THE Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC) will facilitate marine traffic from today after one of the hydraulic winches malfunctioned over the last weekend, according to General Manager Rawlston Adams.

After closing the bridge for seven hours on Saturday for the replacement of a pontoon at the retractor span, engineers discovered mechanical failures during the reconnection process.

It was discovered that one of the hydraulic winches was not holding pressure under load.
Adams said that they initially thought that the problem was with the gearbox, but after stripping it, they discovered that it was in working order. Further diagnostic tests revealed that the spline in the shaft of the barrel was damaged and had to be repaired. Adams noted that the spline was damaged because moisture was trapped in the barrel.

Adams, in a meeting with shippers, told them that the DHBC was now contemplating testing the remaining three winches on the retractor span. He, however, noted that many factors have to be taken into consideration before they embark on the project.
The retractor span of the bridge comprises eight winches, four of which are small four-ton equipment, while the remaining four are 12 tons each. The faulty winch has been identified as the north-eastern 12-ton winch.

The bridge company did not have any replacements at hand, and as such it turned to two private entities, Industrial Fabrications Inc and EC Vieira Investments Ltd, for assistance.
Worried representatives of SOL, Rubis, the Guyana Oil Company, and Bosai Bauxite as well as several other companies affected by the closure of the bridge to marine traffic, were at the emergency meeting Tuesday at the Peter’s Hall, East Bank Demerara office of the Harbour Bridge Corporation.

According to Adams, scheduling maintenance is not straightforward, and includes coordination on tide times, with considerations of the least impact on commuters and river traffic.