The long-awaited reconstruction of Layne’s Bridge in St Joseph is moving steadily forward, with contractors reporting major progress on the century-old structure.
Recent updates from Infra Construction Inc. and the Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW) indicate the gabion construction – vital for stabilising the bridge site – is nearing its final height levels.
Work on backfilling and compacting the road base has already begun, signalling a significant step toward restoring the important roadway connection.
General manager of Infra Construction Inc., Sean Cox, shared optimism about the pace of the works.
“Once the gabion works are completed, backfilling of the road base will be restarted and brought up to the final level. Then the drainage for the actual road will be put in. Provided that the road is handed back over to us in the coming weeks, we estimate another six weeks before the road will be completed, barring weather or unforeseen delays,” he said.
The next phase of construction involves building two catch pits to improve drainage, addressing longstanding flooding and erosion challenges along this critical stretch of Highway 3A, which links Sugar Hill, St Joseph,
to Richmond Road, St Thomas.
Layne’s Bridge, originally constructed more than 100 years ago from limestone, served as both a retaining structure and culvert crossing a natural watercourse. However, the bridge was closed about two years ago after significant deterioration on its upstream, northern side rendered it unsafe for motorists.
Due to the extensive deterioration, crews excavated the entire roadway, including the original gabions. In some areas, workers had to dig as deep as nine metres to remove unstable mud before rebuilding with new gabion baskets for reinforced stability.
Layne’s Bridge is one of 16 active construction sites under the MTW’s Scotland District Road Rehabilitation Project. The overall work is led by the China National Complete Plant Import and Export Corporation (COMPLANT), in collaboration with Barbadian contractors, artisans, and engineers from Infra Construction Inc., which is serving as a subcontractor.
(CS/PR)
