Laynes Bridge Construction Set to Begin June 24 as Part of Scotland District Road Rehabilitation Project

The Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW) has announced that construction on the Laynes Bridge will commence on Monday, June 24, 2024. This project is part of the ongoing Scotland District Road Rehabilitation Programme.

Deputy Chief Technical Officer of Projects at MTW, Dave Scantlebury, provided details on the upcoming work. Laynes Bridge, located on Highway 3A between Sugar Hill, St. Joseph, and Richmond Road, St. Thomas, is an over 100-year-old limestone structure with a small culvert. It has been suffering from significant deterioration, particularly on the northern side which bears the brunt of storm water flow during heavy rains.

“It is over 100 years old and was built with limestone. It crosses a natural water course. The upstream or northern side takes the full force of storm water which flows downstream during heavy rainfall. This side of the retaining structure is therefore deteriorating and as a result, MTW will be repairing Laynes Bridge using COMPLANT under the Scotland District Road Rehabilitation Programme. A gabion retaining wall will be built to strengthen the existing retaining structure. The COMPLANT team has engaged the services of Infra Inc. to construct the stone base and execute the other roadworks. MTW will contract workers to construct the gabion retaining wall on the upstream side of the watercourse,” explained Scantlebury.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Works, Santia Bradshaw, highlighted the urgency of the project. Although initially scheduled for the second phase of the Scotland District Road Rehabilitation Project (SDRRP), recent damage necessitated immediate action.

“Laynes Bridge was initially not amongst the priority bridges in the SDRRP. It is a raised retaining structure with a small culvert and it would have been repaired during work planned for the rehabilitation of Highway 3A in the second phase of the project. However, the retaining structure was compromised due to heavy rains in particular last year, and we took the immediate decision to have COMPLANT focus on designs for this area. The upcoming works will focus on preserving the integrity of the retaining structure but work on the actual road along Highway 3A will follow after other ongoing works have been completed,” she said.

Minister Bradshaw also mentioned that attention is being directed towards other critical areas such as Spa Hill, Mose Bottom, and Melvin Hill, which were initially slated for later phases.

“Despite that significant progress being made on designs for a number of the roads under the Scotland District project, the soil condition and the topography of the Scotland District coupled with the increased intensity of rainfall due to climate change, has caused us at times to have to reprioritized roads which were originally scheduled under the second or third phases of the project. So apart from Laynes Bridge, we also had to focus our attention on improving and getting designs ready for areas like Spa Hill, Mose Bottom, and Melvin Hill which were not originally on the first phase of the project,” she added.

Ongoing road rehabilitation under the SDRRP includes works at Animal Flower Cave Road, Jemmotts Road, and Chance Hill in St. Lucy; Reece Road in St. Thomas; Glenburnie in St. John; Vaughns Road No. 2 in St. Joseph; and White Hill, Kings Street, and Coggins Hill in St. Andrew.

To facilitate the construction, Laynes Bridge will be closed for approximately six months starting June 24, pending weather conditions or unforeseen circumstances. Road users will need to detour via Sugar Hill, St. Joseph, and Richmond Road, St. Thomas. (SP/MTWW)