Plans Advanced for New Woodsville Bridge

Plans are advanced for the replacement of the Woodsville Bridge in Hanover.

The structure, which also serves the communities of Flower Hill and Hillsbrook, collapsed recently.

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Hon. Everald Warmington, told journalists that the National Works Agency (NWA) is assisting the Hanover Municipal Corporation with the “design and scoping” of a new bridge.

“That bridge belongs to the Hanover Municipal Corporation [but] the NWA has been working with the [Corporation],” said Mr. Warmington, who was speaking following a tour of sections of Westmoreland on Wednesday (April 12).

“When that is done, it will be presented to the Municipal Corporation for them to finance the project itself, but it is well advanced in the designing and so on,” he added.

Mr. Warmington noted that central Government is responsible for some 800 bridges across the country and is working to repair and renovate these critical structures for the benefit of citizens.

In the meantime, Manager of Communication and Customer Services at the National Works Agency (NWA), Stephen Shaw, indicated that an assessment of the bridge was done last year and was ordered closed due to its dilapidated state.

“We actually assisted in closing it but, of course, some persons from the communities went and removed the impediments, and they were using the structure against our own directives and advice,” said Mr. Shaw.

“Now, we have seen what has happened the last week or so. We have decided that we are going to be giving technical assistance to the Hanover Municipal Corporation as we do with all the other corporations across the country when it comes to these structures,” he added.