Ministry of Transport & Works
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Work on Palisadoes Strip to Continue
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KINGSTON (JIS):
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
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Work on the Palisadoes Strip to secure the roadway from flooding is scheduled to continue over the next three months.
Communication and Customer Service Manager at the National Works Agency (NWA), Stephen Shaw told JIS News that members of the team, who work everyday, have been working on the roadway since March.
The NWA, he said, has been making steady progress. "We started the work to shore up the area that we designated as most exposed and we had done roughly about 109 metres of the 3,000 metres that were identified. Now we have gone ahead and we have completed the additional work that was needed in this particular location," he said.
There are five problem points/areas along the Palisadoes Strip that are always being infiltrated by water and according to Mr. Shaw, they have now moved on to another area along the peninsula, where "over 400 metres of this area has been exposed as a result of the many hurricane and flood conditions that the area has experienced over time."
The NWA is engaged in revetment work on the strip, which involves the placing and packing of stones/rocks in such a way that it absorbs the energy of the incoming water, thus preserving the sidewalks and offering protection. "We're using huge boulders.putting down roughly 50 tonnes of boulders along the corridor," he said, adding that the rock revetment work is part of the agreement [to] protect the corridor from wave action.
Mr. Shaw pointed out that the current work being done on the strip is the best option at this time. Based on the recommendations by local technocrats, which coincide with those of the Cuban engineers, "we are looking at mitigating the impact of wave action," he pointed out.
The remedial work being done on the strip is a sub-project of the Cuban project, which is a huge road repair project that will be implemented over several phases. The Cuban project, which was started on a relatively small section of the Palisadoes Strip, involves the use of large boulders to create a manmade barrier to protect the roadway from the high tides.
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