Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill has confirmed that the Demerara Harbour Bridge will now reopen at 21:00hrs tonight.
The reopening of the bridge is expected to only accommodate light vehicles but Edghill said empty trucks can cross.
“We will open for vehicular traffic at 9 pm tonight and we will be able to carry up to nine tonnes so sand trucks and other cargo trucks with 18 tonnes that were normally allowed, we are asking you to hold on to your weight, some of the empty trucks will be allowed to cross once they are not over 12 tonnes,” Edghill told reporters at the location on Monday evening noting that ‘tens of millions’ were expended for the repair works.
The bridge has been closed for the past two days following a major collision with a fuel vessel. The closure disrupted thousands of commuters.
Minister Edghill commended the team that has been working non- stop since the incident occurred in the wee hours of Saturday.
“The men and woman have done an extraordinary job.
“By all means, not all the work done on the bridge is completed but it is sufficient.
“At this stage is tidying up, cleaning up and stabilising and by 9 o clock traffic will be flowing on the Demerara Harbour Bridge,” Minister Edghill stated.
Following Minister Edghill’s announcement, engineers and other workers were heard cheering and celebrating. Edghill also applauded the local contractors and fabricators who provided the necessary materials for the repair.
“Our Guyanese men have shown their capacity.
“We also want to take this time to thank the water taxis [that] came out with great support, they are normally 12-hour taxis, they did 24- hours and by tomorrow morning we will be able to get back to some semblance of normalcy,” Edghill related.
The Harbour Bridge suffered the worst damage ever after a Panamanian vessel, the MV Tradewind Passion, collided with it.
