Construction of temporary road in Bawdens completed

The Ministry of Transport, Works and Water Resources has completed a temporary road around the abandoned bridge at Bawdens, St Andrew.

In just two days personnel from the ministry, assisted by operators and equipment from the Soil Conservation Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security, installed drainage pipes and a temporary road surface over the riverbed, providing a new road access for residents of surrounding districts.

The temporary crossing is designed to minimise the chances of the run-off from heavy rainfall damaging it or washing it away.

Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Water Resources, Dr Romel Springer, explained on Thursday that once engineers in his ministry determined that it was no longer safe to allow traffic over the bridge, they moved with dispatch to find a temporary solution that would alleviate the considerable inconvenience the closure caused.

He stressed that the work at Bawdens was just part of a much larger multi-million-dollar programme that will address many of the road infrastructural problems, not just in St Andrew but across the Scotland District.

“In the coming weeks, residents across the Scotland District will witness a hive of activity that will not just see roads being fixed, but a number of the bridges that are now a cause for concern,” he said. (BT/PMO)