Demerara Harbour Bridge | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 6°46′19″N 58°11′15″W / 6.771916°N 58.18744°W |
Carries | Cars, pedestrians |
Crosses | Demerara River |
Locale | Peter's Hall (Georgetown) to Schoon Ord |
Characteristics | |
Design | Pontoon bridge |
Total length | 7,000 metres (23,000 ft) |
Height | 7.9 metres (26 ft) |
History | |
Opened | 2 July 1978 |
Location | |
The Demerara Harbour Bridge is a 6,074-foot (1,851 m) long floating toll bridge. It was commissioned on 2 July 1978.[1] The bridge crosses the Demerara River 4 miles (6.4 km) south of the Guyanese capital Georgetown, from Peter's Hall, Demerara-Mahaica, East Bank Demerara to Schoon Ord, Essequibo Islands-West Demerara, West Bank Demerara. There is a pedestrian footwalk. A raised section lets small vessels pass under. A retractor span lets large vessels pass.
The bridge has 61 spans. A high-level span provides a horizontal clearance of 32.0 metres (105.0 feet) and a vertical clearance of 7.9 metres (26 feet) to let small craft pass at all times. To let large craft pass, two retractor spans retract fully once per day[2] to leave a horizontal clearance of 77.4 metres (254 feet).
The number vehicles transiting per day was approximately 9,000 in 2015,[1] and 14,000 as of 2017[update].[3]
Although the bridge was designed to last ten years, it has been so successful that it has inspired the Berbice Bridge, completed in 2008.