Construction of bridge at Kendal still on hold
Over the weekend, heavy rains in southern Belize caused the Sittee River to swell and last night water levels increased to almost 9 feet above normal threatening to overflow the Kendal crossing. The dangerously high levels bring back memories of last June’s flooding by Tropical Storm Arthur and depression number sixteen when southern Belize was cut off from the rest of the country. It also brings to mind the million dollar Bailey bridge that was donated to Belize by the U.S. Military last year. C.E.O. of the Ministry of Works, Cadet Henderson, told News Five today that the bridge did not fit the width of the crossing and furthermore for economic reasons it was not installed at Kendal.
Voice of: Cadet Henderson, C.E.O., Ministry of Works
“It will not be used for either Kendal or Mullins River, it will be used for areas that will be deemed more appropriate for erection.”
Duane Moody
“But wasn’t it sent due to the fact that Kendal needed a bridge?”
Voice of Cadet Henderson
“Yeah it was. We made attempts to procure this type of bridge for several years—even before the events of that year. And the initial intention was to use it at Kendal but for several logistical reasons it is not prudent to put it there. We have a temporary bridge there—we no longer have the causeway. We have a bridge where we have bought beams from Guatemala as an interim measure because a temporary bridge was required that is less vulnerable to the cycles of flooding that we expect. That bridge out there is considered a formidable substitute. It is vulnerable to flooding so there will be a couple days, a few days, for the year when it will go under water, but that’s the price we need to pay for now. That temporary bridge, that modular bridge that we got from the U.S. Military does not have the width that we require, certain types of equipment would not be able to use it, plus it would cost more than a million dollars to erect. So a decision has been taken to redeploy, to change the location of where we will use this modular bridge to areas where it will be more feasible to install as well as where it will not restrict traffic as much. The Bridge comes in five spans and so it will require six structural supports to be built in the river.”
Duane Moody
“And you guys don’t have the facility to do that?”
Voice of Cadet Henderson
“Well, that would be very costly. In other words, it will be an uneconomical solution. So that’s not a kind of location to put a structure that is questionable in terms of—because to start with to elevate this rather small structure above the highest recorded flood level it will have to be extremely high. And so you need a very sturdy structural support that will be able to resist the forces of that river.”
But back to the three hundred and fifty foot long Bailey Bridge, that is still in a storage container. And according to Henderson a proposal will be put before cabinet to install the bridge in two or three different locations throughout the country. Henderson also said that the Ministry is in the procurement stage for a permanent replacement at the Kendal crossing.
News Five also spoke with Acting Chief Meteorologist, Dennis Gonguez who told us that the weather disturbances down south have eased up and the water is receding.
Dennis Gonguez, Acting Chief Meteorologist
“We had a disturbance in the upper levels of the atmosphere and it caused some intense showers over the weekend and coming into yesterday and earlier this morning. However, this system is moving out and we’re looking at improving conditions from here onwards.”
Duane Moody
“It did cause the river to rise though?”
Dennis Gonguez
”Yes, the river did rise and we are expecting it to level off and then go back to normal later on in the week as the rains continue to decrease today and tomorrow.”
Gonguez also said that the Met Service anticipates an average Hurricane season which begins June 1st.
