Live Video Replay: Meeting About Swing Bridge
[Updated] A Town Hall Meeting is taking place at Penno’s Wharf Cruise Ship Terminal this evening [Dec 21], with the new weight restriction and one way system on Swing Bridge in St. George’s to be discussed.
A government spokesperson previously said, “After a recent engineering survey by the Department of Works and Engineering, the Ministry of Public Works, in an abundance of caution, is planning to place a weight restriction on Swing Bridge in St. Georges and enforce single lane traffic.
“There will also be a 15 KPH speed restriction for motorists when crossing the bridge. The changes will come into effect on Tuesday December 22nd.”
Update 7.32pm: The meeting has concluded, the 1-hour video replay is below:
Update 11.27pm: Video of Minister Craig Cannonier after Town Hall Meeting
Unreal! And our hard earned tax paying dollars go to paying these geniuses. There should be no money in the kitty for their salaries!!
The Minister of Public Works is Craig Cannonier who is responsible for the Swing Bridge. Need I say more, I think I will SWING GATE
He failed as Premierrrry and he can’t even take care of a simple bridge for the St Geo voters. Anyone in Geo can tell you that on a daily bases we have about 3 vehicles or less on either side going in and out of St Geo. Now with cars backed up facing stop lights waiting for the green light single lane, wouldn’t about 10+ vehicles be going over the bridge at the same time? How is this reducing the weight load?
This meeting was a bit of a joke… the bridge should have never been allowed to get into such a poor state in the first place. It takes years for these cross beams to deteriorate to their current poor condition which means they have had years to catch it. It is only so urgent now because basic maintenance and timely inspections where not carried out in the correct manor. Perhaps someone decided that we didn’t have the money to fix it because it wasn’t urgent at the time.
You know what they say,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Take a fool and educate them,,,,,
You don’t get a smart person,,,,,,
You actually get an educated fool!
Careful guys,
You’re beginning to resemble what we would expect from the PLP
Maybe that hospital should be put over in st George’s cause soon no ones gonna be coming or going.
You cannot educate ore into gold…
bottom line is that this timing is bad and the solution is worse than the reality. com on now. tonight of all night you want to start this when they are having a shopping night in st georges. bad timing. wouldn’t hurt to wait for a week. I am sure because you are not going to start any work any time soon.
So you would prefer the bridge collapse when two 30 ton tractor trailers or two fully loaded fuel trucks pass each other in the middle? Urgent action needs to be taken now… one Lane traffic will prevent this. I have an issue with the bridge being allowed to get to the point it is… but have no problem with the steps they are taking now
Two fully loaded fuel trucks? I would imagine the one coming back would be empty.
You would be imagining wrong.
How many people do we pay to do nothing? More every day.
We need fewer GP cars and fewer government trucks competing with private industry – that will help the bridges. OBA’s poll numbers will stay high as long as they are carrying all of these civil servants. Let’s see what the OBA’s poll numbers look like post the land tax increase.
And a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!
@ San George…I agree!
Mr. Dunkley and Mr. Richards,
Trust me when I say you’re going to lose votes over this land tax increase. Instead of making hard decisions like finding a way to recoup unpaid parking tickets and getting moneys owed to you from payroll tax dodgers you went the easy route. This easy way out will come back and bite you in the next election. The hard working taxpayers will not forget this one! You’ll see.
Does anyone really believe this nonsense? Bailey bridge over a bridge? Why did they not fix it YEARS ago BEFORE it got this bad? Those fools knew and their JOB was to keep it in order! Fire the lot of them.
What is so hard to understand? A Bailey bridge over the existing bridge transfers the load from the existing span onto the Bailey span which rests on existing piers.
This way it is possible to remove the old span from underneath the Bailey span.
Not an ideal solution but doable. Best if the bridge had been maintained properly in the first place. Who was the Minister of W&E before the OBA got in anyway. Who is the PS for W&E? Who is the Director? Who are the engineers who are supposed to keep an eye on things?
The bridge was well on its way into disrepair before December 2012.
@ Triangle Drifter
Richard Crossley is the Chief Engineer and he’s the one responsible for structural oversight throughout the island. He’s not doing a good job if you ask me and he overseas the roads as well. He needs to be proactive instead of reactive when there are possible dangers to the public. I’m sure you’ve seen the shape of our roads. This Government seems to wait till something is in such a bad shape, that it is forced to fix it when it should have been proactively addressing issues all the while.
You could not be further from the truth. Engineers have a professional interest in doing their job well. They are not political. All they can do is to make a request of the permanent secretary – they pass the request to the ministers to decide whether the work can/will be done.
What else did you get wrong? Oh, yes. The structural engineer is not responsible for highways. That would be, yes, thats right, the highway engineer. Two different jobs, two different people. And, I believe, only 1 or two of each, in each section, to look after the structural and highway infrastructure of the entire island.
Add to that the FACT that THEY HAVE NO MONEY, where do you suggest they do?
What you’ve just said… Is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point, in your rambling, incoherent response, were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it.may God have mercy on your soul.
I suspect all the timeframes mentioned will slip, that the temporary bridge will be permanent (meaning several years), and that it will be one way only.
Shamefull yes, but its only St George’s after all. I mean who cares? Apart from those of us who live there of course.
I will fondly remember my drive into work today, December 22nd 2015, as being the last one ever without traffic lights going across that bridge.
I suspect I will be retired before it becomes two way again.
Hey, it could be worse. It could have been declared unsafe for anything & you would be looking at them scrambling to build ramps for a vehicle ferry to carry the traffic.
Give it time. The vehicle ferry could happen.
We have to build the tunnel on the railway trail in Baileys Bay for $1mill first.
St George’s needs to vote for Independence from Bermuda! This is outrageous! Who is governing this Island? This issue should have long been tended too..This is why you were elected, to sort these issues out! Pathetic.
This is an upsetting yet real situation at hand. As a resident of St. George’s I am not pointing fingers at who the fault is as now is too late. The damage is done, here, and present. Now as a community, we can be mad, disgruntle, and outright disgusted but we still need a solution and the bridge needs to be replaced. This will take time, money (and lack thereof), and effort by our current Government, but as citizens we need to come together and bring forth possible solutions and ideas to help us through what is going to be a tedious transition. I for one would hope that the government will consider having a morning and afternoon commuting ferry put back on so to help alleviate the traffic congestion and further deterioration of the old bridge. Just a suggestion….