BANBURY BRIDGE OPENED

The newly built Banbury Bridge in St. Catherine.

The Banbury Bridge in Linstead, St. Catherine was opened on Wednesday, June 20 by Minister Robert Pickersgill while scores of persons from the community looked on. Also in attendance were officials from the Ministry of Housing, Transport, Water and Works as well as the National Works Agency (NWA).

The Bridge will form an important linkage between the community of Wakesfield in upper St. Catherine and the northern outskirts of the town of Linstead. The Bridge replaced an old steel truss framed one which was constructed during the colonial era.

A contract for the construction of the structure was awarded to B&H Structures Company Ltd of a new bridge. That contract stipulated that the construction should be completed within one year. Due to its location however, the contractor encountered problems associated with adequate and suitable sites for the storage of piles. It was against that background that Minister Pickersgill hailed the community spiritedness of a resident, Mrs. Dorothy Moore who offered the use of her property to store the piles.

He also paid tribute to another resident, Mr. Paul Dunbar who gave consent for the contractor to enter his (Mr. Dunbar's) property to get to the river and have the girders erected.

In declaring the Bridge opened, Minister Pickersgill noted that it was important to the transport sector of the economy as well as to those persons involved in the transportation of goods and services in that section of the island. The structure is designed to accommodate two lanes of traffic and is expected to improve traffic flow along the thoroughfare. Major works such as the driving of piles, construction of concrete footings, wing walls and the installation of steel girders were some of the other activities undertaken.

The Bridge was constructed at a cost of just under $40M. The Minister asserted that the facility would be adequately maintained.