The Brewers Bay Road Drainage Improvement Project resumes following delays brought on by the August flood and hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Deputy Director for the Public Works Department, Mr. G. Navarro Donovan said the overall project goal is to reduce flood risks in the Brewers Bay community by improving drainage along Brewers Bay Road East which leads towards the Brewers Bay Community Centre.

“The project is one of many being implemented under the regional iLAND Resilience Project to increase resilience to climate change impacts, including more frequent heavy rain events leading to increased flood risks,” He added.

Mr. Donovan stated that large volumes of storm water presently flow in an uncontrolled manner from a ghut that crosses the public road in two areas.This, he said contributes to flooding in the vicinity of the community center, park and historic sugar works in Brewers Bay.

He added that the drainage improvement design focuses on helping the natural drainage system (the ghuts) in the area to best function again by restoring connectivity along their path and directing over-road stormwater flows back into these systems.

The design includes three (3) main components:

1.         Two sets of box drains and culverts - to direct ghutstorm water flows under the road at the two areas where the ghut crosses the road

2.         Road re-grading and curb & slipper installation - to direct over-road storm water flows into the ghut via the installed box drains

3.         Bridge retrofit - to help direct over-road storm water flows into the ghut and out to sea via an existing mangrove wetland area that naturally helps to filter and treat storm water.

The iLAND Resilience Project on Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainable Land Management is funded through the European Union Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA) and is coordinated regionally by the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). The Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour is responsible for managing local project implementation and the Public Works Department is supervising the implementation of the Brewers Bay works.

Mr. Donovan said the project is a good example of how simple improvements engineered to work with nature can go a long way to reduce the Territory’s vulnerability to flooding, and that he looks forward to the Brewers Bay community reaping its benefits.

Works will continue throughout this month and are scheduled every Monday to Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Motorists are asked to exercise caution in the area while the project is implemented.