And, as you heard, the work on the bridge is expected to start in January, and the bidding documents say it has to be completed in 18 months. That's a tight timeframe and that's because Belcan is a major artery connecting the south and north sides of the city. Matus - who does still plan to bid for the construction of the bridge - foresees that closing that avenue to traffic will cause a major inconvenience:
Roque Matus, M&M Engineering
"But it's a very complex project because remember you are taking down an existing bridge and you have to put back a new bridge in the exact same location so you will cause big inconvenience to the people of Belize, it is huge I don't even think people can visualize the inconvenience it will cause right? When you take down that artery out of Belize, Belize will be on emergency mode."
"The fact that it is a bit complicated to build you know what I mean? One of the most complicated things is taking out the bridge. Remember that bridge has a huge center pier in the middle of the sea. And the second thing is you need to know what you are doing in demolishing the old bridge if not it will collapse on you. It is not something you will have to take down like you take down any other thing, that thing was built in a certain sequence and it has to come down in the exact opposite sequence of how it was built."
