Opening times to remain twice a day for maritime traffic with the exception of November 15; Improvement and Beautification work start November 16
Bridge repair and maintenance works scheduled to be completed November 14 have been extended to Thursday, November 19 which will mean only two bridge openings for maritime traffic at 6.30am and 6.00pm for outbound and inbound movement of vessels, Simpson Bay Lagoon Authority Corporation Managing Director Russell Voges announced on Friday.
Only for this Sunday, November 15 there will be three regular openings of 9.30am, 11.30am and 5.30pm for outbound and inbound maritime traffic.
The Infrastructure at the Simpson Bay Bridge will also be upgraded as part of an improvement and beautification project of the Simpson Bay Bridge and its surrounding area starting Monday November 16 and to conclude by December 10.
The works consist of resurfacing the road, constructing new walkways, building new pedestrian crossings and installing new street lights.
On each side of the bridge the road surface will be replaced with a new layer of asphalt. For proper installation the existing asphalt will be removed by milling. These works will be executed during the evening hours to minimize the hinder to vehicular traffic.
During the day the existing guard rails will be replaced in order to provide space for the construction of sidewalks for pedestrians. The new sidewalks will be paved with red pavers. For further beautification new street lights will be installed.
To increase vehicular traffic safety and security new stop lights have been installed to indicate if the bridge is open or if the traffic has to stop for a bridge opening.
Once completed, the area will have a nicer appeal to both the maritime sector and the general public and will be safer for pedestrians to walk alongside and cross this very busy road.
Windward Roads Infrastructure NV will carry out the improvements of the bridge infrastructure, while ICE NV is in charge of the supervision. The coordination of the project is being carried out HISMAR NV.
Motorists and pedestrians are advised to pay extra attention while crossing the bridge during these civic works.
The Simpson Bay Lagoon Authority would like to thank the public and mariners for their cooperation to date and apologizes for any inconvenience caused by these activities.
The maintenance works which started on November 6 entails the strengthening of two main girders and subsequent conservation of the structure; the repair of the bridge fenders; the finalization of the electrical circuits and the standardizing of the traffic lights for maritime and vehicular traffic.
The contractor that is carrying out the maintenance works is Hofman Sliedrecht NV.
The inspectors of Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch Authority on bridges and waterworks will report to the Lagoon Authority on the condition of the bridge after all the improvements have been finalized.