Latvia, Transport

Girgens said in an interview with the Latvian public radio that the bridge will be closed on April 25 for any kind of traffic.

“In my opinion, the Riga City Council has not considered opinions of experts and is delaying repeated tests, thus, failing to ensure safety of people. There are too many factors suggesting that the condition of the bridge is endangering human lives, therefore I made a decision to close the bridge on Thursday,” the minister said.

Girgens said later in an interview with the Latvian public television that the Riga City Council traffic department has time until Thursday to take all the necessary measures to reroute traffic. If it is not done, the State Police has been tasked to close the traffic on the bridge on Thursday.

Today, representatives from the Riga City Council administration, the transport department and the Riga construction authority will meet with the representatives of Lithuanian company Kauno Tiltai and Inzenierbuve project designers to get acquainted with the technical condition of the bridge and the principles for evaluating traffic safety on it.

Later today, the Economics Ministry is organizing a press briefing to inform on the situation on the bridge. Economics Minister Ralfs Nemiro (KPV LV), Girgens, and a representative of the State Construction Control Office (BVKB) will attend the briefing.

As reported, BVKB inspected the Deglava Bridge and discovered damages in its constructions which had not been identified before the renovation works were started. On April 8, BVKB ordered to suspend the construction works on the bridge. Inzenierbuve did the necessary measurements and calculations and concluded that the bridge is safe for traffic up to 30 tons. Repeated tests by independent experts will be carried out until the beginning of May.