NWA: rehabilitation of hurricane-damaged roads to start by end of January

Rehabilitation works on several roadways impacted by Hurricane Melissa are slated to start by the end of January, the National Works Agency (NWA) says.

The Government has allocated an initial $5 billion to undertake repairs to sections of the road network damaged during the passage of the Category Five system on October 28.

The programme has been finalised and contractors are now being engaged to execute works across the country, said Stephen Shaw, NWA communications and customer services manager. He was providing an update on post-hurricane activities in an interview with JIS, the government's news agency.

“We are moving to another aspect of the work which is to execute work on the actual corridor to patch, re-seal and to do a little bit of local rehabilitation in some instances. We expect that the activities will start before the end of the month. We have seen where some of the main roads are really in a state of disrepair… and we’ll be moving to try and correct those defects,” Shaw said.

He explained that a portion of the allocation has already been utilised to clear blocked roads, drains, and remove downed trees and utility poles in the aftermath of the hurricane.

Shaw further indicated that rehabilitation activities is being timed with resumption of operations by asphalt mixing plants.

“They normally take a holiday break, and that’s when they tend to carry out maintenance activities on their plants. We are only able to carry out activities to the extent that the asphalt mixing plants are open,” Shaw stated.

He cautioned that commencing preparatory works without adequate asphalt supply could result in sub-base material being washed away by rain, resulting in “big caving holes all over the place.”

Meanwhile, Shaw advised that designs are being finalised for major breakaways, particularly in St James and Trelawny, noting that such works require detailed planning.

He cited the Stettin to Highgate Hall roadway in Trelawny and the Fairfield to Point corridor at Springmount, St James, as examples of major breakaways requiring detailed designs.

Shaw explained that for the Fairfield to Point road, the NWA is working to develop an appropriate design, cost the project, and secure the requisite funding to undertake the much-needed repairs.

He emphasised that major breakaways demand detailed planning and significant resources “and, of course, a lot more time to execute the work.”

- JIS News

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