The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

MORE than $3 million is needed to complete work on several roads in New Providence, announced Works Minister Philip “Brave” Davis yesterday.

According to Mr Davis, a team of consultants recently determined that several push-fit elbows which are connected to pre-existing water mains have failed resulting in underground water leakage.

He told parliamentarians that taxpayers have now to shell out an estimated $3.3 to $3.8 million not only for officials to run a series of corrective measures on the roads that have already cost around $206 million, but to reinstate several miles of roads at main carriageways after the elbows are replaced.

Repairs must be made, Mr Davis said, at Baillou Hill Road north, between Wulff Road and Duke Street; Market Street, between Wulff Road to Lewis Street and Robinson Road.

“The Water and Sewage Corporation,” he said, “specified and provided Jose Cartellone Construcciones Civiles (JCCC) with 90 degree three quarter-inch plastic push-fit Talbot elbows for connecting the laterals to the existing mains. JCC installed a total of 214 laterals using the WSC specified elbow.

“To date a total of 19 of these elbows have failed, resulting in water leaks. The failures started to manifest in late 2012. The failed elbows have been replaced and the asphalt road surface patched temporarily.

“Permanent repairs require replacement of pavement and 50 feet on either side of the patch.

“More millions on an already far too expensive project,” he said.

The failed elbows will be replaced on a case by case basis, Mr Davis said.

The consultants further noted in a report that the failures were most likely caused because the elbows were not fit for the purpose in which they were used or that they could have been damaged before installation.

However, opposition leader Dr Hubert Minnis said the previous Ingraham administration, which began the project, could not be blamed for the current leakage problem. He said officials had been advised on which elbow fittings were best.

“Mr Speaker, in his (Mr Davis) opening remarks he said that we were at fault, bad management or whatever. He also said that Water and Sewage supplied these fittings and they met the specifications. They subsequently leaked because of corrosion or chemical irritation and that’s a theory as a result of chlorine. Now what that means is it could have been a factory defect because they were provided by the specialists. 

“That has nothing to do with mismanagement,” Dr Minnis said.