Traversing the E.O LeBlanc Highway will soon be much easier as the almost nine million dollar Hillsborough Bridge nears completion.
The left lane of the Hillsborough Bridge in Layou, which is one of the main arteries connecting the North of the island to the city, was completely washed away by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Since then commuters have used the west lane to travel to and from Roseau, which has proven to be dangerous.
The project which started in May 2020 is expected to be completed in February 2022.
This major project is part of the Government’s efforts to build resilience and keep citizens safe.
“This Government, although we are challenged economically like everywhere else in the world, we see it fit to ensure that our people are safe. As you will know, we have had accidents in the past on the west bridge due to commuters not being able to see that another vehicle is coming and we really want to put an end to that,” stated Member of Parliament for the St. Joseph Constituency Hon. Dr. Adis King.
The Parliamentary Representative thanked her constituents for their patience, saying “they have been patient and they have been supportive and I want to tell them that the long awaited Layou Valley road will be also be here very soon.”
Minister for Public Works and the Digital Economy Hon. Cassanni Laville stated that steady progress is being made on the eight-million-dollar investment.
“This undertaking is an 8.9-million-dollar investment. The project is being done by the contractors, Offshore Civil and Marine. We were last here in April 2021 to sign the contract and work commenced the next month on the 20th of May. Right now there is work ongoing and steady progress is being made,” Hon. Laville stated.
Minister Laville spoke in detail of the works to be done on the project saying “we will have the abutment replaced and we will have the two bridge space being replaced also. We have to replace about ninety to a hundred feet of bridge deck and it is going to be approximately twenty feet wide.”
Civil Engineering Consultant within the Ministry of Public Works and the Digital Economy Mr. Kendall Johnson explained some of the work which will take place during the construction of the bridge.
“You will see the demolition and reconstruction of the east bridge. Subsequently we will bring in a crane to do some piling. We are going to strengthen the foundation of the pier because it is in the middle of the river. The old construction sat on the river bed. So we are going to be driving six piles down to a depth approaching 40 feet below the river, so a concrete pad and then build a new pier on top of it,” he explained.
Improvement works will also be done on the western section of the bridge including the repainting of the railings, sand blasting and painting of the bottom beams and replacing the construction joints on the old bridge.
The Government of Dominica continues to invest heavily in resilient infrastructural development across the island as the country continues on its path to becoming the first climate resilient nation in the world.