Sand mining, overweight vehicles causing erosion along Linden Highway
Excessive weight from vehicular traffic and the mining of sand close to the Linden-Soesdyke Highway are the main contributing factors to the soil erosion along the road, which has led to the speed limit being reduced from 100km/h to 80km/h.
The negative effects of sand mining over the years are now becoming apparent with large depressions forming along stretches of the road. As a result of this, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has reduced the speed limit in a bid to encourage safe driving.
“Due to the current condition of sections of the Linden Highway due to erosion of the soil, a decision was taken to have the speed limit on the Highway reduced from 100km to 80km with immediate effect, in the interest of road safety,” a statement from the GPF said on Thursday.
Along the 45 miles of road, drivers have said there is evidence of depressions at several points making it impossible for commuters to enjoy a smooth drive. Some of the most affected areas are around the turns on the road and despite recapping, drivers told Stabroek News that the road is still uneven.
One of the deepest depressions is located in the vicinity of the Splashmin’s Fun Park, but during a visit to the area, it was observed that this did not prevent drivers from swiftly driving over it.
The drive on the highway feels as if one is cruising on waves due to its unevenness.
Chief Works Officer at the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Geoffrey Vaughn yesterday told Stabroek News that under the new budget for the year, they will advertise for tenders for the rehabilitation and upgrading of the road, which is used by thousands of commuters to access Linden and the wider hinterland.
He related that in 2019, a feasibility study and design was completed by Trinidadian Company Beston Consultancy in collaboration with SRKN’gineering. The project lasted 10 months and at the completion, the firm submitted a design for the upgrading of the road. The design, Vaughn said, includes a plan to address the erosion of soil from the supporting foundation of the road.
A report from the Department of Public Information said the feasibility study cost $207 million and the rehabilitation will cover 42 miles of road. The project will also include the construction of a new Mackenzie Bridge and energy efficient lights will be installed.
Bobby, a driver who operates along the road every day, said short drop car drivers
are the ones who experience the effects of the road and they have to be careful when plying their trade.
He explained that a person can experience the uneven road from the time the car starts driving at the Soesdyke end all the way to Linden. The driver is of the belief that heavy machinery is what contributed tremendously to the depressions on the road.
“The heavy trucks using [the] road are the ones that contributed to this a lot because when they are bringing logs from the interior there is excess weight...The highway wasn’t built to take this kind of weight,” he said, before acknowledging that the extraction of large volumes of sand from the areas close to the road have also undermined the foundation of the thoroughfare.
“The sand being dug out from the mines have undermined the foundation and those are deep mines and that contributed a lot. They weren’t seeing the effects then but now we are experiencing it and we have to deal with it. It is throughout the length of the road it is uneven,” the driver explained.
He said that in the rehabilitation of the road, there should be three lanes; a fast lane, slow lane and one to cater for heavy machinery.
The highway was constructed in 1969 and links the bauxite mining region to the capital. However, since its construction, no major rehabilitation work has been done.