Minister of Public Works and Communications, Mr. Anthony Xavier said that liability costs will be sought, taking into consideration the sum to repair the bridge, as well as revenue lost over the two days it was closed.

The logging tug and barge, which crashed into the bridge, belong to the UNAMCO Logging Company.

DHB management kicked in a Disaster Preparedness Plan at around 21:00 hrs Saturday, Acting Project Manager, Mr. Nazrudeen Azeez said yesterday.

He said the time within which it took to fix the bridge should give an indication of how prepared the DHB is to handle such problems.

Minister Xavier said the repairs ran into millions of dollars and he wanted to "really and truly commend the workers of the (DHB) for an exceptional job."

While it was anticipated that only light traffic would be initially allowed when the works were completed, the bridge was reopened to crossing by all types of vehicles.

Temporary works were done to the electrical system and Xavier said he was happy that none of the lights were damaged.

The retractor span of the bridge was completely overhauled between July and August last year by Industrial Engineering Limited (IEL) at a cost of $40M. The project, which was supervised by the Bridge Management and Monitoring Unit, included the replacement of roller cords.

All of those cords were damaged as a result of Saturday's accident.

Xavier said that he has asked the Marine Police to investigate exactly what went wrong and how the tug and barge ended up causing damage to some 500 feet of the 6,074 feet-long bridge opened in 1978.

"All we were told was that it broke away from the Toolsie Persaud wharf (Providence, East Bank Demerara), ripped away six piles and then drifted into the bridge.

"I saw the barge and it looked pretty much overloaded. But my problem is (that) this was a tug and barge. What happened to the people? What were they doing on the tug? Were they sleeping? Were they there? Was anybody on the tug?

"These are some of the kinds of things the Marine Police will have to find answers to," the minister said.

The last major damage to the bridge was caused in 1989 by a Greek vessel, Blue Carib Venture, and the local agents had to lodge a bond of $10M before the ship was allowed to leave the port, according to Azeez.

Meantime, Xavier indicated that the Transport and Harbours Department vessels, the MV Sandaka and MV Bonasika, which were brought to ferry passengers and vehicles across the Demerara River, will remain working while necessary.

This service backed up speedboat operators plying the waterway while the bridge was down.