Aging seawall undermines Crabbe Hill road

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photo by Elesha George
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By Elesha George 

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A breach in the seawall along the road in Crabbe Hill has caused disruption to the flow of traffic for motorists travelling the stretch of main road on the south side of the island. 

Head of Roads in the Ministry of Works, Jerod Craig Payne Williams, explained to Observer that the 250-foot wall is over 30 years old and is no longer sturdy enough to prevent water from the nearby beach from compromising the roadway.

Due to the rise in tides, which he believes is brought about by climate change, the wall no longer provides sufficient protection.

“The waves have come up real high; it started to undermine the aging wall. The wall is undermined from the foundation and water is undermining the road also,” he shared. 

A team at the Ministry of Works now have to work to erect a temporary stone wall to maintain the flow of traffic so that motorists and pedestrians can pass safely.

The retaining wall is intended to break the waves long enough for the team to sort out the design and financing of a new wall which is estimated to cost $5-8 million dollars to rebuild.

In the meantime, the advice from the Head of Roads is for travellers to try to keep on the eastern side of the road until the Ministry of Works can source the necessary materials to construct the temporary wall.

On Wednesday, the team received the explosives they will need to blow up the hill at the Bendals quarry in order to get the stones for the wall.

They are hoping to start the extraction process today.  

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