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– Harbour Bridge will not go downGovernment has debunked reports that it is selling the Stabroek and Vreed-en-Hoop ferry stellings, amidst concerns that the facilities, currently in a state of disrepair, could be leaving authorities with no options if the aging Demerara Harbour Bridge goes down for any prolonged period.Answering questions during his year-end press conference, Minister of Public Works, Robeson Benn, yesterday also insisted that it is highly unlikely that the bridge could go out of commission for any considerable length of time as significant resources have been poured in to strengthen the facilities.It is unlikely that the any trawler could damage the structure or any part could float away as had been the case several years ago.The bridge has been running at a loss for years now with Government financing critical infrastructural works to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.General Manager, Rawlston Adams, spoke yesterday of works to construct protective barriers around key sections like the retractor span and replacement of pontoons and anchors in the coming months.In recent years, the two stellings fell into a state of disrepair with the gantries leading to ferries show the worse.Benn admitted yesterday that parts have been removed and used on other stellings, including those at Berbice.$41M repairsMeanwhile, responding to questions on the Supenaam stelling which was built and handed over but saw a ramp buckling under weight earlier this year, Benn made it clear yesterday that Government was moving ahead with plans to repair the problems.The facility was constructed at a cost of over $431M with an additional $18M spent to correct a number of defects when it was taken over by the Ministry in January.The Minister yesterday disclosed that it will cost an additional $41M to now put the facilities into use by this January month-end.Regarding which party or parties could be held liable, the Minister indicated that the matter is still being looked at.Following the collapse of the ramp which effectively closed the stelling, President Bharrat Jagdeo had ordered a report of the incident and had tasked Prime Minister Samuel Hinds to oversee it.Government yesterday said that critical repairs has strengthened the Demerara Harbour Bridge to a point where it is hardly likely to collapse or close for a prolonged period.Two private engineers were hired to investigate the incident.There had been meetings with several of the parties involved in the construction of the stelling including the contractors, BK International; the Ministry of Local Government,Cheap NFL Jerseys, which was the executing agency; the Ministry of Public Works,Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping, the supervisors, Vikab Engineering and the designers, SNC Lavelin.These meetings were also to conclude which parties would have been footing the bill to fix the defects and subsequent damage to the facility.However, Miniser Benn said that the report has not been released nor has blame been apportioned,Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys China, at least publicly.Last year January, the stelling was handed over to the Ministry of Public Works which claimed that it had raised concerns over some problems that were evident.BuckledAlmost four days after it was opened to traffic in May, the stelling was forced to cease operations after its ramp buckled under the weight of a truck boarding a ferry.The contractor, BK International, distancing itself from the incident, took media houses on an inspection shortly after and stated that modification works on the ramp by the Ministry of Public Works had caused the problems.Late in April, an extra pontoon being installed by the Ministry sank while work was being done to attach it to the ramp.BK International, during the tour,Wholesale NBA Jerseys, had claimed that the modifications, including the extra pontoon and the drawbridge, were not needed, since tests had found that the one pontoon could have taken the weight of vehicles up to a certain weight.The officials believed that the modification works compromised the structural integrity of the stelling.No blameDuring a press conference, Minister of Public Works, Robeson Benn had stressed that his Ministry only took over the facility in January, and that in a pressure situation, immediately started works to rectify a number of key problems inherited from the construction phase to ensure that facility was brought to use.The Ministry expended an additional $18M to add a new pontoon and a drawbridge to allow vehicles to load and offload from the ferries. This was expenditure in addition to $431M that the structure is said to have cost.Benn stressed that when his Ministry took over the facilities in January, it was immediately recognised that two problems had to be fixed. They included the issue of the bridge leading to the ferries and the question of flotation, since the one pontoon stabilising it could not have worked.And there was the question of fixing the large gap between the ferries’ loading area and the ramp.According to Benn, in January, tests using a loaded truck found that the pontoon was at the unsafe level when significant weight was added.Further, it was decided that it would have been highly impractical to attach drawbridges to all vessels docking there. The ideal situation was to build a drawbridge from the stelling’s bridge.Inspections of the buckling of the ramp found that while the drawbridge remained intact, the ramp’s end beam was bent which raised questions of the quality of the steel used, among other issues, the Minister had pointed out.It was also noted that although the facility was supposed to take up to 30 tons in weight from trucks, on the average,Cheap Jerseys, it was inconceivable that the ramp could have buckled if it was built to specification.On questions why BK International had been issued a Certificate of Completion,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, Benn said that his Ministry was not involved, since the stelling was being managed by the Project Execution Unit of the Minister of Local Government.He insisted that there was a supervisory engineer, Vikab Engineering, which was monitoring the works to ensure that the facility was built to specification.The stelling has been hailed as key to ease the woes of Essequibo residents who wanted to visit the city. With the Adventure stelling in a dilapidated state, authorities had pinpointed Supenaam as an ideal area for the facility which they said would cut ferry time from Region Two to Parika by hours.