JEDDAH, 30 July 2005 — Almost a year ago, Arab News ran an article on a wooden bridge that was badly damaged in an accident. The bridge, located in a densely populated area, is yet to be fixed.
The residents of Al-Nuzah District, who live alongside the old Makkah express highway, are still waiting for the authorities to act and replace or repair the bridge.
The accident has forced residents and schoolchildren to try and dangerously make their way across the highway’s eight lanes of traffic.
The old Makkah express highway — once Jeddah’s only link to Makkah — is one of the main routes leading to Jeddah’s industrial city.
The bridge, a fairly common design for pedestrian crossings across the Kingdom, linked densely populated residential areas separated by the highway and served as a crossing for two of the area’s largest schools.
The bridge was used daily by residents and schoolchildren until a construction trailer crashed into the span and almost demolished it.
According to local residents, a truck carrying a large industrial machine late one night, crashed into the side of the bridge, transforming the once-sturdy wooden bridge into a teetering woodpile on the verge of collapse.
“It was quite a site,” said Sulaiman, a local shopkeeper who saw the crash. “I never thought that a truck could do so much damage to a bridge. The wood was in shambles, and the side of the bridge was drooping —making a sort of V shape. You could tell just by looking at it, that it was beyond repair.”
Local authorities responded by using a crane to dismantle the damaged part of the bridge and boarded it up.
And now almost a year later, residents are wondering why the bridge has yet to be repaired. Some say the repairs have been slowed down as local courts try to establish the liability for the associated costs, but Arab News was unable to get official confirmation.
Whatever the reason behind the reconstruction, residents hope that the situation is resolved before schools resume in September to keep children safe — and off the busy highway.
