Tendai Franklyn-Brown, Staff Reporter

Thousands of people from eastern Jamaica make their way across the pedestrian section of the Bailey bridge in Harbour View, St Andrew after it was opened yesterday. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

Minister of Transport Mike Henry says the rebuilding of the Hope River bridge is expected to take up to 24 months.

"We are mid-hurricane season, and establishing a new bridge will take up to 24 months, so we need to check the weight levels of vehicles, to determine whether a JUTC (Jamaica Urban Transit Company) bus, fully loaded, can cross," Henry told The Gleaner at the opening of the pedestrian section of the temporary structure in Harbour View, St Andrew yesterday.

Thousands of people marooned on the eastern side of the Hope River bridge, part of which collapsed during the passage of Tropical Storm Gustav last week, crossed the Bailey bridge to the western side yesterday afternoon.

Henry said the safe assembling of the Bailey bridge was critical, hence the delay.

Nervous

People waited on either side of the Harbour View bridge from as early as 6 a.m. while the safety rail was fixed on the pedestrian section of the structure. Filled with trepidation, as the bridge swung under the weight of pedestrians, some who had not braved the alternative route through Hope River, conveyed their relief once they crossed.

Karleene Harris, a resident of Bull Bay, St Thomas, told The Gleaner she felt reassured once she got across the bridge which, she said, was a nerve-wracking experience.

Errol Thompson, a teacher at Pembroke Hall High School, St Andrew, walked across the bridge after being stranded in Morant Bay, St Thomas for five days.

"Morant Bay has no food, no gas and I wasn't going to walk through water," he said. "I tell you the last few days have been hell."

tendai.franklyn-brown@gleanerjm.com