MANDEVILLE, Manchester:

Thieves have made off with guard rails on an overhead bridge on the heavily travelled Knock-patrick to Newport main road.

The bridge, which overpasses one of Alpart's major haul roads, was built by the company several years ago and handed over to the National Works Agency (NWA).

It is believed that the thieves removed sections of the heavy metal rails early Tuesday morning. When The Gleaner visited the scene, a side of the rail, approximately 20 feet long, and half of the other side were missing. The rails protected motorists, pedestrians and animals from falling on to the haul road nearly 50 feet below.

Common practice

NWA Communications Officer Havenol Douglas told The Gleaner it has become a practice for thieves to remove sections of rails on a number of bridges in St Catherine and Clarendon, but this was the first reported case in Manchester.

The rails will more than likely go to the scrap metal industry, a problem Minister of Finance Audley Shaw has attempted to fix in the past.

Douglas said she could not put a dollar figure on the loss at this time, or say when a new one would be put in place.

She is imploring persons using that section of the road to be extremely careful until repairs can be effected.