The Public Works Department paving 950 feet of dirt road in Montpelier Estate.
NEVIS--The Public Works Department (PWD) in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) has brought relief to residents of Montpelier Estate by laying a brand new asphalt road to replace the previous problematic dirt road leading into the area.
Danny Williams, Operations Manager at the PWD, said the road had been earmarked for redress for some time because the dirt road would get washed out when it rained, causing residents to experience great difficulty driving to and from their homes.
He said the PWD used the opportunity to conduct training and carry out a field test for the newly purchased Wirtgen Vögele Super 1800-3 tracked asphalt paver.
“We needed to fix that road and we had planned to fix it a long time ago and so that presented us with the opportunity to test the new paver on a hill. It’s a track machine and should be able to climb hills with under load, so we selected that road. A level road is easy; any machine can pave a level road. We also had the technician who came in from the company and he trained the road crew on how to use the paver at the same time.
“Over the past two weeks or so we would have completed the asphalting on 950 feet of road. We have another 50 feet that we need to do out of concrete because of the steepness of that extension and it would not be practical to do it with asphalt. The rollers would not be able to climb up there and so, if you use asphalt, the asphalt would slide down the hill,” he explained on Thursday.
Williams said the PWD would start pouring concrete while the asphalted section was allowed to set. The road would be opened to light traffic only during the process. Once the concrete section was completed, it would be blocked from vehicular traffic for 21 days to allow the material to cure, he said.
Mark Brantley, Premier of Nevis and a resident of the area, commended Minister of Public Works and Physical Planning, Spencer Brand and the team at the PWD for coming to aid of the area residents.
“I had the pleasure of seeing for myself a new stretch of road done by our Public Works Department with our brand new state-of-the-art paving machine. This road had become a riverbed and the homeowners in the area have cried out for some time. Now I know they will be much happier.
“This would not have been possible without Minister Spencer Brand, who continues to lead the Ministry of Works with distinction. He has been such an agent of change that his DNA is now all over the island of Nevis. Huge thank you also to Danny Williams and the entire team at Public Works.
“Also thank you to the residents of the area for your patience. We know that the wait has been long and we know that others across Nevis are still waiting, but we commit to you that we shall get there,” he said.
