New bridges ‘not about to collapse’

BRIDGES on the Limassol-Paphos motorway were checked during the first week of June and they are not going to collapse.

This was the official response of the Communications and Works Ministry yesterday after a report by Sigma TV on Sunday night that two bridges on the new motorway were subsiding.

The new stretch of road has only been open for one and a half years.

Communications and Works Minister Leontios Ierodiaconou was initially quick to confirm that a general check on the two bridges would be carried out this week.

His ministry, however, issued a written statement yesterday saying that all bridges on the island’s newest motorway undergo regular checks by the Public Works Department and are constantly under observation for any problems.

The latest check was carried out only a week ago, and according to the ministry the bridges were found to be in good condition.

The possibility of having to rebuild the two bridges, which cost 16 million pounds to construct, would be an unattractive prospect particularly since hundreds of thousands of pounds are already being spent fixing a bridge on the Limassol-Nicosia motorway after it was found to be sagging.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.