The first of eight bridges identified to be repaired or reconstructed under the Scotland District Road Rehabilitation Programme (SDRRP) has been prefabricated and is ready to be shipped to Barbados.

This is according to Deputy Chief Technical Officer of Projects in the Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW), Dave Scantlebury, who said the bridge at Bruce Vale, in St. Andrew, which was closed in 2021 due to structural failure, will be replaced with “a totally new bridge where the current bridge is located”.

Mr. Scantlebury said the new bridge had already been designed by the team from the China National Complete Plant Import and Export Corporation Limited (COMPLANT), the construction company working on behalf of MTW under the SDRRP. He further disclosed that the new bridge had been constructed and tested in China.

He said over the years there were attempts to reinforce the old bridge at Bruce Vale, however, the existing bridge structure could no longer carry any load.

He added that in preparation for the construction of the new bridge, a link road connecting Baxters, Bruce Vale, and Sylvans Village/Dark Hole was built to facilitate pedestrian and vehicular use during the construction.

He said COMPLANT would soon begin preparatory works for the installation of the new bridge, which will include the demolition of the old bridge and building protective gabions.

Speaking on developments regarding the bridge at Bruce Vale, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Works, Santia Bradshaw, said a tremendous amount of planning went into bringing the project to this stage.

“Repairing or even replacing bridges across the island involves consideration of how people use the road network.  We, therefore, had to be mindful of the impact the upcoming construction and its traffic diversions would have on surrounding communities. Now that we have created the link road to accommodate residents and road users, we will soon begin preparations for the civil works, in anticipation of the actual bridge structure arriving on island,” she said.

The Transport Minister explained that COMPLANT was working on designing and reconstructing eight of the 70 bridges across the island. They are the Cane Garden Bridge in St. Thomas; Melvin Hill Bridge in St. John; Bruce Vale Bridge, Babylon Bridge, and St. Simon’s Bridge in St. Andrew, as well as Trio Path Bridge, Tent Bay Bridge, and Dark Hole Bridge in St. Joseph.

She indicated that MTW was simultaneously conducting a comprehensive study on the other bridges in Barbados to update the last comprehensive bridge study done in the 1980s. 

“While bridge designs are ongoing for the other bridges under the Scotland District project, MTW has been carrying out a comprehensive study of the other ageing bridge infrastructure across the island. Much of the work of our technical team is focused on geotagging each location, inspecting and collecting information on the condition of bridges, and developing a scope of work for maintenance, repairs, or replacement. This type of analysis is critical to ensuring that we have accurate information about the condition, safety, and durability of our bridge infrastructure.

“It is going a long way in helping us prioritise and plan strategically as the Ministry will soon be rolling out a preventative maintenance programme for our bridges and retaining structures. It will involve strengthening and repairing the structural members of bridges, the installation of bridge posts, painting, as well as the removal of trees and debris that are compromising the integrity of the structures across the island,” Minister Bradshaw said.