It happens almost every year. Heavy rains, either from an upper level trough, tropical storm or hurricane, cause the Rio Cobre to overflow its banks, making the drive through the Bog Walk Gorge dangerous and, more often than not, destroying sections of the road.

The upshot is that the Government has to allocate millions of dollars to repair the road which, some people have consistently argued, should be closed, given the danger associated with using it during times of disaster.

The heavy and consistent rains that have pelted the island for most of last month and up to yesterday have again placed the Bog Walk Gorge under the glare of public scrutiny, as on more than one occasion throughout the month, the authorities had to advise motorists not to use the road, which, after one episode of heavy showers in October, was blocked by sand, rocks and other debris.

The Ministry of Transport and Works estimates that $20 million has been spent on repairing the Bog Walk Gorge within the past three or four years. That translates into $6.6 million per year over the three-year period or $5 million for each of the four years.

“They don’t have that [the exact amount spent] quantified, but the combined estimate from the permanent secretary, the National Works Agency (NWA) and the chief financial officer is $20 million, and you can’t get a better collaboration than that,” the transport ministry’s press secretary Reginald Allen told the Sunday Observer.

That amount, he said, was used for remedial work and did not include major resurfacing of the gorge road carried out approximately four years ago.

“The entire gorge road was resurfaced about four years ago where we widened some areas to ensure the smooth flow of traffic, but that was not in it [the $20 million],” he said.

When the Sunday Observer tried to get the repair figures from the NWA, Communications Manager Stephen Shaw said: “That requires some digging, and I don’t even know where to start. The agency is only five years old and we’ve gone through many changes.”

He promised to try to get the information but said he couldn’t guarantee how long it would take.

Notwithstanding, endorsement documents published by the National Contracts Commission (NCC) in 2006 indicate that almost $30 million was earmarked to be spent on emergency road repairs in the gorge for last year alone.

An entry dated March 8, 2006 stated that a contract to Nakash Construction & Equipment Ltd valued at $14,401,604.25 for “emergency road works, Bog Walk Gorge, St Catherine [and] to desilt the Rio Cobre” under the PetroCaribe/Special Flood Damage Road Programme was endorsed by the Commission.

On September 6, 2006, the NCC endorsed another contract for “special flood damage rehabilitation road works” in the gorge. It was valued at $15 million flat and was awarded to Pavement & Structures Ltd.

In July 2005, a similar contract under the works ministry’s Mabey and Johnson Priority Bridge Programme for repairs to the Flat Bridge was endorsed. It was valued at $7 million.

Assuming that those works were carried out at the above rates, the monies spent on repair work in the gorge between 2005 and 2006 amount to just over $36 million.

Last year, the NWA closed the road over a three-day period in March to repair the piers at the west end of the Flat Bridge and to repair the road itself.

In 2004, the road was ordered closed at least twice on account of damage sustained from Hurricane Ivan in September and from heavy rains in December.

Last month, as heavy rains pelted the island, at least 50 people were trapped in the gorge and flood waters washed away several vehicles, as well as parts of the road structure. The trapped travellers were eventually rescued by Jamaica Defence Force soldiers using helicopters.

The frequency of repairs to the gorge road and the danger faced by motorists travelling through it have resulted in calls for a long-term sustainable solution to the problem.

One person who has long voiced concern about the road is urban planner Eran Spiro, who suggested that a dam be constructed in the gorge.

“What we should do is dam the gorge and put hydroelectric turbines inside and create a lake,” he told the Sunday Observer. “We’d have to remove all the people and the train tracks from there, but if we make a lake we can have water for future generations. And it is environmentally safe.”

Spiro also recommended the installation of alarms and automatic barriers, similar to those used for trains, to eliminate the threat of drowning for motorists who often get trapped by the Rio Cobre’s angry flood waters.

“When the Met Office announces a flash flood warning, the gate closes so motorists can’t cross and foolishly try to race the water,” he said, suggesting that one of the bars be erected in Bog Walk and the other be placed in the vicinity of the G C Foster College, just outside Spanish Town.

Spiro said he has been making these recommendations from as early as the 1970s when he worked in the Town Planning Department and again when he was at the Jamaica National Investment Company.

“You need to have a will,” he said, putting forward a reason why his suggestions were not taken.

In the 1980s, then Prime Minister Edward Seaga suggested that the gorge be transformed into a reservoir from which water could be channelled to the surrounding communities of St Catherine, which are affected by a shortage of water. The reservoir, he said, would be a better solution than constructing a dam.

But for now, other than the Spanish Town to Ocho Rios leg of Highway 2000, there is no definite plan indicating how the gorge will be treated.

“The gorge will be addressed in the mid-term, that is the new financial year when we finalise the financing package for the highway to be built from Ocho Rios to Spanish Town,” minister of transport and works, Mike Henry, told the Sunday Observer.

“The gorge is part of the whole Spanish Town to Ocho Rios toll road. We’ve already started the Mount Rosser end, but the financing for that whole area has not been finalised for the contract to be signed. If we start from the Spanish Town end, we’re supposed to bypass the gorge. We’re therefore looking at the alignment,” Henry said.

According to the transport ministry’s Allen: “What we have not found technically sound is to alter the bridge because of the logistics in the gorge. We can’t add rails because it will be a safety hazard and vehicles will not be able to pass freely.”

“The gorge will remain as an acceptable alternative to the highway,” he added. “We will have to maintain it at an acceptable standard [which means] we will have to rehabilitate it as necessary.

The Jamaica Library website states that a road was first opened through the gorge in about 1770 to facilitate horse-drawn carriages and buggies journeying between the capital of the day and the areas in and around Bog Walk. The bridge, which was crafted by the Spaniards who occupied Jamaica at the time, was originally constructed of logs, but according to the site, they washed away in a flood.