Bayley Deals With Bridge Concerns
The Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, Paul Bayley has reassured stakeholders that the fixing of bridges around the country will be fast tracked.
The reassurance came after queries from the members of the Fiji Road Haulage Association. Mr Bayley said: “Coming from a business background and I’ve worked with many governments; I know how difficult it is when you can’t get your trucks and operation to work effectively on roads that are broken or clogged.
“We had a real wakeup call last year at Tamavua-i-wai.” This was when traffic and loads were restricted for three months while repairs were done. Fiji Roads Authority Manager (FRA) Network Operations, Brian Keller said they were proposing to build a modular bridge at Tamavua-i-wai.
“We are proposing a modular bridge (Bailey steel bridge) with two lanes, and the scoping phase has been carried out at the moment,” Mr Keller said.
“It will be open to legal loads so it will not be limited to loading; the intention is to get the traffic on to the modular bridge so we can demolish the existing bridge,” he said.
“We did the repair last year.” Mr Keller also commented on the engineering issues; particularly the Bailey bridge at Fletcher Road in Vatuwaqa where a new bridge was being built by Chinese contractors.
“The last time I looked at it, the issue was not the load but the geometry,” Mr Keller said. “The Chinese contractor challenged the design slightly, reducing the number of big vehicles travelling and putting a load on top,” he said. Meanwhile, while commissioning the Nakabuta Bailey Bridge in Nadroga, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama had said: “We are embracing innovation and looking at better ways of getting things to meet these challenges.
“The Fiji Roads Authority has begun using Bailey modular bridges like this bridge as they can be installed in a relatively short time and cost much less than a fixed bridge.”
The Nakabuta Bailey Bridge, in the interior of Nadroga, was commissioned last week.