MIDH Monitoring Roads and Bridges Amid Heavy Rains

As heavy rains continue to affect parts of the country, the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing (MIDH) is closely monitoring the condition of Belize’s road network, bridges, and drainage infrastructure.  Chief Engineer Evondale Moody says the ministry has been receiving regular reports from field teams stationed across several districts, particularly in areas experiencing flooding and excessive rainfall. The assessments have focused on identifying sections of roadways that may be vulnerable to erosion, overtopping, or other weather-related impacts.  Moody says while there have been reports of inundation in some areas, the ministry’s infrastructure has generally performed well under the challenging weather conditions.

Evondale Moody, Chief Engineer, Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing: “We have experience flooding at mile 16 and also mile 22 on the Coastal Plain Highway. Mile 16 is closer to the Soldier Creek Bridge. And if you may recall, two years ago, we had some scouring that occurred within that location. We went in, we were able to raise the road within that area and we also did some concrete protection for the pavement and also erosion protection on the shoulders of the highway. And so there was only like approximately 200, 300 meters section between what we had completed and they Soldier Creek Bridge and that is where we had the flash floods last night and going into this morning that inundated that section and scarified a section of our pavement itself and so that we have to go back in and try and reinstate. We have received information from the team on the ground that we have had flooding between at 6 and 7 on the Hummingbird Highway. For the time that I’ve been at the MIDH, also the Ministry of Works, I’ve never seen that section flooded before. And so I was kind of amazed when I saw the level of flooding there between 12 to 24 inches of flood waters crossing the highway. It is believed that the Hope Creek overtopped its bank and as you’re aware the Hope Creek is linked to South Stann Creek and I believe because of that intensity in fall and the high intensity, that is what has occurred within that area. We have multiple eras along the Hummingbird we also have the era by Sarawee that is also inundated by floodwaters. It is still open to traffic. However, we are asking motorists to be careful when driving through those sections. We still have the section of the Coastal Highway that is closed, but we’re hoping that that water received by this evening that we could open back the road again.”

With forecasts calling for additional rainfall in the coming days, Moody says the ministry remains on high alert, particularly as highways, bridges, culverts, and drainage systems continue to be tested by elevated water levels.

Evondale Moody, Chief Engineer, Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing: “The last 24 hours has been intense for us because we had to mobilize our teams countrywide, most significantly the Stann Creek district team and also the Belize district team to address the flooding situations that we have in the south specifically on the Hummingbird Highway and also along the Coastal Plain Highway. In terms of the MIDH and our responsibility we try to be proactive as best as we can and so we try to monitor the rainfall intensity in all the areas across the country. Bearing in mind that we have to be on standby at all times, especially going through the hurricane season in the event that we have flash floods and we need to close the road. The MIDH is responsible for mobilizing team to ensure that the road is closed. If we have to liaise with the police department to effect that as well then that is what we have to do. So we have to be the first one on board to ensure that that is done as the highways are under our mandate. We try not to put our team at risk and so once we have closed those sections of the road we have to just play a cat and mouse and just monitor the rainfall situation and wait until the water recedes. If we have events where culverts are washed out we have to close those areas as well. However as I’ve mentioned before we ensure that we have stockpile of culverts and materials that if we need to replace a culvert in the event one is washed out that we have available culverts on site and we don’t need to be scrambling to looking for culverts to install and so we try to have all our materials in place in all districts during hurricane season.”

Moody says ministry teams will remain in the field for as long as weather conditions require, monitoring key transportation routes and responding to any infrastructure challenges that may arise as the rainfall event continues