Bridge until October has been rejected by Government.

One operator -- who declined to be named -- said a petition had been sent to Works and Engineering Minister C.V. (Jim) Woolridge from a group of objectors who were against the idea of work taking place at the bridge during the peak tourist season.

"A lot of marine operators use that bridge to travel between Ely's Harbour and the Great Sound,'' he pointed out.

"The temporary bridge they are putting in place will float on the water so no one can go through there anymore.'' The man also claimed that the work could be delayed until November, after the summer season, and that temporary measures could be put in place until then to ensure that the bridge did not cause any problems.

"If this bridge is so unsafe that it could collapse at any time then they should have started work on it sooner,'' he added.

But Mr. Woolridge stressed: "Safety does not take a holiday. If we were to wait until it was convenient for everyone to do the work then we could be in a regrettable position.'' "We have traffic on the bridge that it was not designed for. Because of this we feel that it has to be done as soon as possible.'' He added that he was Tourism Minister for 14 years and during that time became aware of the importance of the bridge as the world's smallest drawbridge.

Because of this, he continued, all the work done would retain the bridge's unique features and retain it as the world's smallest drawbridge.

TRANSPORTATION TRA PETITION PET