“Pressing Hard To Have Structure Completed”
Workers have “been going the extra mile” to ensure the Heritage Wharf Project is completed on schedule by Wednesday [May 15] and everyone is “pressing hard to have this structure completed in time for the ships arrival,” Minister of Public Works Trevor Moniz said.
The work — slated to cost some $22 million project — is scheduled to be completed in time for the arrival of the Norwegian Breakaway cruise ship this Wednesday. The 4,000-passenger, 1063-foot long ship will be the largest cruise ship to ever visit the island. The brand new cruise ship was recently christened in New York, with Premier Craig Cannonier in attendance.
The final pour of concrete for the southern dolphin will be early in the week commencing on Monday [May 13] and completed before the arrival of the Norwegian Breakaway on her maiden voyage, the Ministry said.
The full statement is below:
The Minister of Public Works, the Hon. Trevor Moniz, JP, MP, today advised that work continues on Heritage Wharf with the activities concentrated on completion of the reinforced concrete caps that will be cast on top of the breasting dolphin (mooring structure) piles. The southern dolphin is on schedule for completion ahead of the arrival of the Norwegian Breakaway but the northern dolphin is still catching up after the delays suffered earlier in the project.
“This week we have transported the precast beams to the wharf and set them in place, again we have been hampered by the weather with winds gusting in excess of 30 knots for two days and a lightning storm on Friday slowing progress. However despite the difficulties we have again been working into the night to make up for lost time,” Minister Moniz said.
Hundreds of reinforcement rods have been fixed in place and concrete poured in both dolphins. Concrete forms were fixed in place by workers at the southern dolphin, starting at 4am on Friday, May 10. This phase was completed after the completion of the steel fixtures, two hours earlier at 2am.
“The workers have been making every effort, going the extra mile to ensure the Heritage Wharf Project is completed on schedule by Wednesday, May 15 and technical staff have been providing around the clock support,” the Minister said.
The Minister continued: “The Government Quarry staff have also helped out, supplying materials to the site when local commercial supplies have run low and Ministry of Public Works electricians have been working on site for the last few days making this a full team effort.”
The final pour of concrete for the southern dolphin will be early in the week commencing Monday, May 13, and completed before the arrival of the Norwegian Breakaway on her maiden voyage.
“The northern dolphin is now the centre of our concentrated efforts. The piles are all concrete filled, the bottom mat of reinforcement placed and shutters made up. We are pressing hard to have this structure completed in time for the ships arrival,” the Minister said.
In the meantime the Minister said construction debris and material are being removed from Heritage Wharf as part of a cleanup operation to clear the construction site and make the wharf safe and secure for the cruise ship passengers.
“We will be pleased to see the Norwegian Breakaway alongside the dock on Wednesday and plan to allow the site staff a break for a few days to regroup and perhaps see their families,” Minister Moniz said.
The Minister concluded: “After the Breakaway’s first visit is completed we will remove all of our temporary works from the main wharf area and move on to construction of the mooring dolphins. These dolphins are not as critical as the breasting dolphins and because they do not rest against the hull of the ship we are able to construct them during the cruise ship season. We will of course be slightly restricted in our working practices not wishing the high noise activities to disturb the visitors, however this is simply a matter of managing our works accordingly.”
The Ministry of Public Works is also advising the public that restrictions to motor vehicle traffic will be in effect at Heritage Wharf in Dockyard, on Wednesday 15th May, from 7am and continue to approximately 1pm.
There will be no vehicle access to the entrance to Heritage Wharf/Ground Transport Area and the only parking that will be permitted will be at the Clocktower Shopping Mall. While the Ministry acknowledges that the inaugural voyage of the Norwegian Breakaway to Bermuda will likely be of great public interest, the Ministry is encouraging those pedestrians who wish to view the arrival of the new mega cruise ship, to walk to the entrance Heritage Wharf from the Clocktower Shopping Mall.
the time is near and as the breakaway boards it’s first bermuda cruise today in nyc, my fingers are crossed that the pier will be ready to accommodate the ship.
just remember before all, safety first.
what a breeze of fresh air….a government that provides timely, rational and reasonable press releases.
They pick and choose, stop being a wanker. The OBA hasn’t done anything yet besides take away term limits. Just like when the UBP lost in 1998. They did nothing wrong to loss their Government position. The economy was booming and the only problem I recall was that there wasn’t enough affordable housing.
Had the PLP admitted that the Heritage Wharf needed the work instead of covering it up because of the election, the work would have been finished months ago. Thank goodness the PLP lost, or else they would still be faffing about and the work would not have started, let alone been finished.
Go “Smoke” another fattie, mate.
Where are the press releases about the hospital project or the new tourism authority, or press releases on how they are actively lowering costs other they hiring more people to head up some committees? Because they keep letting you know of one rush job they are doing you find that a breath of fresh air?
On another note I have to agree that the minister has excellent communication skills keeping everyone informed of his project….
I can’t believe people still support the fxxing PLP…… Damn folks, its over, get a grip….
Just because the UBP couldn’t handle their loss & folded doesn’t mean every time a party looses at the polls they should also crumble fold under pressure. Remember the PLP was the under dogs for a LONG time so I am sure they are use to the position of opposition & can weather the storm until the feel they can regroup to put forward another challenge. Before you label me a PLP supporter understand I don’t support ANY party, I only support individual members of any given party who I feel is the right person for the job at hand. Blind support for any party is just wrong & is why both the PLP & UBP faltered since they both thought they could get away with anything & still have the support of the people.
But of course, sure Premier Cannonier and his Chief of Staff have received a comp cruise for them and their guests on tax payers dollars.
If it’s comp it’s free so costing tax payers absolutely zero dollars.
How is it ‘on taxpayer dollars’ if its a comp cruise?
smoking mirrors too, i think you need to look at the bigger picture of what everyone else sees… things are getting done and openly.
the pier was the the fault of the new gov but going into power they have to take over everything from the previous gov.
work on the pier should have been started after the last ship left but that was never done. now the new gov has had to work hard on getting the pier fixed for the new ship.
i know many complained about using guest workers, etc but guess what? we had a time frame to have the dock completed in and whatever needed to be done should be done. now if the dock don’t get finished in time what will you say than?
Where did you see that the Premier recieved a comp cruise?
He is here in Bermuda and NOT on the ship so why are you being dishonest?
Smoking Mirrors – if it’s a ‘comp’ cruise how is that spending taxpayers dollars? Just wondering!
this should have been built correctly the 1st time,but just like the plp,it was a HUGE FAILURE!
The $22 million dollar question is, will the concrete be fully cured and strong enough to take the load of the new ship,since it is being poured right up to the final hour?
Will we have to revisit this very repair in the very near future, because of this?
doesn’t it take about 30 days for concrete to cure? just sayin…
They have been pouring in less then 30 days from when the pier shall be used.
I just hope the ship don’t breakaway.
Would be a fitting name for the ship then & not to mention the huge black eye in the reputation of Bermuda.
The ships captain will be very familiar with the dock situation before the first line comes ashore. Through use of his bow thrusters & main engines, most likely azipods, he can control the amount of pressure his ship either puts against the dock or pulls on it.
An awful shame that the dock was not built properly in the first place but, oh so typical of the PLP, nothing gets done right the first time around.
As I remember it it was Coreria Construction that built the dock and not the former government, so how come people don’t hold them responsible for their sub standard work?
Without getting into personalities, golfing buddys, emails which got into the public domain, & such, remind us of who was Minister & who was Government supposedly overseeing the whole operation to make sure public money was well spent?
Some folks have selective memorys
For a proper assessment of the work, know what it is designed to do:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/waterfront-ship.htm
Then, research the work to be done:
http://www.concreteconstruction.net/concrete-articles/concrete-in-marine-environments.aspx
http://www.ice.org.uk/ getattachment/ 41c3b0c8-cccb-454f-84c4-39cc2d87ec85/ The-use-of-concrete-in-maritime-engineering—A-gu.aspx
Then, remove the political considerations, and approach the situation from a problem-solving view. This is because the timeframe required for a solution do not permit full exercise of political egos/agendas.
The questions to be asked and answered by the Bermuda public, regarding the job, are:
Could a better job have been done in the timeframe given?
Could more value for money have been realized?
The questions to be asked and answered by the Bermuda public, going forward, are:
Can this effort be duplicated in other areas?
What was done differently this time, to ensure success, as opposed to other projects?
Can we have even greater buy-in from local stakeholders, and thus greater local participation in the projects and successes, if limitations are absent?
All for a better Bermuda.
I love Bermuda.
Wednesday 7am all eyes around the world including us here in bermuda will be looking at this project to see if it pulls off.
I wonder if Government should be looking for their money back from the original contractor for lousy, dangerous work.
victor, you know the peelpee will never admit that the work was lousy or dangerous.
you think the peelpee and correria will give back money… ya right.
O SHYT, i heard that they just started pouring… what’s option if the basic structure can’t be used?
It will all be fine. The boat will come and leave as scheduled.Then all you OCD people can finally shut up and whine about something else you see on Bernews. The tourists only complaint will be the weather.
P.S. You OCD bloggers will be blaming God about that on Thursday.
chuckling lol.
They have been pouring since 630 am and it is still not finish. And it is not going to be ready for the 15. So all you OBA suck tails can kiss my A$$! Who the hell are you going to blame now. Lol all night long lol
the peelpee for not starting when they should have last YEAR.
If that’s the case oba should have started as soon as they took over? Were is the up date now.
So you’re hoping for failure. Wouldn’t that be unpatriotic and unBermudian?
The PLP knew full well that the works needed to be done for the coming of the Breakaway this year, but with an election, it would have been very embarrassing for them to admit the hugely over budget and under standard works that were done initially required further millions to have the dock ready. Instead they decided they would sit on it till after the election, knowing full week the people would vote them back in. I’m sure they already had Correia lined back up to do the works under the premise that they had done the original works, so it only makes sense to have him do the upgrade. Whatever the story might have been as to why they didn’t announce the works prior to the election, we could certainly chaulk it up to another ‘we had to deceive you’. But low and behold, the people spoke and said ‘out you go’, and sure as ants at a picnic, you know the PLP weren’t going to be helpful with the transition and let the incoming OBA know the dock need a huge repair and upgrade, so it was left to the OBA to scramble and get something underway in a very short timeframe. And something that had to be to a high standard.
It sounds like they have plans to make sure they can get the Breakaway tied up, even if not all the works are complete, and we sure can’t fault them for trying. They have been out there day and night trying to get this done. The only hinderence to to their abilility to have had it fully completed has been factors out of their control, careless boaters and weather. Come what may, I thank the workers who have put in their time on this project, you have my applause and gratitude for your efforts and thank you Minister Moniz for stepping up your game and brining us information as often as you could.
That said, I would like to see some other information updated to the public.
- The hospital status, I know it is not strictly a W&E project so I doubt Minister Moniz would be the one to dig into this, but someone should be clearing the air about exactly where we are with this.
- How many contractor/consultants has the Government brought on and how many have been let go as relates to this time last year. I’ve heard a lot of criticism every time the OBA has hired someone, what the public should be getting told officially is who has been hired/rehired to do what, for how much and for how long; and who’s contract has expired or ceased. How many consultants there are right now and how many there were at this time last year.
- What exactly is the Government’s payroll combined for MP’s, Senators, Ministers and Premier; what was it at this time last year; and how are you planning to lower it further. As it is hoped to negotiate a paycut with the civil service, I expect that the Government should offer up a slice as well from the MP’s and Senators. I leave off the Ministers and Premier as they have already done so, but if they should wish to go a little further the taxpayers would certainly be grateful. Also, such a cut should coincide with the start of whatever start date the civil services new contract cut be, and not just an accuse that we had to wait til the start of the new budget.
- What former elected officials are collecting a pension from the taxpayers and exactly what amount are they getting. Before anybody tries to tell us that that is confidential and personal, as a taxpayer, I am not given the option to whether I want to pay my monies to government or to what they are spent for. It is legislated that I have to pay you these monies. But as they are my monies you better damn well believe that you are responsible for telling me exactly what each penny is spent on should I ask it. So anybody collecting a pay check/contract/pension from these taxpayer monies has zero right to confidentiality about how much taxpayer money they are receiving.
Why was the trash in the west end not picked up today!? What do I pay taxes for!? Were W&E workers pulled from the trash trucks to finish off the dock in Dockyard????????