RESIDENTS of Ramble in St Thomas are calling on the National Works Agency (NWA) to quickly repair the Shooting River Bridge which was closed last week following a demonstration to protest the condition of the structure.

However, the works agency said there is no timeline just now for the repairs to be done, as it will cost significantly more than the near $2 million it initially estimated.

The residents said the wooden planks on the bridge would not have rotted out in several places had the structure been maintained regularly.

“All it need was for them to remove the rotten boards and replace them with new ones before it get to this stage, but is years now dem don’t do nutten to it,” said resident Hylton Grant.

However, despite the condition of the bridge, some residents are still braving the weakened structure to access the neighbouring Cedar Valley community.

“The other day a baby mother was walking across and she buck har toe right where some of the board rotten out, and is she and the baby spread out here on the bridge,” said a resident who identified herself as Neriga Morgan.

According to the residents, the bridge should not have been allowed to fall into disrepair since it is the major route linking Ramble to other communities such as Cedar Valley.

“A lot of motorists come there and turn back because them too scared to travel over it,” said Edgar Pasley. “You know how much bike riders get stuck on there and drop off them bike.”

He explained that recently a fire truck on its way to a burning house was forced to turn back as the firemen were not willing to cross the weakened structure.

Meanwhile, the NWA said it opted to close the bridge because several pieces of the wooden planks which form the driving surface of the structure have been removed.

Manager, communication and customer, Services at NWA, Stephen Shaw, said the bridge, which is located along the main road from Llandewey to Windsor Forest, was recently inspected by a technical team and that plans were being made to have some of the wooden planks replaced.

However, following the protest, Shaw said it was discovered that several of the wooden planks had been removed, making the structure inaccessible to motorists and pedestrians.

— Ingrid Brown