Flood-prone Ballast Bay road to be repaired before hurricane season

Despite a week-and-a-half’s delay in road repairs in the flood-prone area of Ballast Bay, the contractor on the project — FDL Consult Incorporated — said the works should be completed before the next hurricane season.

The project encountered a hitch because workers had to relocate pre-existing utility lines and piping that was hindering the works.

But when Transportation & Works Minister Kye Rymer went for a site visit recently, FDL Consult’s Solange Cooper said the project is anticipated to finish “ahead of [its June19] schedule”.

The Ballast Bay thoroughfare where the works are being done is reportedly known for having a narrow roadway that can fit only one vehicle at some sections.

It is also known to cause severe flooding because of a major slope failure and a old culvert (open drains under a road) that had an insufficient capacity to handle water run-offs.

But the new designs for the area have created an expanded roadway as well as bigger culvert that is 10 metres wide and about four metres high.

“You can literally walk through it. It’s that big. So there is more than enough capacity to handle a one-in-one hundred-year event,” Cooper explained.

The road is also being reinforced with a with steel matting, a concrete sub-surface, and an asphalt overlay. CEO of the Recovery & Development Agency Anthony McMaster said this new standard for building roads in the territory is projected to give “a much more durable road that can last many, many decades”.

In the meantime, the project also involves demolishing and reconstructing a pre-existing retaining wall with the addition of a drainage. This leg of the works is roughly 75 percent complete.