SANTO DOMINGO- The Ministry of Public Works and Communications announced this Tuesday that it will proceed to urgently enable a temporary passage in the vicinity of the bridge that collapsed over the Maguá River, which connects the municipality of Consuelo with various sugarcane communities in the provinces of San Pedro de Macorís and Hato Mayor.
The Deputy Minister of Road Infrastructure, Elías Santana, explained that the bridge has already been awarded, because it had been put out to tender.
“The bridge project has already been awarded, following a recent bidding process. We will be awarding the contracts to deliver the necessary progress for its construction as soon as possible,” he emphasized.
He added that it will no longer be a temporary step, but a permanent bridge with all the features required by a structure of that category and nature.
“We, anticipating the conditions of the bridge (which had collapsed during Hurricane Georges, 24 years ago), put it through a bidding process for its construction,” he stated.
He indicated that the MOPC will see if the contract can be awarded so that the contractor can make a temporary detour while the new bridge is being built.
“Since 1998 there had been a temporary crossing, and what existed from then until now was the temporary crossing that had been built,” he said.
Santana explained that this structure over the Higuamo River was the bridge through which the sugarcane that was transported to the Consuelo sugar mill crossed, coming from different places when that factory was in operation.
“Precisely when the bridge collapsed, a flatbed truck loaded with sugarcane was passing by,” he stated.
The communities connected by the bridge are Consuelo, Monte Coca, El Bote, La Mora, La Construcción, Barrancón, El Botecito, La Jagua, La Plaza, Bejucal, and the bateyes Las Pajas, Tabacón, Altagracia, Doña Ana, Anita, Isabel and Cambalache.
