Caribbean News

Bridge Concepts for Andros Reflect Resilience, Sustainability and Improved Utility Infrastructure says Works and Utilities Minister

Published

1 year ago

April 17, 2023

By KATHRYN CAMPBELLBahamas Information Services

#ANDROS, The Bahamas, April 17, 2023 – Andros residents viewed new design concepts and voiced their concerns about the two 50-year-old bridges in Fresh Creek and Stafford Creek during a Town Hall Meeting hosted by the Ministry of Works and Utilities.

“The reason why we’re here is not to engage in an academic exercise, but the people of Andros should inform this

process. You live here, you own the creeks, you fish on the creeks, and you’re the ones who will have to protect the creeks,” the Hon. Alfred Sears, Minister of Works and Utilities said, stating that work must be done in these times of challenging climate change to improve resilience and protect life, safety, and property of the people of Andros.

The minister said: “In fact, Andros will be the symbol of what a small island nation state can do in terms of resilience, sustainability; and the infrastructure that we will present to you this afternoon reflects those concepts — we are asking for your wisdom to guide the designers with your contributions, recommendations and observations.”

Minister Sears led a delegation Thursday, April 13, 2023 to the island to present options for the bridges. Among the delegation: Bacchus Rolle, Parliamentary Secretary; Leon Lundy, Parliamentary Secretary and MP for Mangrove Cay and South Andros; Luther Smith, Permanent Secretary; Basil Longley, chairman, The Bridge Authority; Robert Mouzas, deputy director; David Cox, senior civil engineer; Jumanne Paul, senior engineer; Kevin Sweeting, project lead; and representatives of BRON Ltd.

Also in attendance at the meeting held at Central Andros High School was Beverly Larrimore, administrator for North Andros; and heads of Government departments.

Said Mr. Sears, “As you will see in the presentation, the bridge represents a road and it is a vital road because in Central Andros we have three critical creeks and if there were no bridge over those creeks, there would be no road and thus separation. Andros is mighty because it is connected — north, central and south — it is what we call the Big

Yard. It’s not one piece of Andros; it’s all of Andros. What keeps Andros unified are those roads and over the water — the bridges.”

Mr. Mouzas informed that BRON was engaged in 2020 to undertake a feasibility study of both bridge sites and offer the “best” solution for residents and visitors. A meeting was held with residents on August 14, 2020 to solicit feedback on the study.

“We have listened to your requests,” said Mr. Mouzas. “Today, BRON team will be presenting preferred solutions.”

Mr. Sweeting outlined requirements, concerns, options, concepts and solution developments for the bridges.

He said results of a survey revealed concerns of residents including the need for dual lanes, wider bridges to allow traffic access and increase of height and clearance.

Over 80 percent of concern was for safety.

Concern was also expressed for traffic accessing the Stafford Creek Bridge as it is on a curve.

Residents expressed a “strong” desire for a higher bridge for Fresh Creek – higher than the 12 feet proposed in the Ministry’s requirements — to allow vessels with a higher height to get under the bridge to travel to the western area of the creek and possibly spur economic development there.

The survey also indicated several environmental concerns, and that residents have no desire to pay a toll.

He explained that the single lane, 53-year-old bridge in Fresh Creek is in poor condition, allows one lane of traffic at

a time and currently designed for a weight of 10 tons which means that nothing heavier than 10 tons should cross the bridge. It has a 9ft. clearance, no sidewalks, utilities are vulnerable to impact and many of them are exposed.

He said the conditions of the bridge in Stafford Creek Bridge are similar to Fresh Creek Bridge with the exception of the alignment of the road to the entrance which has two curves on either side that makes access unsafe for vehicles.

Regarding the concept drawing of the preferred option for Fresh Creek Bridge Mr. Sweeting said, “We designed this option with a 36-ft. clearance from main high water considering sea level rise estimated at 1 metre. It is a reinforced concrete structure, very resilient, it’s meant for this type of environment that is highly corrosive, more than 7 feet between piers, there is little obstruction in the creek. With this option there will be a need for dredging. Because we are now raising the bridge we need to actually lengthen the bridge. We are now increasing the length of Fresh Creek Bridge in order to get a higher height we will have to do some dredging on the southern side of the bridge. We’re looking at about 7 feet of dredging at its maximum depth.”

Mr. Sweeting informed that the option for demolition of the existing bridge and construction of a new replacement 2-lane bridge has been selected for Stafford Creek Bridge.

“Government would have gone ahead with option 3 based on recommendations of locals who said a new bridge was desired. We would have looked at a bridge at a relocated location. Moving it further west allows it now to have a safer alignment approaching the bridge – will allow it to have a wider curve approaching the bridge that is safer than the curve that’s currently there. The existing bridge would remain and we would build a new bridge to the west of it — new bridge with 2 lanes and 2 private sidewalks on each side.”

Mr. Sweeting assured residents that the concepts for both new bridges would allow improved access and provide safety for users.

“The cost of recommended options is high but does provide additional safety and improved access to vehicles and boats. Even though the cost is high there is a high return value for the long term so the initial high cost can be justified because long term will provide safety and greater access to the bridges.

“We will improve infrastructure along Queen’s Highway. We will look at making improvements to utility infrastructure that crosses the bridge, and the roads that approach the bridge will be improved. They create more opportunities and economic activity west of the bridge as we open them up.”

A question and answer period followed the presentation. Concerns raised by residents included improvements to the creek near to Fresh Creek Bridge, opportunities for transferring knowledge, compensation to persons affected by work on the project and more.

Caribbean News

STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS EXPECTED TO ASSIST GOV’T PLANNING FOR CLIMATE CHANGE

Published

1 day ago

April 30, 2024

Shanieka

KINGSTON, April 29 (JIS):

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, says the outcome of discussions arising from the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) will assist in guiding the Government’s planning for climate change.

This, he points out, is important for climate mitigation as well as building Jamaica’s resilience.

“We look forward to the discussions that will, no doubt, take place. We look forward to the basis of planning for the Government to streamline its investments to ensure you have the tools that you need to better advise us, that the WRA (Water Resources Authority) has the tools to digitise its monitoring network, and that all of the agencies that touch our planning mechanisms have the tools. But we need to know what we are facing, and we’re guided by your expertise,” Minister Samuda said.

He was addressing the opening ceremony for the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in New Kingston on Monday (April 29).

Senator Samuda said given the fact that the climate has changed and continues to do so, investments in and collaborations on building Jamaica’s predictive and scientific capacity must be prioritised.

“Ultimately, we need to be able to assess our current climatic realities if we are to better plan, if we’re to insist and ensure that our infrastructure meets the needs that we need it to. I’m very happy that this event is happening… because this is a critical issue.

“Jamaica, last year, faced its worst and most severe drought… and this year, we’re already seeing the impacts of not quite as severe a drought but, certainly, a drought with severe impacts, especially in the western part of the country,” he said.

Principal Director, Meteorological Service of Jamaica, Evan Thompson, explained that the forum aims to, among other things, establish a collaboration platform for climate services providers and users to understand risks and opportunities of past, present and future climate developments, as well as improve inter-agency coordination of policies, plans and programmes.

Among the other presenters were Ambassador, European Union to Jamaica, Her Excellency Marianne Van Steen; Chief Scientist/Climatologist, Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Adrian Trotman; and Head, Regional Climate Prediction Services, World Meteorological Organization, Wilfran Moufouma-Okia.

The Meteorological Service of Jamaica hosted the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) in partnership with the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology and the World Meteorological Organization.

The National Stakeholder Consultation is a governance mechanism that guides how different sectors or actors work together to create products that contribute to adaptation and resilience-building. It seeks to create a road map for the development and implementation of climate services to inform decision-making.

NCF-1 aims to bridge the gap between climate providers and users. It increases the use of science-based information in decision-making and operations with the aim of generating and delivering co-produced and co-designed products and services.

CONTACT: CHRIS PATTERSON

Caribbean News

Haiti- ECHO humanitarian efforts

Published

3 days ago

April 29, 2024

Shanieka

Rashaed Esson

Staff writer

#Haiti#Crisis#HumanitarianEfforts#ECHO, April 23rd, 2024 – Due to the worsening Humanitarian crisis in Haiti with an increase in death toll and injured people, The European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), launched an emergency airlift of 5 flights carrying essentials which include up to 62 tons of medicine as well as emergency shelter equipment, and water and sanitation items. These were brought to Cap Haitien according to a report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), on April 19, as the international Airport in Port au prince remains closed following the gang attack last month.

Caribbean News

Dominica repeals laws criminalizing gay sex

Published

3 days ago

April 29, 2024

Shanieka

Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer

#Dominica#LGBTQIA, April 24, 2034- Dominica has decided to remove colonial era laws that criminalized gay sex, joining Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, St. Kitts and Nevis and Antigua and Barbuda.

This comes almost five years after a man of the queer community, whose identity was withheld for his safety, spoke out against Dominica’s laws in 2019, saying they violated his rights.