowed to pass through the Harbour Bridge until the investigations have been concluded.

A Board of Inquiry (BoI) has been commissioned to investigate all the details surrounding what transpired in the accident. The BoI began its work on Sunday, and is expected to take seven days to put together its report on the incident.

“They have seven days to wind up everything, and to give us a report to tell us what really happened, the recommendations to ensure it never happens again, and also to establish culpability, if there’s anyone that is culpable, because we’re not treating this very lightly,” Minister Edghill said.

At approximately 02:00hrs on Saturday, the MV Tradewind Passion, a ship consigned by GuyOil to transport fuel, which also carries a Panamanian flag, crashed into the bridge.

Four vessels had successfully passed through the retraction opening prior to the Tradewind Passion, which came at the bridge in a south-easterly direction, hitting Spans Nine and Ten with its front and rear.

The collision resulted in the two spans of the bridge shifting some 45 degrees out of alignment, and also affecting several other spans on the bridge.

The collision sent several DHB workers, who were on the bridge at the time, literally running for their lives. One staff, Andrew Duke, who was communicating with the vessel via radio up until the point of collision, sustained a fractured leg and has been hospitalised.

On Monday night, Minister Edghill explained that Duke remains hospitalized, and is awaiting an operation on his leg. The Private Sector Commission (PSC), in a release on Sunday, expressed concern at the increasing number of accidents involving the bridge, and urged the government to assiduously pursue the highly-anticipated new Demerara River Bridge.

“It is evident that Guyana needs this project to allow for the passage of larger vessels which are required for the proper functioning of the Oil & Gas sector, as well as the traditional ones.”

The release added that the PSC envisages that a modern four-lane solid-state bridge will lead to faster economic growth, and maximum utilisation of resources on both sides of the river, as there will be 24-hour access daily, thereby positively impacting private sector business, and the lives of the citizenry.