JUST OVER half of the marine dredging and associated works at Hunts Bay has been done, the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) has said.
In addition, work on the access channel to the Sandy Gully below the Railway bridge crossing is 80 per cent complete, while the estuary of the Duhaney River is fully complete, the UDC announced via release.
OVERALL MAINTENANCE
The works are part of the overall maintenance programme for the Sandy Gully and the Hunts Bay estuary.
Since the marine dredging exercise commenced under phase 11 of the project in October 2002, some 986,400 cubic metres of silt have been removed from Hunt's Bay, inclusive of the access channel.
"This has been pumped simultaneously by way of floating PVC pipes to a containment dyke at the Soap Berry lands in St. Catherine," the UDC said.
"The dyke was constructed with a 'spillway', which facilitates the return flows of water to the Hunts Bay estuary via the Rio Cobre River, once the sediments have settled."
This system prevents overflows of the dyke's embankment and eliminates any harmful effect on the environment, said the state development agency.
SILT AND DEBRIS REMOVED
Rehabilitation of the concrete lined portion of the Sandy Gully between the Spanish Town bridge and Riverton was undertaken between September and December 2002. During this first phase of the project, some 250,000 cubic metres of silt and debris were removed from the gully.
The project, which is being executed through contractors WIHCON Infrastructure Limited (WIHCONIL), is aimed at "redefining the outfall channels for Sandy Gully, the Rio Cobre and Duhaney rivers, restore the channels to the required depth and enncourage the growth of marine life, which has been negatively affected by the heavy siltation."
It will also enable Hunt's Bay to play the important role of the containment of silt brought down by these waterways, thus reducing possible flooding upstream and the likely spillage of silt into the adjacent Kingston Harbour, said the UDC.
