Works ongoing at the Demerara Harbour Bridge

The engineers have started repairing the damaged sections of the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) following an accident earlier today when a fuel tanker collided with the bridge.

The Department of Public Information (DPI) spoke to the Structural Engineer of the Demerara Harbour Bridge, Nicholas Henry, who stated that the team has made significant progress with the repairs, “right now, we are trying to get the bridge back in alignment…we’ve managed to bring this portion back, somewhat into alignment.”

The engineer highlighted that more works need to be completed for the bridge to be operable.

“We’re working. We have a full team of expertise. We have contractors, we have our own people here working 24/7. So, we’ll be taking it in shifts and we’ll have 24/7 action here until we get this resolved…At least, we’re looking to get light load across the bridge in three days, hopefully, but for now, it’s indefinite.”

 Henry explained that the team is working on getting the materials fabricated to replace the damaged sections.

“Right now, we have contractors fabricating at this point in time to get stuff replaced…so, we have to work on the anchorage system. So, we’re trying to pull the bridge back into alignment. So, that’s the first step, the anchorage. So, we have to work from the bottom up, being the anchorage first, to get where we need to be.”

After the realignment of the bridge has been completed, Henry indicated that certain components of the bridge have to be replaced which include the transoms which will be done when the alignment of the bridge is completed.

The components that are perpendicular to the rails and transmit the rail car loads applied through the rail to the superstructure below are called bridge transoms or sleepers.

“The key component, the float baring components, the transoms at the beginning of the span line, we have to change that out. So, as soon as it is back in alignment. We already have that available to start the process of switching them.”

Both sides of the bridge have been blocked by vehicular traffic since this occurrence, and information has been released to the public.