After several major surgical repairs over the years to the 80-year-old Haulover eyesore that is still a risk-taking venture to cross from one side of the river to the other; works has started on what appear will be the foundation of the new “Haulover” replacement bridge.

We can recall that the first announcement was made eight years ago in 2014 when the Barrow Administration announced that the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) had already approved $29.7 Million dollars and years thereafter, it was a $24 M dollar loan from the Opec Fund among other mentions made regarding the same replacement bridge.

In August of 2021, the Government of Belize announced that they had signed a $30.9 million contract with Belize’s local M&M Engineering Consultants Ltd. under the technical and administrative supervision of an Italian Bridge Specialist Consulting firm “Politecnica Ingineria Architectura S.C”.

In September of 2021, Politecnica signed the Contract with the Government of Belize, through the Ministry of Infrastructure Development & Housing (MIDH), for the Construction Supervision of the Haulover Bridge Replacement Project.

Serious works started in the adjacent vicinity got to a start two weeks ago for the construction of two permanent mid-river foundation piers in the Belize River using several heavy lifting barges which will serve as floating platforms for heavy equipment which will be driving the necessary piles into the riverbed for the construction of the reinforced concrete piers.

The new design provides a single steel-concrete span, 150 meters long and 14 meters wide. It consists of a double-lane carriageway, two sidewalks, street lighting, and safety devices,” a statement on the firm’s website outlined. The construction of the new bridge includes related roadway approaches. It is schedule for completion in 2 years.

The project is being implemented by the Project Execution Unit of the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and supervised by Politecnica. This is an important milestone for Politecnica, as the new 150 m long bridge over the Belize River has been one of the strategic Projects for the Belizean transportation networks that is coming to reality.

The Haulover Bridge was first built in 1942 after the use of ferries i in the area was done away with. The bridge is the longest in Belize.