Liberia: “No Need to Panic Over St. John River Bridge Crack”

— Says Public Works Minister

Panic has stricken the people of Grand Bassa County, especially travelers along the Monrovia-Buchanan highway, ever since reports over the deplorable state of the St. John River bridge, which links the county to the Margibi and Montserrado counties.

But the Minister of Public Works Ruth Coker Collin, has however, urged the people of Bassa and others to maintain their composure as a team of engineers has been sent to Grand Bassa to investigate the sudden crack in the St. John River bridge.

"We encourage the citizens of Grand Bassa County, in fact, the entire country, to be calm. Our team of engineers has been dispatched," Collin said.

The St. John Bridge is one of the country's largest that connects Grand Bassa to other counties. Allegedly, over the weekend citizens and county officials saw cracks in the bridge and immediately contacted the ministry of public works to quickly intervene to prevent casualty.

Collins attributed the cracks to the long lifespan of the bridge that weakened the bearings. The minister later declared that no heavy vehicle will be allowed to drive on the Bridge.

"We just got the information that our people are panicking because of the bridge so we just thought of giving a quick update on what is happening. From photos we have seen around, the bearing burst."

Bridge bearing ensures adequate mutual connections of different parts of a bridge, allowing the transfer of vehicular and external loads from the superstructure down to the substructure. Grand Bassa is one of the largest and crossroads for travelers to and from the southeastern region.

The bridge has over the years benefited citizens in these regions economically. Business and concession companies may face a setback due to the problem with the bridge. However, the public works minister described it as an emergency and said the issue would be addressed within a couple of months.

"Of course it is an emergency but we cannot cut off the entire movement of vehicles. We encourage smaller vehicles to ply. We will work along with the Justice Ministry to stop heavy vehicles on that corridor."

One of the six main rivers in Liberia, the St. John River, runs through Grand Bassa County and originates along the Nimba Range from Guinea. Its total length is 282km. The river (whose basin drains 6,650 square miles or 17,220 square km in Liberia and Guinea) is so named because it was discovered on the feast day of St. John by 15th-century Portuguese navigators.

Joining Collins, Deputy Minister Amos Y. Barclay supported his boss and claimed that the crack was a result of the weak bearing.

He said "there is no need to panic. We have observed that the bearing burst."

According to him, since they have identified that the bearings have burst, they are working with partners to import new bearings.

"We are also figuring out how we can get new bearings in the country. We have to jack it and be able to put in the new ones. but the fact remains that there must be some load restrictions."

"We don't know at what point it may go when other people start to carry more load so we will look at the Ministry of Justice. But we should remain calm. We have technicians that will resolve the problem," he assured.

Commuters with heavy loads will have to use canoes or ferries which might be risky to them.