With immediate effect, the Shooting River Bridge in the community of Ramble, St. Thomas is closed. The National Works Agency (NWA) took the decision this afternoon following an inspection after protest action by residents earlier today.
The bridge is comprised of steel and wooden members. Several pieces of the wooden planks which form the driving surface of the structure have been removed leading to the decision of the NWA to close the road.
Manager, Communication and Customer Services at the NWA, Stephen Shaw says that the bridge which is located along the main road from Llandewey to Windsor Forest was inspected just over a week ago by a technical team and that plans were being made to have remedial work done. Some of the wooden planks were to be replaced.
Residents however, today protested against the state of the structure and the NWA later discovered that several of the wooden planks had been removed. The structure is therefore inaccessible to motorists and pedestrians.
As a result of the closure of the bridge, persons wishing to travel from the direction of Cedar Valley towards Yallahs are being advised to use the Gant Piece parochial road, which leads to Ramble Square and back onto the Llandewey main road.
Mr. Shaw says that a timeline for the repairs to be executed cannot be given at this time, as based on the state of the structure presently, it will cost significantly more than the just under two million dollars that the NWA had estimated prior to today’s protest to effect the necessary repairs.
