River erosion collapses road at Mile 7 ½, Northern Highway
Posted: 23/01/2007 - 12:49 PM
Author: Anita Nembhard
It had been in the making for years, and last Thursday afternoon a portion of the Northern Highway at Mile 7 ½, collapsed, bringing traffic on the narrow roadway to a halt. Luckily, there were no reports of injury to drivers. The section of the road that collapsed is on the Belize Old River’s edge, which would affect traffic coming from the north, into Belize City.
Late Saturday evening the immediate problem was finally fixed after two days of intense work by the Ministry of Works.
This evening Amandala spoke with the CEO of the Ministry of Works, Dr. Michael Tewes, who told us that the Government of Belize apologizes to the country for the inconveniences that may have been caused during the time they were conducting repairs in the area.
He claimed, however, that commuters can rest assured that the road is much safer than it was before.
But what caused the problem, and could it have been avoided, we asked Dr. Tewes.
He said that the problem was caused by erosion from the Belize River, which eventually ate out the ground underneath the road.
According to Dr. Tewes, because of the rainy season this year the river’s level remained high. He further commented that the strong current helped with the erosion, which eventually washed away the highway’s retaining wall.
Before Saturday the walls at Mile 7 ½ had been filled with wooden piles, but on Saturday, cement piles were used, which should last longer than the 7-year-old wooden piles, said Dr. Tewes.
But could the problem that the GOB was faced with over the last two days been avoided?
Yes, said Dr. Tewes, because they foresaw the problem and had a plan in place, but because of the continuing rains they had to wait.
According to Dr. Tewes the Works Ministry is now looking at different areas of the highway that could experience similar erosion, and measures are in place to deal with the problem.
On Friday Amandala visited the area, where we spoke with some trapped motorists. The one lane open had to serve motorists going into and out of Belize City. That stretch of the Northern Highway is normally very busy, as it links the city to the Philip Goldson International Airport, the surrounding villages and the north of the country.
Traffic had to be let through at intervals, because workmen and their heavy equipment had to use the one remaining lane to work on the damaged portion of the road.
One taxi driver said he lost two American tourists to another taxi operator because he could not continue his journey into the city.
Some workers said they had to call in late, hoping that their boss would understand the situation.
Others complained of the cost to their pockets having to turn back and go west, through Burrell Boom and Hattieville. While some could have afforded to do this, others could not, and just had to wait in the long line. Some commuters even got off buses and walked across to the other side of the roadblock, hoping to get a ride to town.
According to Dr. Tewes, there were times when the commuters would attempt to come through the area when the men were at work, creating problems.
But with the collaboration of the Belize Police Department and Belize Traffic Department, Dr. Tewes said, they managed to work on the area for about one hour at a time, then allowed commuters to pass.
This was the system in place until the work was completed, said Dr. Tewes.
The cost for repairing the highway is estimated to be about $25,000.
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