Jamaica Information Service: MINISTER OF Transport and Works, Robert Pickersgill, has appealed to truck drivers who use the Bailey bridge across the Yallahs Fording in St. Thomas, not to exceed the weight limit of 30 tonnes.
The 240 ft. bridge, which has been built to accommodate single lane traffic, was recently completed at a cost of some $16 million. Construction was undertaken jointly by the National Works Agency (NWA) and the Jamaica Defence Force's engineering department.
"Roads are expensive to construct and even more expensive to maintain, so we cannot have persons abusing it. We are not going to tolerate any breach and the transgressors will be dealt with," Minister Pickersgill told JIS News during an inspection of the bridge on Wednesday. The Minister had accompanied Prime Minister P.J. Patterson on the tour of the bridge. Also on the tour were State Minister in the Ministry of Transport and Works, Dr. Fenton Ferguson and Chief Executive Officer of the NWA, Ivan Anderson.
Minister Pickersgill pointed out that mobile scales would be placed at the entrances of the bridge to ensure that motorists observe the weight limit. He added that trucks weighing above 30 tonnes would not be allowed on the structure.
Mr. Anderson told JIS News that construction would begin on a permanent bridge as soon as funding was available.
In the meantime, he said a river training programme would continue at the fording to protect the foundation of the bridge and to allow the river to flow in a uniformed manner. This programme should be completed within the next three weeks, he noted.
The Prime Minister had instructed the NWA to erect the Bailey bridge to temporarily reconnect Kingston and St. Thomas via the Yallahs Fording, where more than 100 feet of the original roadway were washed away by heavy rains in September.
