HANOVER, Jamaica — The Woodsville Bridge that abuts the Cascade main road in Eastern Hanover is closed effective immediately.

The announcement was made by the National Works Agency (NWA) which said the decision was made due to a severely eroded abutment.

In a release, Community Relations Officer for the NWA’s Western Region, Janel Ricketts, says that the abutment to the bridge has been compromised, and the structure is now unsafe to be used.

The bridge facilitates travel from the Cascade community onto the Woodsville parochial road.

In the interim, Ricketts says that residents of Woodsville, who wish to access the community of Flower Hill and its environs, may use the alternative route via Pondside and Cascade. Similarly, commuters travelling from the direction of Flower Hill or Cascade, towards the Woodsville community, should travel via the Pondside community.

The compromised bridge abutment is among the damage to infrastructure caused by heavy rains earlier this week. The rains have also left the main road into Lucea impassable, due to floodwaters from the Riley River.

The NWA says it is now moving to commence the clearing of heavy debris from beneath the Riley Bridge.

The heavy deposit of bamboo brought down by the floodwaters was the main contributor to the flooding of the roadway, which links Negril, Westmoreland to Montego Bay, St James.