Bailey Bridge to be built on North Coast Road

A bailey bridge will be constructed by the Ministry of Works at the 11km mark of the North Coast Road, where a landslide has compromised the road. The slippage threatens to cut off access to beaches and villages along the road.

Newsday was told work will begin by Saturday, and is expected to be completed by the end of the weekend.

The bridge is a stop-gap measure to a wider problem, which is the eroding of the road due to water running along the North Coast Road.

Newsday was told that while the bridge is being built to ensure that the road is not closed and to maintain the flow of traffic specialists are working assiduously to devise a permanent solution to the problem.

On Monday last, heavy rain led to a landslide at the 11 km mark of North Coast Road, between Maracas Beach and the lookout point. The landslide eroded part of the road and has limited passage in that area from two-way traffic to one-way traffic.

Ministry of Works engineers and experts have since been able to limit the flow of water into the landslide, stopping it from getting any worse, and are now working to make sure the road isn’t closed altogether.