Century-old Woodsville bridge collapses in Hanover
Published:Monday | April 10, 2023 | 12:25 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The over 100-year-old Woodsville bridge in eastern Hanover has collapsed, a year after the compromised structure was ordered closed by the National Works Agency, sparking fury among residents of several communities who were forced to find longer, more expensive routes for commuting.
The bridge, which served as a connecting point between the districts of Woodsville, Flower Hill, and Hillsbrook, was located along the main thoroughfare for persons travelling to Montego Bay, St James; Lucea, Hanover; and Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, from these communities daily for work or school.
After being ordered closed a year ago, many pedestrians and motorcyclists defied the orders and still used the structure, complaining that the alternative routes were too costly or time-consuming.
Devon Brown, councillor for the Hopewell division in which Woodsville falls, told The Gleaner that the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC) did all it could to effect repairs to the bridge, although repairing or replacing the bridge is the responsibility of the National Works Agency (NWA).
“I know we (the HMC) have sent off all the documents to the Ministry [of Local Government] that were requested of us, so it’s just to do some amount of follow-up,” said Brown, explaining their interactions with the authorities.
He explained that the documents include assessments of the extent of the then damage to the bridge, along with supporting photographs.
He said that the HMC will have to wait to see if the Ministry of Finance will allocate funding to address the situation.
The bridge first began to show signs of serious structural compromise in April 2022, following bouts of heavy rains across Hanover. At the time, sections of the roadway approaching the bridge, along with the abutment to the bridge, collapsed into the river below.
On Good Friday, a year after the closure, the structure totally collapsed.
Hanover Eastern Member of Parliament Dave Brown said that he was aware of the collapse of the structure when The Gleaner reached out to him.
He added that the NWA had recently done an assessment of the condition of the bridge.
“I am waiting for the NWA to share their thoughts about where they are with regards to that bridge. I would have to check again now that the bridge has fallen apart, to see where they are with it, but I would not be able to speak to it fully before Tuesday, mainly because of the holidays now,” he told The Gleaner.
Residents of the affected communities expressed disappointment that the authorities waited until the complete collapse of the bridge to take any serious steps to repair it and restore the normal route after months of inconvenience.