The Fiji Roads Authority confirms that the strengthening work of the Tamavua-i-Wai bridge is underway and this involves technical design and physical work.
FRA’s Acting Chief Executive Officer, Rory Garland says they are committed to getting these repairs done as quickly as possible.
Garland says most of the work is being carried out on a pontoon underneath the bridge and is not visible from the road.
He says there is also much off‑site preparatory work being done including sourcing, cutting and fabricating the replacement parts.
Garland says there are engineers in offices, steel workers in workshops, contractors on site, and traffic control operators on the roads – all being coordinated and working at the same time.
He says the FRA appreciates the inconvenience and delays that are being caused and so are not holding back any resources on this.
However there would come a point where too many people would create confusion and may end up creating mistakes or causing further delays, so the FRA has to get the balance right for the most efficient and effective team to get this job done quickly.
One lane of the bridge is closed until the end of this month and the FRA has imposed a 18 tonne weight restriction for vehicles.
We will have more later today.
