The reconstruction of Laynes Bridge in St. Joseph is progressing steadily with a team from Infra Construction erecting gabions on site. Gabions are wired baskets filled with rocks that help to minimize erosion and increase stabilization.
Sean Cox, General Manager of Infra Construction Inc. provided an update on the project, estimating it should take another month or so to finish the gabions. “Once the gabion works are completed, backfilling of the road base would be restarted. That will be brought up to the final level, and then the drainage of the actual road would be put in. Provided that the road is handed back over to Infra in about four weeks, we estimate another six weeks before the road would be completed,” Mr. Cox said, adding that this was barring weather or unforeseen delays.
Laynes Bridge, which is located on Highway 3A between Sugar Hill, St. Joseph and Richmond Road, St. Thomas, was actually a retaining structure and culvert that crossed a natural watercourse. Built over 100 years ago in limestone, the structure was closed for approximately two years due to significant deterioration on the upstream or northern side.
“We had to excavate the whole roadway which included removing all the gabions [that accompanied the original structure]. Most of the roadway was previously built on mud, so in some areas we had to go down to nine metres and bring it back up with gabions on the external to help retain the road,” Mr. Cox explained.
Laynes Bridge is one of 16 active construction sites under the Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW) Scotland District Road Rehabilitation Project. Work on the project is executed by the China National Complete Plant Import and Export Corporation (COMPLANT) in collaboration with Barbadian contractors, artisans and engineers. Infra Construction Inc. is a subcontractor on the project.
Due to the ongoing work, road users will need to detour via Sugar Hill, St. Joseph, and Richmond Road, St. Thomas. MTW thanks residents and road users for their continued patience and cooperation.