Strathspey Bridge reopens to ‘light’ vehicular traffic

The Strathspey Bridge along the East Coast of Demerara Railway Embankment has officially reopened to ‘light’ vehicular traffic at 6 am today.

The update was provided by Minister of Public Works Bishop Juan Edghill on Thursday morning following a thorough inspection of the bridge. 

“Just before 6 am, we were able to remove the barricades. And with the help of the police, west-bound traffic has been flowing in a continuous way. This means that the experiences of Tuesday and Wednesday when there was traffic congestion along the east corridor should not exist today,” he explained.

On March 27, an overloaded truck traversed over a deteriorated section of the bridge and caused structural damage. This led to major traffic congestion for commuters.

A team was immediately deployed to carry out interventions to restore access as quickly as possible.

The rehabilitation works on the temporary structure were undertaken by H. Nauth and Sons Civil Engineering Contractors.

Minister Edghill clarified that the bridge’s construction is only a temporary solution to reduce traffic congestion. Significant work is being done to transform the railway embankment into a four-lane highway.

“What we would’ve done here is a quick fix. I’m glad that we are back into a system where traffic is flowing and this nuisance that we experienced over the last two days has been dealt with,” Minister Edghill stated.

The public works minister lauded the efforts of everyone involved to ensure the rehabilitation works were completed within the stipulated timeframe.