CONSTRUCTION has started on the long-awaited replacement bridge alongside the 54-year-old Longbird Bridge.The bridge, the only link between St. George’s, L.F. Wade International Airport and the rest of the island, has been restricted to one-lane traffic for almost two months after its infrastructure was deemed unsafe following damage from storms and the environment.

The replacement bridge is to be erected alongside Longbird Bridge to ease traffic, while a five-year programme of maintenance work is carried out by the Ministry of Works & Engineering.

Longbird Bridge was constructed in 1953 by the US Army Corps of Engineers and over the years has fallen into a state of disrepair, with rust causing some structural sections to lose up to a reported 75 per cent of their steel, as well as multiple deficiencies in the electrical system used to operate the movement of the bridge.

Since the lane closure in May, lengthy tailbacks have tested the patience of motorists. With Cup Match due to take place in St. George’s in August, East End residents believe the situation will only get worse.

Among them is Opposition Senator Kim Swan, who has lived in St. George’s for more than 20 years.

While he welcomed the start of work yesterday, he questioned how long it would take for the new structure to be completed.

Sen. Swan said the Government had known about the bridge’s deterioration since 2001, or before, and yet waited until it reached a “critical point” before doing anything.

“The fact that this Government knew about the state of the bridge and yet did nothing about it until now can only be described as serious negligence and a disservice to the people,” Sen. Swan said.

“It seems to me that only when these things are kept out in the open, do they remain a priority, otherwise they slip off the radar screen altogether.”

Earlier this month Works & Engineering Minister Dennis Lister told the House of Assembly that the Ministry was moving on a course of action to ensure “that unrestricted two-way traffic will be active on the causeway as soon as is possible”.

New bridge