In 1970 Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel had put together a song called – Like a Bridge over Troubled Waters, which became a hit and has remained as one of the classics of that era. The Bible speaks of a crippled man who sat for 38 years waiting for the angel to come down to trouble the water so that he can receive his healing. He missed every opportunity because someone else went in before him until Jesus came and he received his miracle. So for 2000 years or more we have understood the phrase – Troubled Waters. It has been etched in our spiritual lives.
Within recent months we have now come to an understanding of the phrase –Troubled Bridges. We first had the Bonne Terre Bridge, built as four lanes with an alignment that now suggests that the new Hotel being constructed will be affected if the road is so widened. Both the horizontal and vertical alignments are wrong, the support structures for the earthen embankment were also not constructed. You cannot choose the location of a four lane bridge which is to be connected to a future expanded network, without determination of how that expanded network will interface with the bridge structure.
CONCLUSION: BONNE TERRE BRIDGE – TROUBLED BRIDGE
Then as we travel lower down the road we meet the Bois D’Orange Bridge, which for months have been stalled. Maybe the contractor is awaiting the rains as part of an advanced research project to determine the ability of ductile water pipes to withstand hydraulic forces. One continues to pray for the hotel sector and my dear friends that live in the North, that the works will be completed before the heavy rains, and that there is no disruption in their water supply. The project will not be completed on schedule. I am still confused as to the engineering reasons for the move away from gabion baskets to these concrete units, and the fanciful rock placement to act as rip-rap.
I have particular difficulty as a registered professional civil engineer, as President of the Association of Professional Engineers of St Lucia, as a Graduate of the University of the West Indies, as a Caribbean national, as a St. Lucian Citizen, as an anti-colonialist – that the Government of St. Lucia asked the US Corps of Engineers to review the Bois D’Orange Bridge design.
St Lucia boasts of one of the finest Bridge Engineers in the Caribbean in Mr. Pat Brown, who was recently recognized by the Engineering fraternity for his outstanding contribution to the profession. Pat Brown designed the Castries Bridge that joins the Morne Road to Manoel Street. It was Pat Brown who designed the Rosseau Bridge, which is more than twice the span of the Bois D’Orange Bridge. We have many competent engineers within St. Lucia and the Caribbean who could have done this review.
CONCULSION: BOIS D’ORANGE BRIDGE – TROUBLED BRIDGE
Recently we were advised that the formwork collapsed on the Demailley Bridge in the south when the deck was being poured. One is thankful that no lives were lost, however from the photos it appears that bamboo were being used to support the deck, one would hope that I am wrong.
For the ‘non-engineered’ reader the term formwork is used to describe the structure, usually temporary, used to contain poured concrete and to mould it to the required dimensions and support until it is able to support itself.
Since the formwork is a structure, it has to be designed, and thus the more significant issue is whether there was a review of the design of the formwork. From the photos it would appear that under the weight of the concrete the wood supports buckled due to the height and increased weight, and this failure caused a domino effect through the structure.
CONCLUSION ; DEMAILLEY BRIDGE – TROUBLED BRIDGE
Lastly, we have the Grand Riviere Bridge or the ALBA Bridge in Dennery. Work has just started on this and the contractor has mobilized a crane and the piles are being readied for piling. The design of this bridge involves raising the elevation of the bridge by 12 feet above the existing level. So when you reach the Morne Panache Gap by the HRDC you will begin an ascent up a ramp to a height of 12 feet above the existing level of the bridge and then descend back down near the entrance to the school. Let us hope that this does not become a troubled bridge.
All the above issues are engineering issues, they are not political or policy issues. These are matters the local engineering fraternity both in consulting and the contracting field must confront and deal with as a matter of urgency. The issues revolve around design and supervision of works.
I wrote my first song at the age of 10 yr, it never became a hit, maybe a remix – TROUBLED BRIDGES OVER TROUBLED WATERS might win a Grammy. ( with a soca twist).